Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Lastly, the 2015 Tempranillo La Paciencia offers ample cedarwood, bloody meat, blackcurrants, and violets aromatics in a rich, full-bodied, beautifully layered package. It carries the most weight and depth of the cuvées from Boucier, as well as tannin, yet it’s already impossible to resist. Drink this beauty anytime over the coming 10-15 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Offering up aromas of cassis, dried berries, candied peel, panforte, raw cocoa and baked earth, the 2015 Tempranillo la Paciencia has already integrated its 30% new oak. On the palate, it's full-bodied, seamless and layered, with a deep core of savory fruit and a structuring chassis of rich, fine-grained tannins and a mouthwateringly stony finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is an up-and-coming variety in the Rocks District subregion of the valley. The aromas are generous, with notes of moist earth, tobacco, cherry and dried herb. The flavors are elegant in style, showing a sense of texture and grace. The finish kicks it up a notch.
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James Suckling
A lacy, sultry and light-handed tempranillo that has supple and open-knit flavors of cherries and spices with meaty complexity layered into the smooth, easygoing finish. Drink now.
Notoriously food-friendly, long-lasting and Spain’s most widely planted grape, Tempranillo is the star variety of red wines from Rioja and Ribera del Duero. The Rioja terms Joven, Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva indicate both barrel and bottle time before release. Traditionally blended in Rioja with Garnacha, plus a bit of Mazuelo (Carignan) and Graciano, the Tempranillo in Ribera del Duero typically stands alone. Somm Secret—Tempranillo claims many different names depending on location. In Penedès, it is called Ull de Llebre and in Valdepeñas, goes by Cencibel. Known as Tinta Roriz in Portugal, Tempranillo plays an important role in Port wine.
Responsible for some of Washington’s most highly acclaimed wines, the Walla Walla Valley has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years and is home to both historic wineries and younger, up-and-coming producers.
The Walla Walla Valley, a Native American name meaning “many waters,” is located in southeastern Washington; part of the appellation actually extends into Oregon. Soils here are well-drained, sandy loess over Missoula Flood deposits and fractured basalt.
It is a region perfectly suited to Rhône-inspired Syrahs, distinguished by savory notes of red berry, black olive, smoke and fresh earth. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot create a range of styles from smooth and supple to robust and well-structured. White varieties are rare but some producers blend Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon, resulting in a rich and round style, and plantings of Viognier, while minimal, are often quite successful.
Of note within Walla Walla, is one new and very peculiar appellation, called the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. This is the only AVA in the U.S. whose boundaries are totally defined by the soil type. Soils here look a bit like those in the acclaimed Rhône region of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but are large, ancient, basalt cobblestones. These stones work in the same way as they do in Chateauneuf, absorbing and then radiating the sun's heat up to enhance the ripening of grape clusters. The Rocks District is within the part of Walla Walla that spills over into Oregon and naturally excels in the production of Rhône varieties like Syrah, as well as the Bordeaux varieties.