Sunday, December 20, 2015

The rain and wind beat dark December.

A rainy December day called for something robust with dinner.  The Mi Sueño, 2011 Tempranillo, Rancho Chimiles (Napa Valley AVA), was just the wine to banish the rain-blahs away.  Lots of red plum and spicy red currant, and with great tannins, this Tempranillo was a great California rendition of an old Spanish classic.
I had actually tasted this wine before, although in a very different stage of the wine's development.  Usually, I don't care for barrel samples, as I am not a winemaker and I don't have a crystal ball that will tell me what to expect of the finished product.  However, I remember the barrel-sample of this wine as being quite stunning, even in its infancy.  Now that this Tempranillo is all grown up, I'm enjoying it once again.

5 comments:

New Hampshire Wineman said...

VG: I've not seen Mi Sueño wines in NH, at least not yet.
Don't you love it when domestic wineries take the plunge and produce wines out of the box!
As for "barrel tasting", your not alone failing the crystal ball thing, I think that's why the reviewers say things like: "My barrel tasting rating is 90-94 points."

Thud said...

Sounds like you should put one away for us.

Vinogirl said...

NHW: I'm open to tasting most things, even barrel samples...doesn't mean I understand them.

Thud: Think I may have another :)

MADrid REDS said...

Great to see some Spanish production over in Napa!!!

Our classic "tinto fino" (a.k.a. Tempranillo) Ribera del Duero first effort is going to have to be a "rosado" it turns out. The frosts got at 75% of our grapes so we had to borrow some Albillo grapes from a kindly neighbour in order to get even close to filling the barrel we bought...

Neil T

Vinogirl said...

MR: 225L is still quite a bit of wine, hic! Enjoy, and happy Christmas!