Tempranillo plays a key role in the Spanish region of Rioja and along the river Duero aka Douro on the other side of the border in Portugal. In the latter country Tempranillo goes by the name of Tinta Roriz or simply Roriz. This flight looks at Tempranillo in varying percentages from both countries in the EU and one from the New World.<\/p>\n
Sierra Cantabria Rioja Denominacion de Origen Calificada Crianza 2003<\/strong> R. Lopez de Heredia Rioja DOC Crianza Vi\u00c3\u00b1a Cubillo 2001<\/strong> R. Lopez de Heredia Rioja DOC Reserva Vi\u00c3\u00b1a Condonia 1999<\/strong><\/span> The smells are a complex mix of brown spices with cranberries and raisined raspberries – maybe I’m imagining that last one, but some of the raspberries we’ve picked lately have hung a little too long producing lovely concentration of flavor. The tannins are polished off with 9 years of age, just hovering in the background while the acidity drives the fruit flavors for a long time – delicious. 80% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha, 3% Graciano and 2% Mazuelo, estate bottled in Haro in the Rioja Alta 13% $29.99 at Bottle Barn tondonia.com<\/a><\/p>\n Abadia Retuerta Sard\u00c3\u00b3n de Duero Rivola Castilla y Le\u00c3\u00b3n Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon 2003<\/strong> Coral Mustang Paso Robles Vista Creek Vineyards Tempranillo 2004 Quinta de la Rosa Douro DOC Vinho Tinto 2003<\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tempranillo plays a key role in the Spanish region of Rioja and along the river Duero aka Douro on the other side of the border in Portugal. In the latter country Tempranillo goes by the name of Tinta Roriz or simply Roriz. This flight looks at Tempranillo in varying percentages from both countries in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,238,240,52,44,137,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-california","category-castilla-y-leon","category-douro","category-paso-robles","category-portugal","category-spain","category-tempranillo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjwine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjwine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjwine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjwine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjwine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rjwine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":981,"href":"https:\/\/rjwine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions\/981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjwine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjwine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjwine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThis wine smells of oak, earthiness and sweet cherry fruit. <\/span>The taste is simply tannic and alcoholic. <\/span>The 2001 was OK but quite lean. <\/span>Past glory and consistency appear to be on the wane. <\/span>Perhaps it’s time to give this Rioja Crianza a pass. <\/span>The irony is that the 2003 bargain offering at $8.49 from BB, the non-Crianza wine, was soft and luscious with noticeable acidity. <\/span>Perhaps the focus going forward should be on Joven and other quick to market wines from Sierra Cantabria. 100% Tempranillo, aged 14 mos in used Fr and US oak, imp by Henry Wine Group, bot in San Vicente de la Sonsierra <\/span>13.5% $14.49 at BB<\/span> sierracantabria.com<\/a>
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\nThis wine smells of brown spices and evolution toward earthiness. The taste is tangy acidity, soft tannins and evolved cherry fruit “\u201c very delicious. All estate fruit: <\/span>65% Tempranillo, 25% Garnacho, 5% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo, estate bottled in Haro in the Rioja Alta, imported to the US by WineWise. <\/span>Full disclosure: <\/span>I admire Hiram Simon’s selections from Europe. 12.5% $21.99 BB tondonia.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\nThis wine smells of too many green peppers. <\/span>It is hard and tannic. <\/span>All of this might make sense in the context of an underipe wine from Bordeaux that you were hoping to get two decades from. <\/span>But from a wine lacking in concentration, thi <\/span>s is a disappointment. <\/span>Like Sierra Cantabria, it may be time to quit carry a torch for this producer. <\/span>There was a time when all of the wines were solid. <\/span>Yet looking at this wine in the context of my notes on the 2001 Rivola, which was hard and tannic, it seems that this winery is not reaching for phenolic ripeness in the fruit that they harvest. <\/span>The current vintage is 60% Tempranillo, 40% Cabernet, 10 mos in French and US oak, unfiltered, P&B Sardon de Duero in Vallladolid 13.5% $13.49 at BB abadia-retuerta.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Awesome, California fruit and oaky sweetness, ripe and silky “\u201c a class favorite in the spring of 2007; the bottle sampled in fall 2007 was unfortunately very corked. <\/span>13 mos aging in older US and Fr oak 14.5% $19.99 at <\/span>BB coralmustang.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\nIn the spring of 2007, this wine was structured with vibrant fruit. <\/span>In September, the bottled sampled appeared closed “\u201c extremely tight and astringent. <\/span>Perhaps this second bottle has a low level of cork taint, which is a disappointment after the first bottle on this side of the Atlantic. <\/span>Bottled in Pinh\u00c3\u00a3o; family owned and run, all estate fruit A grade Roriz (Tempranillo), Nacional, Franca <\/span>And Barroca; hand picked, aged 10 mos in French oak 13.5% $13.49 at BB quintadelarosa.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n