We had a few very nice Spanish wines at our monthly tasting at the restaurant Monday night, and I felt compelled to share. Spanish wines hold a special place for me because I love to visit Spain, love the food, the climate, the people, the food — you get the idea. And besides, my place specializes in Spanish food, so there you go.

There are always four wines featured, and this month was no exception. Sommelier Morgan Weiss selected some very interesting ones, making a special effort to avoid Spain’s most popular grape, Tempranillo.

One was “Ombra” from La Cova dels Vins. We tasted the 2006, which retails about $15 a bottle, $162 a case. From the Montsant region, which is on the Mediterranean coast south of Barcelona, this wine is a fine example of the good stuff coming from this relatively new denomination (it was designated in 2001). It is made mostly of Garnacha, which the French call Grenache and its other major proponents — the Sardinians — call Cannonau. In it you may find a tobacco nose and lots of ripe raspberry and strawberry notes.

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