Decanterberry Tales - A Willamette Valley Wine Blog - tempranillo tag

Osborne, Solaz, 2005

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:24:52 GMT

We've been really diggin' the southern French wine lately (I probably sound like a broken record if you read this regularly). So I've been trying to dabble to the east (Italy) and the southwest (Spain). And this is one of those Spanish wines. Just a random grab from the grocery store shelf (you never know).

Denise sipped it, and exclaimed: "Oregeno!" It's a spaghetti sauce wine. She found it to smell like bay leaves too. Oh, and grass. Denise also claimed that it tasted like oregeno, and raisin; oh and grass too (strange). The finish was a bit more normal: raisin and dry (like an apple).

This was not a great wine. And, honestly, it wasn't really all that interesting, aside from all the jokes about this being a spaghetti-western in a bottle. It was a bit thin. And the first sip you think: this is going to be one of those really sweet reds (like a bad Syrah); but then it's not sweet at all, and pretty dry actually. However, it was also readily quaffable; a fine decent table wine.

Cost:

Rating: 6.0

(80% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon)

Vina Gormaz, Ribera del Duero, Tempranillo, 2006

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:59:34 GMT

We drank this bottle along with a Tempranillo from Oregon (see the Abacela review), so it was really interesting to directly compare the old and new world styles.

This wine -- unlike its Oregon counterpart, had no strong vanilla smell at all. Instead of vanilla, it was sour, rotting and stem aromas. A bit later on, after it was open for a hour or so, I also got vegetable smells -- squash! Additionally, there was a ply-wood smell and a bit of cinnamon.

This wine is fairly light in body -- much lighter than the Oregon one. The taste has bit of that pepper-bite -- along with plum and cherry. The finish is cherry, and then that stem taste (stems plus cherry). At the very end, the finish is a bit tart at -- something like currant (or maybe just tart cherry). This wine is much less fruity than the Oregon counterpart. So while I'm describing these fruit tastes and such, they are much more muted than that of the Oregon bottle.

Cost:

Rating: 5.0

Abacela, Tempranillo, 'Umpqua Cuvee', 2006

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:32:15 GMT

We've been fans of Abacela for a long time. They're in the Umpqua valley. No, this is not the Willamette Valley. This is close to Roseburg, not Dundee -- in the southern part of the state (most of the Pinot is more towards the north). These guys do some very interesting blends (see the other reviews), and perhaps surprisingly, they do very nice Tempranillos. We've had some of their reserve Tempranillo (and still have a 2001 stashed away for a special occasion). However, this was not that.

The nose was first vanilla (oak). But really (and seriously), it smelled like hard cherry candy -- in-between a Luden's cough drop and a cherry Jolly rancher. I'm not kidding -- literally. The taste was a plum and red cherry mix -- along with some stem taste thrown in there, and vanilla again. That vanilla was just slightly sweet, but not overly so. Not much taste really. The body was medium. The finish was quickly cherry (sort of sweet), and then went into pomegranate (just slightly sour). Denise said the finish was "twiggy" -- no, not the 60's model; for her, that stem-essence remained.

We drank this again the second day, and had it side-by-side with a Spanish Tempranillo (that review will be posted tomorrow). It's always fun to compare them directly; you really can easily taste the differences. On that second day, the vanilla was gone and was replaced with cedar! Really strongly pungent. In addition to that cedar was a nice lavendar. However, that vanilla remained in the taste and the finish. This wine had a lot more body than the Spanish one.

Personally, I think this wine would be better with some age. The Spanish usually don't release Tempranillos (like Rioja) for at least a few years, and usually more like five or more. I bet this would be a lot better after five more years of sitting. That vanilla sweetness would assuredly mellow. In my opinion: hold 'em if you got 'em.

Cost:

Rating: 6.0

(Tempranillo)

Albaliza, Tempranillo-Garnacha, 2005

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:54:45 GMT

Here's another Spanish wine. This one had a card at the store describing what a deal this was, so why not give it a try?

The nose was plum! Lots of fruit compared to all the other Spanish and French we've been drinking lately. In addition to the fruit was seafood -- seriously -- like shrimp. Also there was chemical, cumin, pepper, and finally seaweed. The taste was less complicated: prune and raisin. The finish was a bit tart and dry. There was bark, stems, brussel sprouts. The finish was really bitter. And it was super dry -- so much that it felt like my mouth was caving in. After thinking more and tasting more, inbetween the taste and the finish, inbetween the prune and the bark. It was cranberry -- bitter cranberry in there too.

This wine certainly had an unusual nose (seaweed?). And it had nice spice, including pepper and cumin. Definitely gamey. However, the prune-bitterness just didn't work for me. A more disparaging way to say this is: take prune juice, and add grape stems, and blend ... it tastes (and finishes) like that. But hey, it was only $8.

Cost:

Rating: 5.0

(Tempranillo 65%, Grenache 35%)