Tag Archives: tempranillo

Viña Cerron 2009

An interesting blend of grapes for Spain, from the Castilla region. The vintner seems to like round numbers: 25% Tempranillo, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Syrah and 25% Petit Verdot.

A loamy quality that I love on the nose. Dense, dark fruit, but not a bruiser. Fresh, slightly wild, full of spice and a bit of tobacco to accent the blackberry, black cherry flavor. A nice bit of grip on the finish. This is refreshingly balanced for Spain. Sure it’s concentrated & ripe, but it avoids sweetness. There’s a lot to like here. B+

$14 via Garagiste.

Photos of the label too boring to post. Their website shows some much-improved current packaging, Look at that instead.

 

Mourvèdre Monday #17: Carro Tinto 2008

This wine always catches my eye on the shelf, with it’s orange label and simple design. I’ve had past vintages and like it pretty well, so let’s see what’s up with the 2008.

Carro Tinto 2008

Producer: Bodega Señorio de Barahonda. They put out 10 or 12 different bottlings of Monastrell or Monastrell blends under the Barahonda, Carro and Bellum labels, including two previous Mourvèdre Monday wines: the Barahonda Monastrell 2006 (B-) and the Nabuko 2007 (B). Based on past results, I’ll taste as many of their wines as I can find.

Grapes: 50% Monastrell, 20% Syrah, 20% Tempranillo and 10% Merlot

Appellation: Yecla, (D.O., Spain)

Vineyards: From high-altitude vineyards (2339 feet) with rocky limestone soils.

Winemaking: no oak

Alcohol: 14%

Price: $9 or $10, usually

My tasting notes: Dusty blue and black fruit on the nose with significant earthiness, minerality and barnyard funk. On the palate, the funk goes on and on, with a strong meaty/animal aspect that brings to mind that episode of Man vs. Wild when Bear Grylls snacks on a dead Zebra (I mean that in the best possible way). There are some nice smoke and pepper/spice notes.  The fruit is there, too — blackberry & plum — but it’s not playing the starring role. The wine finishes very dry with a pronounced iron/mineral character that I’m enjoying.

Overall impression: Old World fans will find a lot to like here, while I suspect New World-ers may fear the funk. Give it a good bit of air for best results. I like what it brings to the table for $10. And, while only 50% Monastrell/Mourvèdre, it delivers a lot of that grape’s character, for my palate. B/B-

Update 6/08/2010: This review was written after one evening with the bottle. The next day, I finished the other half of the bottle and it was drinking beautifully on day two. So I’m bumping it to a full B.

Free Association:

More info:

88 points Parker (Jay Miller) and 87 points IWC.

Other blogger reviews: Bottle a Day, Wine Reviews You Can Understand and Wine-Smith

Viña Zaco 2006 Rioja

VinaZaco_Stilleto_screengrabVinaZaco_bottleshotThis wine is #71 in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 for 2009, making it one of the most exciting wines of the year in their view. They rated it 90 points.

This winery is trying very hard to make this wine seem young/hip/sexy/cool/rebellious. The bottle and website are stylish black, red and white. On the website they talk about pairing the wine with modern music (including a press release about a psychologist’s study on the subject). They talk about being “a new generation of Rioja”, “a contemporary twist” and “not constrained by the rules.”

I can forgive some over-eager marketing if the juice is good. Let’s see…

Producer: Bodegas Bilbainas

Grapes: 100% Tempranillo

Appellation: Rioja (DOC, Spain)

Vineyards: from the Rioja Alta region

Winemaking: Assuming they used a similar oak program as 2005 (website doesn’t have details for 2006), this wine spent 9 months or so in American and French oak.

Alcohol: 14%

Price: Around $10-12 at Costco. ($15 according to WS)

My tasting notes: Sweet blue & red fruit with hints of chocolate/mocha and herbs on the nose. On the palate, it’s medium-bodied and a bit empty – the fruit is on the thin side and disappears quickly leaving just a slight cool mint kind of impression and dry woody tannins.

Overall impression: Style over substance in my opinion. Not sure what Wine Spectator saw in this one. Nothing special. C

Free association:

Paris_Hilton

More info:

Other reviews at Slashfood and Good Wine Guru.

Haka Tempranillo 2007 Paso Robles

I was turned on to this wine by Sam Scarpari, an Aussie winemaker (Seraphim Wines), wine vlogger and Twitter-friend (@SeraphimWines). One night, I had just tasted a not-so-good Tempranillo from California and tweeted something to that effect, asking the Twitterverse if anyone had had a good example of the grape from the Golden State. Sam pointed me to this bottle, the Haka Tempranillo 2007 Paso Robles. I hadn’t heard of it before and I sort of assumed it would be hard to find and wasn’t sure if I would make the effort of trying to order it online. But as luck would have it, within a week or two I saw it on the shelves at Spec’s here in Austin.

HakaTempranillo07_snapshotProducer: Haka, by Labyrinth. Rick Hill is a Kiwi winemaker who makes Pinot Noir in both Australia and California under the Labyrinth label. Haka is his second label.

