Originating in Spain where it is known as the country’s ‘Noble Grape,’ Tempranillo is now grown successfully throughout the new world. In Spain Tempranillo is produced in a variety styles; ranging from ‘Gran Reserva’ that is aged in a combination of barrel and bottle for five years before release to the ‘Roble’ and ‘Crianza’ styles that may not see any time a barrel and are often marketed within a year of the harvest. Having had great success producing ‘fruit forward’ wines, we took more of the ‘Crianza’ approach in which the wine is aged in barrel for about a year and briefly bottle aged before release. This is the style of our Liberty Oaks Vineyard Tempranillo from the Bokisch Vineyards of the Jahant District of Lodi.
When the opportunity to produce Tempranillo from Ann Kraemer’s Shake Ridge Ranch presented itself we shifted gears and set our sights considerably higher. Nestled in the hills just east of Sutter Creek, the thought, precision, and love put into Ann’s Shake Ridge Ranch vineyard is unmistakable; it radiates from the vines. Planted in 2003 this forty-six-acre vineyard is testimony to Ann’s attention to detail. Each block is specifically laid out to match the topography with the variety; clone, rootstock, row orientation and trellis design are all specific to each individual block. The elevation of Shake Ridge Ranch, 1,650-1,810 ft., gets the grapes up out of the heat of the San Joaquin Valley and a bit closer to the sun and in doing so allows the fruit to develop more color and depth than grapes grown in vineyards on the valley floor. This translates into a more substantial Tempranillo with darker pigments and more extract. We choose to add a small quantity of Graciano to help lift the acid and add depth to the wine’s color.
The Liberty Oaks Tempranillo is a delightful wine that is juicy and eager to please. The Shake Ridge Tempranillo is more contemplative and worthy of an evening spent exploring its virtues.
