Wow! What a terrific bargain! This dense ruby/purple-colored blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah, from one of the over-achieving, small estates in the Cotes du Ventoux (15 kilometers from Gigondas), is aged in a combination of tanks and barrels. Although not complex, readers looking for a wine with gorgeous levels of blackberry and cherry fruit, an unctuous texture, good fatness, and juicy thickness will enjoy this plump, lusty, powerful effort with no hard edges. Eight thousand cases were exported to the United States, so please, no carping about not being able to find it! It is unquestionably a wine to buy by the case, and enjoy over the next 4-6 years, although I suspect it may last longer. Thanks to importer Eric Solomon and a strong American dollar for one of the best $10 red wines I have tasted in the last year. ERIC SOLOMON, EUROPEAN CELLARS, 236 West 27 St., Room 801, New York, NY 10001; tel. (212) 924-4949; fax (212) 924-0567