I love Tempranillo, and this wine checks all the boxes in what makes the grape so juxtapositional in its body vs. concentration. Shards of acidity point down into old-world rusticity and tertiary to bring up a heated black cherry depth–the same positioning which has made me shake my head and swoon over numerous Rioja’s. I’ve opened numerous blingy Rioja’s for people and they just don’t seem to *get* it… like: what makes this wine so unbeatable in the glass; what makes it *tick* in terms of new-world fascination with concentration; what makes the ethereal lightness in the glass correspond so well with the beauty buried within; what makes an often sharp, thin wine develop such astounding complexity; what makes stand-a-fork-up-in-it, hi-alc swill so meaningless in the grand landscape of REAL WINE. Sangiovese can do the same things.

And here we have a little, rather unknown brand from Paso fulfilling all the hopes and dreams of Tempranillo. It grasps all the important parts and leaves out everything you don’t need from a region typically doing the opposite in both accounts. Massive tannin is also not the calling-card of the variety: it excels in balance and bitter deliciousness where massive structure might seem lacking. Find it. Get it. Do it.

2017 CIRCLE B VINEYARDS Tempranillo Paso Robles 14.4

https://www.circlebwines.com/