March 2009
We as consumers tend to get caught up in trends whether we like it or not. The wine world is terribly susceptible to these trends, due primarily to the few voices speaking for so many. Witness the recent explosion in popularity of West Coast Pinot Noir. While this is not the time... Read moreWe as consumers tend to get caught up in trends whether we like it or not. The wine world is terribly susceptible to these trends, due primarily to the few voices speaking for so many. Witness the recent explosion in popularity of West Coast Pinot Noir. While this is not the time nor the place for a diatribe against Pinot Noir let me just say that one of the reasons we have so much Pinot Noir, good and not so good, is because it has been acclaimed and anointed with many points, and that made it wildly profitable. Consumers are asked to forget that Pinot Noir, the grape likes cooler climates in order to produce Pinot Noir, the wine, of any quality.
We have been told that these big, rich, candied Pinots coming from the west coast are GREAT wines. I for one don’t think so but that is besides the point. What is the point then? I am glad you asked.
The point is that California’s winemakers would be well served in experimenting with grapes that thrive in regions that are similar to those in California. Not a groundbreaking idea but I minor application of the sensibility so often lacking in business. Now sometimes this works and sometime it doesn’t but take a look at these two pictures: one is Spain’s Rioja Region the other California’s Calaveras county. Sort of similar don’t you think?
Beyond this obvious comparison, there are further similarities between the two regions. They are both dry, hot, somewhat windy regions with moderate elevations, and in both regions Tempranillo THRIVES. It produces wines that are better balanced, more complex and an all around better value than Pinot Noir! Heresy you say? Well seek one of these wines out and try it, then get back to me.
I am not saying that California Tempranillo is the equivalent of some of Spain’s greatest wines. Rioja, for example is made in a plethora of styles, many trying too hard to emulate the anonymous yet expensive wines of every region in the world that is striving to make anonymous yet expensive wines, frequently with fanciful proprietary names. There is an expression in Spanish for these wines, ironically it’s “alta expression” which evidently is Spanish for “Super Tuscan” or “cult wine wannabe”.
Many of these “alta expression” wines have lost their character and sense of place. Wines from Rioja speak not only of their place, and the small percentages of blending grapes, Mazuela, Garnacha and Graciano, that compliment the predominant Tempranillo, but also of the unique winemaking that had developed there. It’s time for us all to return to wine’s roots and seek out the unique expressions that until recently were tucked away in every winemaking region.
A century ago while the Phylloxera louse ravaged the vineyards of France much of Europe and Great Britain turned to Spain, where the sandy soils slowed the advance of the root louse, for wine. Spain’s winemakers where able to take advantage of this newfound demand and catered to the tastes of their new clientele by ageing their wines in oak, much like was done in Bordeaux. Fortuitously, the Spaniards were unable to afford the expensive French oak and turned instead to American oak for cooperage. This cheaper oak imparted rich tones of vanilla and even coconut to the Spanish wines instead of the spicier ginger and cedar notes that French wood generally offers.
To be honest whether or not this is or was a good thing is a personal preference but one need only to take a taste of the anonymous, heavily spiced wines of the “alta expression” and their brethren to see that Tempranillo fairs much better in American oak as opposed to the French oak that is all the rage today. You see it’s not only consumers who get caught up in fads. In addition to planting Pinot where Pinot should not be planted wine producers have flocked like lemmings to the French barrique for ageing their wine giving so many modern wines a similar character that obscures much of the nuance inherent in many varietal wines.
Ok so I said it, but it’s not a universal truth. The rich and sturdy wines based on Cabernet and Merlot have a special affinity for French oak and even Barbera in Italy and Malbec in Argentina work well with the spice and tannins imparted by barrique. But when it comes to Tempranillo, and in particular Spanish Tempranillo, there is something to be said for older, large American oak barrels as a aging vessel.
The classic notes of coconut and vanilla that the American oak imparts seems to pair perfectly with the subtle oxidative notes that the wines gain in barrel and the fruit of Tempranillo seems to be able to withstand this treatment in a rather unique way, still happily expressing it’s wonderful raspberry/strawberry notes even after years in barrel and bottle.
I was fortunate to have participated recently in a fine tasting of old Rioja dating from 1981 to 1925. Some of the wines represented the first wines of the so-called Modern style that lead to the “alta expression” movement. Some were wonderful, others less so, but that can easily be due to these being the first tentative steps down that slippery slope. What was undeniable was that the greatest, grandest wines of the tasting were traditionally made Rioja that had stood the test of time. There are very few wines that can compete with Rioja of this age and that is a remarkable and, unfortunately, frequently overlooked fact. Why are these wines no longer being made? Has the pool of lovers of traditional Rioja dwindled to 12 people in New York? Of course not, so why of why is traditional Rioja going the way of the Dodo?
