We reviewed the 2009 LaGranja 360 Tempranillo and thought that this was the REAL bargain wine at Trader Joe’s, pass up those stacks of cases of Charles Shaw wines and grab the LaGranja 360. When folks talk about 2 Buck Chuck, they say things like, “ It was more drinkable than I thought” or “it was better than I thought it would be for the money,” but nobody says, “its a solid, no excuses, bottle of wine”. The LaGranja 360 wines are solid, no excuses, bottles of wine. The one thing about these under $5 bottles of wine is that they are only as good as the grapes that go into the bottle. If the weather and conditions are kind to the grapevines, then the wine will shine, if the weather goes bad, there is no money in the budget to fix things. These are wines that must be produced as simply and as cost effective as possible, so there may be a large variation in the quality of the wine from vintage to vintage. The 2010 LaGranja 360 Tempranillo is a young wine, fermented in stainless steel tanks. The grapes are sourced from the Carinena region of Northern Spain. Robert Parker gave the wine 85 points, which is impressive considering the wine sells for less than $5. The alcohol content is 13.5%.

The color is a dark, but see-thru purple. The nose is strawberry and raspberry, a bouquet of roses and a little chocolate mint. It tastes of raspberries and Fig Newtons, the flavors are bright and shiny. The mid-palate shows licorice and raisin. The tannins give the wine a nice firm edge and the acidity is balanced and helps the finish linger for a little bit.

The LaGranja 360 Tempranillo is a solid bottle of wine, you won’t be turning somersaults after you drink a glass, but if all you can afford is a five dollar wine, you will be getting a real deal bottle of Red. More than good enough to be your everyday wine and flavorful enough to bring to your favorite, inexpensive BYOB.