2007 Cameron Hughes "Lot 98" Campo de Borja GSM

Cameron Hughes plus Spain has got to be better than Cameron Hughes plus California...people were actually supposed to grow wine in Spain and have been doing so for a long time. Cameron Hughes consistently has enjoyable, cheap, new world style wines. A lot of them are sort of over the top, but that's not always bad, especially if they're cheap. Apparently, this is from a co-op that the winemaker for Cameron Hughes found in Spain. It's not really something I would call a "traditional" Spanish wine--it's basically a fruit bomb. This is a huge wine. Thick--bordering on syrupy. No earthy, tobacco infused flavors with impeccable balance. Oh, and there's the "GSM" bit, which is kind of an Aussie thing. Not exactly Spanish...Garnache is certainly Spanish, but I don't know that this blend is. Syrah? In Spain? Really? I didn't know. Anyways, there's a lot of fruit here. I smell a lot of plums and some blackberry depending on how hard I swirl. Doesn't seem to be a lot else going on except for some pepper, but the pepper isn't all that prominent. Did I mention there was a lot of fruit? Despite all of its' new world leanings, and the fact that this really could just as easily be from Australia, or Napa, or anywhere for that matter, it's plenty enjoyable for 8$ and a Wednesday night. This is actually a lot more enjoyable than the "Mas Donis" that I had recently, which is a similar style, but was filled with cheap vanilla flavors. Blech. B- (But only cause it's cheap. If this were more than 7.99$, I'd be screaming bloody murder about being swindled.)