The “lesser” yellow label is widely available in Ontario and works wonders with food in a restaurant.  The silver, a pure 100% Monastrell is I guess not to everyone’s taste but it’s spectacular value, deep and delicious, dark cherry, charcoal, smooth as silk; it must be sipped though, the heady 15% alcohol will creep up on you fortified wine style.  The independent shops sell it at close to $30 (but you can usually score a discount on mixed cases bringing it closer to the  BC Liquor price at $25).  For a Christmas treat, it’s $19.95 before taxes at BCL and widely available.  I don’t think I’ve ever purposely gone into a wine store looking for Monastrell but I don’t know how many times the Juan Gil has ended up in my cart.  It is like an old reliable.  Nice to have  a year end post in line with our budget.

Price: $25-30, depending.

Market Liquidity: A lot of Christmas cheer for the price.