Even in a country known for producing the best value wines in the world, the Quiles Cono 4 from Alicante stands out as an unbelievable bargain!  The winery makes the legendary Fondillon, a Monastrell aged in a solera begun in 1948 as well as several other Monastrell-based still wines of varying styles of aging.  As the year’s selection process for the various wines goes on, the best young wines are gathered in several old conical American oak casks known as conofors and, after a total of about a year, the casks are eventually bottled as Tinto Cono 4, one of the most amazing values we ever see.  Alicante is on Spain’s Atlantic coast, southeast of the Murcia towns of Jumilla and Yecla, the internal valleys best know for their Monastrell.  But, here on the coast, the grape- known in the rest of the world as Mourvedre, takes on a bit more of Provencal sort of character, similar, if you’re a Francophile, to wines like its brethren in Bandol and elsewhere on the southern coast of France. There is plenty of heat in Alicante, though, and, hence, plenty of weight and heft to Cono 4 as well as the Monastrell grape’s textbook black pepper and olive tapenade like savoriness.  Nicely concentrated, beautifully fragrant and really satisfying to drink, this mid-weight spicy and delicious red might remind you a bit of an old style California Zin, but with better acidity, or maybe, if you’re an Italophile, Nero d’Avola or, if you love Aussies, a McLaren Vale Grenache or……well…..what you can expect is a lovely-to-drink, characterful red that will make your grilled ribs, burgers or steaks taste better. Or, like in Alicante, how about a paella with rabbit and snails?  At $17 bottle, this is wheel-the-hand truck-up-worthy as you’ll just love drinking this all year long.