Shopping List: Casa Castillo, Jumilla, Spain

Ever since a brief December 2002 article in the New York Times in which Howard Goldberg reviewed this Spanish red wine made from the monastrell grape, Spanish for mourvèdre in southern France, I have been searching for a bottle. Goldberg wrote (of the 2001 vintage): "This delicious unfiltered, filling red, chockablock with raspberry and chocolate flavors, is so dense it is almost a liquid cake."

The article directed readers to W.I.N.E. at Eli's Manhattan on the Upper East Side, but as typically happens when a story runs like this, the shop was immediately sold out.

Nevertheless, I found a bottle of the 2002 vintage at The Wine & Spirit Co. in Queens. Extremely full-bodied and robust, it may not be "liquid cake," but it is very tasty, especially for the price.

The 2002 Casa Castillo is $9.99 at The Wine & Spirit Co., 108-50 Queens Blvd. (718.575.2700).