Tempranillo

This is the basic wine from this great, traditional winery.  Purchased at a Tapas restaurant, this is an excellent value.  It is a blend of Tempranillo (65%), Garnacho (25%), and the rest Mazuelo and Graciano.  Deep ruby in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose is great with cherries, slight dill, tobacco and slight mushrooms.  Medium bodied.  Great balance.  On the palate, loads of fresh cherry fruit with just a bit of dried over a dry tobacco base.  Some spice.  Nice finish.  This is nice on its own but worked even better with a series of small Tapas plates.  Drink over the next eight

This is made from 100% Tinto de Toro (Tempranillo) grapes in the Toro D.O. in Spain.  Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has black cherries, cassis, some anise and slight spice.  Medium bodied.  On the palate, strong acidity.  Cassis and black cherry fruit.  Nice finish.  This is drinking a bit past prime it seems but still nice.  It works better with food,  A nice wine for Taco Tuesday.  Drink up.  

This is 100% Tempranillo from California's Central Coast - Paso Robles.  A very interesting take.  Inky purple in color, ruby at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose has cherries, and is dusty with dill (American oak?).  Full bodied.  This is a big wine.  On the palate, cherries with dust.  Good acidity.  Long finish.  Very firm tannins.  This seems like it will need time but I doubt it ever loses its "bigness".  It is also delicious.  For those who like this style of wine, drink over the next twenty years.  Glazed Pork Tenderloin would be a good match.  

This is the second wine of Pingus, but that doesn't seem fair to call it a "second" wine.  Garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is great with plums, cherries, black cherries but also some black licorice and spice.  Full bodied.  This had been decanting for a few hours and was still young and tannic.  On the palate, notes of black cherries, cherries and spice.  Very ripe but no noticeable heat or alcohol.  Medium tannins.  Good finish.  This is drinking well now but should still improve over the next ten years.  Drink over the next twenty.  A nice match for hearty beef or por

This is an inexpensive 100% Tempranillo grape from Spain.  It is a modern take on this wine.  Ruby in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose has cherries and candied cherries with a slight herbal note.  Medium bodied.  On the palate, cherries.  Simple and one dimensional but enjoyable.  Moderate finish.  Drink over the next year or two.  Better with food, pizza is a nice choice.  

This is apparently a new wine from No Girls that was sent free to those members on the Mailing List.  A Zoom tasting was held for people to try it although a friend brought this bottle to a separate event.  Pop and pour.  It is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Tempranillo.  Almost black in color, more ruby towards the rim.  The nose has that burnt rubber smell so prevalent in many Washington Syrahs.  Also, some slight barnyard, black raspberries and black cherries.  Medium bodied if not a bit thinner.  On the palate, this is a nice quaff.  Somewhat one dimensional with nice black cherry fruit

This is an excellent value in a mostly traditional Spanish wine from Rioja.  It is a blend of 70% Tempranillo and and 30% a combination of balance Garnacha, Mazuelo, and Graciano.  Deep ruby in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with black cherries, blueberries, slight tobacco, cloves and slight dill.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this has an "old world" feel to it, but with plenty of ripe fruit too.  The blueberries and black cherries come thru over a bed of dusty dry leaves with a slight bit of savory spices.  Nice finish.  This drinks well on its own but really worked well with

This is a blend of 70% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha, 10% Graciano, and 5% Manuelo from Spain.  It is a modern, delicious take on Rioja.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose has black raspberries, black cherries, espresso, and baking spices.  Full bodied.  Very nice texture. It has lots of black raspberries, some black cherries with underlying spice.  There is some warmth to it.  Drinking great now, it should drink well for another decade.  This drinks great on its own and will work great with heavier meat dishes.  Think steak or brisket.  

There are not a lot of Tempranillo's grown outside Spain and few in California, so it's always a pleasure to get to try one.  I suspect they have a small plot for this to experiment with and bottle it as a winery only release (just a guess).  It is 90% Tempranillo, 6% Malbec, and 1% Petit Verdot.  Ruby in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose has cherries and baking spices with a bit of tea leaves and slight smoke.  On the palate, this is full bodied.  Bold cherry fruit with light tannins and underlying roasted herbs.  There is little acidity or depth making me wonder how this might age

This is one of the great wines of the world.  It is 100% Tempranillo (locally called Tinto Fino).  This particular bottle was a magnum!  Wow.  It is still quite young and probably could have used a 24 hour decant.  That said, it was gorgeous.  Purple in color.