Valley View Winery

Tempranillo is clearly finding a home in Southern Oregon. Ten years ago there was almost none planted in Oregon, and by 2006 there were 119 acres. Okay, that’s still not a lot, but for Oregon it is enough to attract a following.

The Anna Maria Tempranillo is made in a plush and lush style. The nose is delightful, with crushed berry aromas mixed with vanilla and barrel spice. There are notes of overt woodiness, but they are subsumed by the fruit scents. Broad and supple on the tongue, the immediate flavors are of crushed cherries and dark berry fruits, with an overlay of vanilla and fine espresso grounds. Once in the mouth distinct tannins appear, and notes of wood and graphite are detected at the sides. But once again the fruit—which takes on a slight tart edge at the back of the mouth—comes to the fore. The finish is quite long, with the fruit flavors slowly fading and giving way to soft wood tannins.

This is a good cellar candidate because its youthful tannins are still fighting with the fruit, but even so, if paired with a well grilled steak it would be quite delicious to drink now.

The fruit for this wine came from Valley View’s estate vineyard, and from 30-year old Cabernet vines that have been grafted over to Tempranillo. Winemaker Joe Guerrero pressed while the wine was still fermenting in order to lessen skin and seed tannin extraction, and aged the juice in 1-3 year old American oak barrels.

Reviewed April 26, 2007 by Cole Danehower.