I can’t answer that. I have my theories of course, they include points and palates and dollar and cents. What does surprise me though is that this movement away from tradition seems to have recently gained momentum in Spain while at the same time it has lost steam in other regions, such as Piedmont and the Rhone.
There are of course people toiling away in anonymity, producing wines that may make my heart swoon, but at the same time easily passed over in big comparative tastings. And there must be brave importers out there discovering these producers and working, like Don Quixote against the odds, to get the word out. We can only hope so, and for those of you happy with the “alta expression” wines, please don’t hold my words against me. I am not entirely against them, I can even enjoy them, but I can pretty much get them from anywhere. California is doing wonderful things with Tempranillo but they can never be Rioja. I have recently tasting several current release Tempranillos and have posted my notes on Snooth but the old Riojas enjoyed last week deserve their own review, which I have placed here.
So where does that leave us? Well it left me with our second Tempranillo PTP yesterday that included a few examples from California, which compared quite favorably to the line-up from some of the great regions of Spain. I did, in fact, prefer the top Spaniards to the top Californians in this limited sample but the Coral Mustang and Truchard did have an undeniable appeal. My personal notes can be found here and what follows are the consensus notes from our group of tasters.
Me- Snooth's Community Manager
Ali - Wine Professional
Marty - Wine Enthusiast
Steve - Wine Enthusiast
Stephanie - Wine Professional
Beth _ Wine Professional
And our line-up included
Flight 1
2006 Milcampos Ribera del Duero 13.5% $15
Groups 12th place wine/ my 12th place wine
Ali noted the “black cherry and fudge” on the nose and found the palate to be “ kind of soft and lacking structure with some bitter chocolate and a little strawberry fruit.” Marty generally agreed though he found more “ strawberry and raspberry fruit” on the nose and thought the wine to be “well balanced.” Steve was of a like mind noting “ this is a little bitter on the palate but it finishes with strong flavors.” Well you can’t argue with the consensus, this was a rustic little wine that smelled a bit of cheap perfume and soap.
2007 Ardales Tierra de Castilla 14% $12
Groups 11th place wine/ my 11th place wine
Steve found this to be “very oaky on the nose” but felt the wine “ was smooth as was the finish.” Stephanie thought the fruit to be “ kind of green” and felt the palate was “ not very well balanced with a mouthwatering sensation followed by really puckery tannins.” Ali also got a some green notes feeling the wine showed “ violets and tomato on the herbal palate.” A bit of an oaky wine that showed the vegetal side of Tempranillo. This is a certified organic product and all of the wineries vineyards are farmed organically.
2006 Monte Negro Ribera del Duero 13.5% $20
Groups 10th place wine/ my 10th place wine
Stephanie found “vanilla, cola, cinnamon and plummy fruit” in this wine but also felt that “ the tannins are a bit too tight, this needs some time.” A sentiment echoed by Beth who noted “ some spices on the nose and while this is fairly fresh in the mouth the tannins have too much grip leaving a bitter finish.” Both Ali and Steve disagreed somewhat with Steve finding the wine to be “smooth” while Ali added, “ this is lacking in structure.” I though this was a nice rustic wine with crisp fruit tannins.
Flight 2
2006 C3 Tempranillo Santa Barbara County 14.9% $18
Groups 7th place wine/ my 8th place wine
Marty “liked this wine very much” with its “lovely deep, sweet cherry nose, nice mouthfeel and long cherry finish.” Steve felt that while this was “ very smooth and soft with light strawberry/cherry fruit” it was only “ pleasant.” Bothe Stephanie and Beth found an element of the nose off-putting with Beth commenting that there was “ a fresh stinky feet smell” and Stephanie noting that she found an initial “ pinot bean fest” on the nose. Beth also found the wine to exhibit a consistent “teaberry gum note on both the nose and palate.” Lots of zesty spicy fruit here but this is a touch simple for me.
2005 Coral Mustang Tempranillo Vista Creek Vineyards Paso Robles 14.5% $15
Ali began the discussion by noting the “ very earthy, iron and floral nose” and found the palate to be a” really balanced and sweet package of cola and confected cherry.” Marty on the other hand thought this was a “real light weight’ with a “muted nose.” Stephanie thought this smelled a bit of “bourbon, with the alcohol and vanilla” but liked the “ chewy tannins, tangy acidity and bitter chocolate notes but the finish is a little hot.” This was a very nice California rendition of Tempranillo that didn’t try too hard to be something it’s not. Bravo.
Groups 6th place wine/ my 3rd place wine
2004 Casajus Ribera del Duero Vendimia Seleccionada 14.5% $20
Groups 5th place wine/ my 7th place wine
Marty felt this was ‘ another lightweight with ok structure but not much finish.” Steve also felt this was “ short on the finish” but liked it’s “full-bodied feel.” Beth found “a cheesy note at first and then something green olivey” but felt that the “ tannins were a bit harsh and this reminded me of unsweetened cola. It needs a hunk of meat.” This was a bit of a tannic wine but the requisite fruit seemed to be there though the fruit was definitely leaning towards the tarry, licorice end of the spectrum.