Grapes: Tempranillo

Appellation: Paso Robles (AVA, California)

Vineyards: no info

Winemaking: no info

Alcohol: 14.5%

Price: $18-20

My tasting notes: On the nose I get Pepsi fizz, coffee grounds, red fruit and a bit of fig. On the palate, this wine has good density with strawberry and mixed berry jam flavors. The oak is sweet, but there is a high-toned minerality keeping everything in check. It finishes long and cool, with grippy tannins.

Overall assessment: Very nice wine. I don’t know that I’ve had a better Tempranillo from California (though I haven’t had many). It has New World fruit intensity that gets a tad overripe for me, but the overall tightness and complexity of this wine impressed me. B+

Free association:

More info:

Sam Scarpari’s Wine Passion TV episode reviewing this wine. It’s funny to me that I called out the Pepsi/cola notes… In Sam’s review of the wine, which I watched once a couple of days before opening the bottle, he mentions “cola” a few times, but I didn’t know that’s what he was saying due to the Aussie accent. It wasn’t until I rewatched after tasting the wine, that I understood him (or at least I think that’s what he said – correct me if I’m wrong, Sam!).

An article on the winemaker and the Labyrinth brand (from City Beat/Cincinnati, of all places).

Info on the haka genre of Māori dance at Wikipedia.

Vale do Bomfim 2006 Douro

Bomfim_bottleshotAs sales of Port have been trending downward, many Port houses are using a portion of their grapes to produce red table wines. I like Port, but I drink it maybe a couple times a year and almost always at a restaurant by the glass. So I love this trend. I love that they use indigenous grapes that are rarely found elsewhere. I love that they aren’t 15% alcohol monsters. And I love the price point – most are under $15.

Let’s see if this one is a winner.

Producer: Symington Family Estates (Dow’s)

Grapes: 40% Touriga Franca, 25% Tinta Roriz (the Portuguese name for Tempranillo), 20% Tinta Barroca, and 15% Touriga Nacional.

Appellation: Douro Valley DOC (Portugal)

Vineyards: Quinta do Bomfim (profile) & Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira (profile). Schist soils and hillside vineyards.

Winemaking: Stainless steel fermentation, then 9 months in a mix of French and American oak.

Alcohol: 13%

Price: $10-12

My tasting notes: Inky dark color – near opaque. Nose of dark fruit, oak and dried flowers. (Both Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional are noted for producing wines with floral qualities). A bit green and stemmy, but not in an unpleasant way. Rich blackberry and cherry flavors with leather, mineral and chocolate notes and chewy, spicy tannins. Maybe a bit on the rustic side. A lengthy finish.

Overall assessment: This is an enjoyable red for those who don’t require exuberant fruit. While there is a richness to this wine, and it’s certainly not austere, it’s not what I think most people would consider fruit-forward (note the lower alcohol, too). I liked it and would like to try it again with more time in bottle. B-

Free association: I normally don’t use photos of the vineyards in my “free association” spot. I like to be less literal. But the Douro is such freaking beautiful vineyard land, that’s what my mind goes to when I think of these wines. Feast your eyes…

Dows_Bomfim_VineyardTerraces Dows_BomfimWalls

Dows_Senhora-da-Ribeira_Vineyard Dows_Senhora-da-Ribeira_Vineyard2

(Photos from the Dow’s website.)

More info:

Other bloggers reviews of this wine (all liked it): The Wine Curmudgeon, The Grape CrusaderThe Wine Skinny, Red White and FoodThe O’Neill Review. Also a few reviews at Cork’d and CellarTracker.

A discussion of the 2006 vintage in the Douro (and at Bomfim in particular) by Paul and Charles Symington at JancisRobinson.com

The producer’s tech sheet.

Portugal: The California of Europe” – Interesting marketing from PortugalWines, a promotional organization for Portuguese wines in the US. Isn’t it usually the US producers comparing latitudes with famous European wine regions?

Marques de la Concordia Rioja Crianza 2005

The crayons on the table give you a sense of my tasting environment.
The crayons on the table give you a sense of my tasting environment.

I’ve been drinking a lot of the “new-fangled” Spanish wines lately, but it’s been a little while since I’ve had a Rioja.  Let’s see what this one’s got under the hood.

Producer: Marques de la Concordia

Grapes: 100% Tempranillo (I haven’t been able to find total confirmation of this, but several references to it for other vintages, at least on retailer websites)

Appellation: Rioja (D.O.C., Spain)

Vineyards: calcareous clay, hillside vineyards

Aging: 18 months in new French & American oak casks (This is a Crianza, which means it was required to spend at least 1 year in oak)

Alcohol: 13.5%

Price: $11.40 at Spec’s in Austin

My tasting notes: Grapey-purple, not opaque. On nose, I first get a lot of sawdust, but with coaxing the berry fruit shows up. First glass, drunk soon after pulling the cork, seemed hollow. Second glass better. The oak is coming through a bit harsh. Fruit is there, some plum and blueberry. A touch of spice. Finishes a bit creamy.

Assessment/score: Changed a lot as it breathed. First reaction was that I didn’t like it so much. Then I’d find myself thinking, why didn’t I like this before. Then I’d be back to thinking it just isn’t satisfying. I’m settling on… meh. C

Free association:

That's sawdust all over him...
That's sawdust all over him...

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/infinitewilderness/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

Another blogger’s take on this wine is here (End of the Vine).

More people’s tasting notes at CellarTracker.