2008 Alpha Box & Dice "Tarot" Grenache

Of all the wines I tasted at the Alpha Box & Dice tasting I attended back in September, the one that had me the most excited was the inexpensive little Grenache. Well, it has finally hit the market in Kansas and I'm glad to have gotten my hands on one of the first cases in Kansas City. Tonight we enjoyed a bottle of the 2008 Alpha Box & Dice Tarot Grenache, South Australia with lowly hamburgers and roasted red potatoes. And just as I said back in September, this is the best $10 bottle of wine I have ever had. I'm a sucker for new world Grenache anyway and this is new world Grenache at its absolute best. Do you really care if the color is a slightly cloudy cranberry? I didn't think so. Let's cut to the chase and just say this is all about the vanilla bean and amazing, incomparable purity of raspberry-Grenache fruit. Plenty of acidity to keep it from being cloying. And the tannins should preserve it for a couple of years. But I'm pretty sure my remaining stash or nine bottles won't last past this summer. I don't know if this wine is available in your market or not, but if it is, you should buy every single bottle you can find.