I think California is startdoing some exciting things with Spanish varietals and they are fun alternatives to the usual stuff. Really enjoying Verdad, Curran and Longoria’s bottlings. Based on Bedrock’s success with Albarino, I hope that they can start to expore the Spanish Reds as well.
Does anyone have any others that they would recommend?
Much appreciated.
short answer NO, I would rather drink the Spanish swill
Before he retired Ed Pagor’s Tempranillo Sangre de Tierra was our #1 selling California wine for well over a decade, literally thousands of cases.
If you want to drink cheaply, really cheaply, than the Spanish swill is the way to go.
OTOH, if you’re interested in trying a different expression of those varieties, Calif is doing some very interesting
things w/ them.
Best thing is to look up KenZinn’s TAPAS report, on this board and grape-nutz.com . Very comprehensive
and, as Ken always does, very well-done.
I’ve recently had the Mahoney Albarino and Temp that I thought were mighty fine. AdamWebb at Odisea does some
very interesting versions & blends. Mostly Lodi grapes.
The Lodi area has sorta seized on Spanish varietals and making them their flagship wines. Look at some of those,
like Bokisch and Ursa.
Tom
Villa Creek makes a good blend called Mas de Maha (60% Tempranillo, 20% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre, 10% Carignan) from Paso.
Four Vines makes a pretty decent Tempranillo called “Loco.”
Both are more of your “full throttle” type, as you might expect from Paso and from those two producers, but they are good and interesting expressions in their own way, particularly the Villa Creek.
I’ve enjoyed some Twisted Oak Tempranillo’s in the past. Seems to have widespread distribution and a range of prices.
HTH
Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard is doing a real nice job with Spanish and Portugese varieties under their Quinta Cruz lable: http://www.santacruzmountainvineyard.com/quintacruzwines.html
Second the rec for Villa Creek’s “Mas de Maha”.
I also recommend “Acha”, a tempranillo dominant blend made by Mark Herold.
On a side note, 2010 was the first year I worked with tempranillo (from an Amador County vineyard) and I am very pleased with the results so far.
Dave Corey has a label called C3 devoted to Tempranillo. His '06 C3 Tempranillo was one of the best doestic examples I’ve tasted. The Temp is sourced from Leticia, as it’s higher elevation appears to be a benefit to the variety.
There is some old vine Tempranillo planted in Bedrock vineyard that makes it into the Heirloom. Not sure if there is enough to make a cuvee though? Calling Peterson!
There are some interesting examples coming out of Oregon as well. The 09 Evesham is a steal for $14, too bad it’s the last vintage. I’ve had some decent blends with it from the Umpqua Valley as well.
Cris Cherry (Villa Creek) and Dave Corey (Core) do great work with Tempranillos.
I recently tasted the '00 Stevenot Tempranillo blind and it was very good and maturing nicely.
'Tis true there are a few vines of Tempranillo scattered here and there in the old plantings at Bedrock Vineyard. My guess though is that the total volume of fruit, if picked out separately, would not be more than a 1/4 of a ton. Trust me, I have often wondered what an old-vine Tempranillo would taste like as the fruit ripens early, is darkly pigmented, and tastes great out in the field. To that end I have actually budded a few rows with cuttings taken from my vineyard at a younger Syrah site that I am converting, in part, to a field-blend (the vineyard was once known as Shanel when it went to David Ramey).
As for other Iberian varieties, Michael Havens and I have budded some Godello at a cold site near Bennett Valley that should hopefully come online next year some time to be released under the Abrente label. I think there is a great potential for the Touriga’s as well as their perfume and density could be an enticing match for the right terroir here in CA-- the blend of such varieties made by York Creek is quite good.
Outside of Iberian varieties I would love to see someone plant some Poulsard up in the granitic schist of the Sierra Nevada…a grape I know Chris Cottrell to be a great advocate of…
Didn’t Duncan from Arnot say he had some Poulsard cuttings? Although I love them Arnot Roberts boys, I am terrified of the wine if it comes to be.
Can’t wait for the Godello.
I believe both Duncan and I have come close to getting Poulsard but it has not quite come through…looks like a trip to the Jura might be in order. In looking at planting records and documents from the 1880’s there are many references to a grape called “Ploussard,” that was planted in some volume here in California. I am hoping that Mike O. and I will stumble upon it in one of our old vineyards as we continue our DNA identification of varieties we do not recognize-- we have found two nearly extinct varieties from the Savoie already called Mollard and Persan at Old HIll Ranch so it is not totally outside of the realm of possibility…
Here is the Slowfoods nomination for preservation of Mollard with some more info on the grape.
http://www.slowfoodfoundation.org/pagine/eng/arca/dettaglio.lasso?-id=1096&-nz=&-tp=
Morgan you are turning into a Vitis Vinifera archeologist! I would love to see a great Cali expression of Tempranillo as it is one of my favorite varietals.
I seem to recall Matthew at Forlorn Hope having a few cool Spanish Blends
Thanks for the mention, Tom. Here’s a link to that thread here: Some TNs from TAPAS tasting in San Francisco, June 5th - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers
The full report on Grape-Nutz.com (linked in the thread above) includes all the tasting notes for the wines made from Spanish and Portuguese varieties at TAPAS. Favorites included Abacela, Bokisch, Core, Forlorn Hope, Pierce Ranch, Quinta Cruz, St. Amant, others.
For a rich (but not overripe) New World take on Tempranillo, Viader’s DARE Tempranillo, from a small accidentally-discovered parcel in Napa, will please many, especially those who are more used to California Bordeaux varietals than they are to Spanish lighter reds.