Great thread since I’m trying to get together a tasting of them. I’m not a fan of many that I’ve tried - Verdad for example, was a lot more money and not as good as many from Spain or even Argentina. Not a fan of the Evasham but I’m thinking that maybe Washington might be the place. Don’t forget, even tho Tempranillo is grown all over Spain, it’s best expression is in the Northern regions. And Seven Hills does one in Columbia Valley that isn’t bad at all.
+1, and this is a really interesting thread!
2008 Epoch Tempranillo. I was allocated 2 bottles off their mailer but after tasting it at the winery and upon delivery, I sourced 8 more bottles at around $45-50. I was rated around 90 by ST and not rated by RP (all other 2008 Epoch blends rated 94-96) and definitely think this wine is a few points higher than ST.
Since Greg brought up Washington, I’d recommend Gramercy’s Inigo Montoya bottling, and Kerloo does an excellent Tempranillo. Cayuse does one that is hard to find and very expensive. Some new producers from the Columbia Gorge are Ziegler and Amiche which makes one called Orlando which is blended with some Grenache.
Thackrey Aquila [/thread]
+1 on Longoria. . .I recall having their '05 Tempranillo open 4 days and the last glass was fantastic! ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Parador Cellars.
From their primitive website:
2001 marked the first vintage that a small crop of Tempranillo appeared on the previously unplanted, 1000 foot elevation hilltop ridge site. This vineyard is known as ‘Rancho Chimiles,’ and actually is a tiny piece of this amazing land area, once part of an original Mexican Land Grant, now owned by Terry and Lyn Wilson.
The Aquila is cool juice but is actually Sangiovese from Eaglepoint Ranch I believe.
The Parador wines can be quite nice-- they were made at Havens back in the day and Michael still works with them some.
You are right of course, I should look things up the night after working!
So which do you guys think are the very best, regardless of price, from CA and WA? The Four Vines is actually pretty good, but it’s like all the Four Vines stuff - a bit over the top.
I’m not slamming it by any means, but I’m trying to put some into a tasting that might fool some Spanish guys. We have Cayuse. Ziegler is nice, but doesn’t do it. The Amiche sounds interesting. So does the C3. What else? Right now I’m drinking a wine from RdD that’s not imported but should be, and if it were, it would be around $20. I think the US should be able to produce something as good.
I’ve never tasted any of the California ones, so I can only speak for the Washington bottlings. The Gramercy is my favorite by a long way, I think it represents the grape perfectly, but was aged in neutral French oak rather than new American which seems to be a favorite in Spain and is quite distinctive.
The Amiche bottling could easily pass for a temp/garnacha blend. It is Ziegler fruit, but the Grenache rounds it out a bit.
Spencer Roloson used to make a tasty tempranillo, but I haven’t had it in years. A nearby Whole Foods actually has some on clearance, and this thread has me thinking I should pick some up.
BUMP
I always like these cool older posts! 
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2012 Hatcher Winery Tempranillo - USA, California, Sierra Foothills, Calaveras County (12/20/2016)
Another exciting find from Calaveras County. Excellent wine and nice QPR. Drinks like an Espana. Without the brett! Very clean. I’d actually cellar this for a few more years before drinking or give a solid decant. We pop n poured so it didn’t really have time to blossom in the glass. Good structure.
Posted from CellarTracker
Enfield has one to investigate. Very different than its Euro counterpart.
+100000000
Don’t know a thing about it, but noticed woot had a Clayhouse offering a few days ago.
I have some Booker Tempranillo I could contribute…though it likely wouldn’t fool anyone; )
For the neophyte here, could someone please explain the logic?
Climate, soil, culture etc.
Are the CA tempronillos (?) being held for release in similar fashion to Rioja?
Barrels??
Or is the goal to make something new?
I’m always curious when new world locations experiment with old world varietals.
The Enfield Tempranillo are not seeing extended barrel aging, and the oak is French, not American. John Lockwood has been actually been reducing the oak on his Tempranillo wines IIRC.