For the intro to this story and another model resolution, click here.]

Model Resolutions, continued:
#2 Drink More Jumilla

I’m queuing this one up for next year, since I resolved this January to eat more foie gras in 2007. My inspiration comes from a delicious dinner at Ad Hoc, the new family-style, one-menu-for-all eatery opened somewhat recently by the famous French Laundry chef, Thomas Keller. The restaurant has a short but interesting wine list, and our enthusiastic waiter — he must have really enjoyed wearing that mechanic’s jumpsuit as his uniform — recommended a bottle of Jumilla to go with our osso bucco.

What in the world is Jumilla, and how the heck do you pronounce it? Click here for answers:

It was a 2004 “Monastrell” from Bodegas Juan Gil, from Spain, and it was made of 100 percent mourvedre. (Monastrell is the Spanish word for mourvedre, the burly red grape behind the powerful reds of Bandol in the south of France.) Even my Bordeaux-addicted table mates loved its fruity forwardness, edged with a little spice and earthy flavors.

Jumilla (“hue-MEE-yah”) is in the southeast of Spain, on a plateau surrounded by mountains. It gets some cooling breeze from the Mediterranean, but mostly it’s a baking hot wine region — perfect for the heat-seeking mourvedre. Eighty percent of the plantings in Jumilla are mourvedre, with the rest syrah and some international red varieties. It’s too hot to even try whites. The mourvedre in Jumilla can be old, old growth. Best of all, because hardly anybody has ever heard of Jumilla, growers in the region who are recommitting to their old vines are selling the wines made from them at bargain prices.

Great wine, up and coming trendy region, affordable price tag … you have something to look forward to in 2008. On second thought, why wait?