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 of 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 Miravet Vineyard Tempranillo from the Bokisch Vineyards in the
Clements Hills 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 chose to add a small quantity of Graciano
to help lift the acid and add depth to the wine’s color.
The
Miravet Vineyard 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.
