Winemaker Notes
The wine has smoky plum aromas with flavors of sour cherry, plums and black berries layered with cocoa and a touch of toast on the finish. This is a pretty, balanced wine with a silky texture and a rare example of cool, coastal climate Tempranillo.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2015 Verdad Tempranillo exhibits excellent Old World aromas and flavors. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers lovely ripe fruit, sandalwood, and savory spices. Enjoy it with a selection of grilled meats. (Tasted: May 20, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The realistically priced 2015 Tempranillo Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard was my favorite of these red releases from Verdad Wine Cellars, wafting from the glass with a classic bouquet of dried red berries, dill, herbs and earthy forest floor. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, chewy and bright, with crisp acids and a crunchy core of fruit. Decidedly savory and old-world in style, this should make for attractive drinking over the next 5-10 years.
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.
California’s coolest wine growing area, Edna Valley excels in the production of high quality Central Coast wines like Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Rhône Blends and aromatic white wines. It has a cool Mediterranean climate and an incredibly long growing season, giving late-ripening varieties plenty of opportunity to develop great phenolic complexity.
Its northwest to southeast orientation creates a direct path for cool Pacific air and fog to penetrate the valley from the Los Osos and Morro Bay area inwards. Low hillsides of both calcareous and volcanic soils are home to much of the vineyard acreage of the Edna Valley.