One of the fun parts of the class from the Texas Wine School (website) was that the wines were shipped to me. Unfortunately, my bottle of 2019 Tempranillo from Llano was damaged, so I had to go find another one – which happened to be the 2018.
The tasting notes say:
76% Tempranillo, 19% Cabernet Sauvignont; 4% Syrah and 1% Merlot. Te grapes for this wine were 100% sourced from our contracted vineyards located throughout WestTexas. Bouquet of red berries, leather, vanilla, and spicy toasted oak elements. Medium bodied and full flavor, rich tannins and lenghty finish. 13.9% ABV, 3.61 ph, 0.16 RS
The Website
Our goal was to produce a wine that displays the true expressions of this variety from
our premium West Texas vineyards (website)
My Notes
I got a really dark cherry/berry flavor with this one. It has a garnet to ruby color and deep dirt flavor. But my notes also say Tobacco? Oak? It wasn’t bad the first day, but even better the next day after it had a chance to breathe. The flavor was a bit more intense. It was a great Wednesday wine.
Final Thoughts
I love hearing winemakers talk about their wine. Jason Centani explained about the blend behind this one – which was my only disappointment. It wasn’t a 100% Tempranillo – but that would explain why it was more drinkable without food.
The fruit is mostly from the Chihuahuan Desert (Del Valley Vineyard with some Texas High Plains mixed in. He believes the cool wet spring led to the dry finish of this wine. More interestingly was learning that his style of wine making is a mix of classic (traditional) and post modern techniques – especially using different aging techniques.
