Abacela 2014 Fiesta Estate Tempranillo, Umpqua Valley, $23
The Pacific Northwest’s growing thirst for Tempranillo might be most evident with Abacela’s Fiesta project. Production for their most approachable example of this robust Spanish grape from the 2014 vintage marks a 40 percent increase from the prior harvest. Seven separate picks from across the Jones family’s Fault Line Vineyards were wrapped up by Oct. 9, and winemaker Andrew Wenzl took over from there. The nose of blackberry and vanilla with roasted coffee leads to a mouth full of purple fruit flavors akin to black currant, pomegranate and Marionberry. Plum skin tannins offer good grip for any sort of barbecue fare or Rabo de Toro, aka Bull’s Tail Stew.
Rating: Excellent
Production: 2,413 cases
Alcohol: 13.9%
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