Tempranillo,
the "King of Spanish
red grapes" is to Spain what Cabernet Sauvignon
is to Bordeaux and Napa Valley wines.
This
wine is opaque purple in color and boasts charming
black fruit flavors including sweet
black cherries,
blackberries and mission figs.
It is full-bodied and mouth-filling with excellent
depth and rich, intense, dark chocolate-covered
candied orange peel and spicy flavors of cinnamon,
vanilla,
licorice and mocha. This wine embodies elegance combined with power,
dense, ripe tannins and a creamy texture. It
can be appreciated
now or cellared for many years.
Recipes
with lamb and pork, more generally Mediterranean
or Spanish dishes, work very well with this 2005
Tempranillo. Also, traditional
Tapas, Spanish Serrano ham, Manchego
cheese, and all kinds of grilled or roasted white
meat pair well with this wine.
This Tempranillo is sourced from a very low-yield single
vineyard, Christian's Diamond Mine Vineyard.
Grapes were hand-sorted, destemmed and crushed prior
to a 5-day cold-soak at 40*F. The fermentation then
took place in new,
perfectly temperature-controlled five-ton fermenters
for 12 days with pump-overs twice a day.
Following
the alcoholic fermentation and a 12-day extended
maceration, the wine was barreled.
The aging occurred
in 100% French oak barrels and malolactic fermentation
took place in barrels. The wine was not fined
nor filtered prior to bottling in order
to keep its incredible expression and
balance.
Plentiful
springtime rainfall and cool temperatures slowed
growth and the average bloom occurred one month later
than in 2004. Temperatures were very warm in July,
with a few heat spikes, not quite 100*F at the top
of our Diamond Mine Vineyard. From August to harvest,
nearly perfect conditions arrived, with cool and
pleasant temperatures; an Indian summer made for
a later than average harvest, providing marvelous
typical aromas, soft tannins and great balance.
The
wine is 100%
Lake County appellation. Lake
County was formed in 1861 from parts of Napa and
Mendocino counties and takes its name from Clear
Lake, the largest natural lake wholly within California.
Lake
County has long been known as a farming community.
Vineyards were planted in
the 1870s; by
the early 1900’s the area was earning a reputation
for producing some of the world's greatest wines.
However,
in 1920 Prohibition forced an end to Lake County
wine production. Most of the vineyards were ripped
out and
replanted with walnut and pear farms.
Re-emergence
of the wine industry began in the 1960's when a
few growers rediscovered the area's grape growing
potential
and began planting vineyards. The area went from
less than 100 acres of grapevines
in 1965 to over 8,800 acres of vineyards
today, and has seen the recent establishment of
several American
Viticultural Areas such as High Valley AVA and
Red Hills Lake County AVA.
Many
of the vineyards in Lake
County today support sustainable farming practices.