Flight 3
2004 Ochoa Navarra Crianza 13% $12
Groups 9th place wine/ my 10th place wine
While this was generally well liked there were a range of reads on it with Ali finding this “ really complex with a slightly green, earthy note and lots of cherry, chocolate and rum on the nose while the palate had more of that greenness with coffee and red fruit and a juicy finish.” Beth felt this smelled of “ raspberry jam and robitussin with mulling spices and a bit of earthiness” and found “black licorice and darker berries on the palate with iron and mineral notes.” Marty found the happy medium finding this to be a “ lovely deep fruity nose with black fruit and meat” and felt the “ balance was wonderful with a long cherry finish.” This was a very nice wine but to me had a bit of a yogurty/blueberry thing going on that made this feel a touch anonymous.
2004 Truchard Tempranillo Carneros Napa Valley 14.1% $25
Groups 4th place wine/ my 6th place wine
Steve noted the “ strong vanilla on the nose” but felt that this was a “ very pleasant wine, short but nice and very young feeling.” Stephanie raised the ante when she characterized the nose as “ seductive chocolate with ripe red fruit and a bit of coconut.” She continued noting that the wine was “ripe but not overripe on the palate with vanilla, spice and cinnamon leading to the port-like finish.” Ali added that there was “ some rumcake and raisin flavors with a bit of muskiness and while this was sweet and smooth it was a little drying on the finish and kind of boring.” This had everything in place to be a fine wine but is a little tight at this moment.
2004 Casajus Ribera del Duero 14.5% $18
Groups 3rd place wine/ my 1st place wine
Marty called this “ our raging bull” and found “ lots of deep black fruit on the nose with lots of potential. The high tannins are hiding a lot of the fruit on the palate.” Steve found this to be “ very unpleasant and almost antiseptic on the nose with a very short finish. Not my favorite.” Beth commented on the “ earthy, meaty, tarry nose with notes of burnt toast’ and felt that ‘while the tannins are super grippy the finish is kind of juicy.” Ali thought this tasted like “ white chocolate covered raspberries and Cap’n Crunch Whoops Just Berries cereal” and found it to be “ a pretty short and fruity no brainer.” This needs to loose some of the juicy fruit tannin but is a lovely, pure bottle of wine. Rock on.
Flight 4
2000 Miguel Merino Rioja Reserva 13,5% $40
Groups 1st place wine/ my 2nd place wine
Stephanie though this had “ something Italian about it, it reminds me of Brunello with it’s cinnamon, vanilla and black fruit profile.” Steve noted the wine’s “ strong cherry fruit with a little bit of chocolate” and found this to be “very smooth with a nice long finish.” Beth found the nose to be “funky and earthy with a yummy dusty berry note” but felt the palate was “ missing a little something in the middle.” This was some pretty standard high-end Rioja that offered a very complex set or aromatics and a smooth mouthfeel.
2004 Heras Cordon Rioja Vendemia Seleccionada 13% $27
Groups 2nd place wine/ my 4th place wine
Ali noted that this offered up a nose full of “ graphite, fudge, basil and dill” and while it was “ a little hot on the palate it did show some nice chocolate and leather flavors.” Marty noted the wine’s “ menthol and cherry aromas” and found the wine ended with “ a nice long finish.” Beth found “ a lovely minty, red berry nose with black licorice” but found “ a bitter pepperiness on the juicy lean palate, though I did warm up to it.” Lean and precise this was lovely, spicy, classic Rioja. It continued to evolve for the tasting and was fresh and delicious the next day as well.
2005 C3 Crazy Eights California 14.9% $38
Groups 8th place wine/ my 5th place wine
Marty started us off by saying “ this is a lot of kirsch cherry liquor with tannins to lose and a long sherry finish.” Stephanie didn’t agree finding the nose “ to be full of cooked pears in the tin with a cherry bandy aspect.” Ali found an initial note of “ apple cinnamon” that quickly gave way to “ a lot of blueberry on the palate with a plush feel but then the tannins were drying.” This was about the biggest wild cherry bomb one can find without veering off into vulgar, sweet intensely hot wine. While it’s not my style it was one hell of a wine.
And with that we were done. For the most part we all agreed that as a group these wines showed very well and while a few wines might have a somewhat limited audience the fact is that Tempranillo makes splendid wine s the world over. A lot of these wines get short shrift from consumers and retailers alike and frankly it’s time for that to change!
Gregory Dal Piaz is the Community Manager at Snooth, an avid Wine Geek with a passion for things Italian, and a long suffering Mets fan. (hide)
Starting at $19.95 
