Tempranillo

As you can hear, as you can see, I am your lone American Villa voice.

Uh, Chris is probably up to his eyes in Tempranillo out in Spain.

I think he's on, uh, day four, so I assume he's at least 12 bottles down.

Um, please go like, follow, rate, review, subscribe all the places below my singular face.

[laughs]

I was intrigued by all the wonderful varietals I planted, so that's, you probably know I, we've made a Syrah and a Tempranillo blend and couple of Cabs and Chardonnay, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc.

So I've had a lot of fun with it.

Um, I think we've made a lot of really good wines.

How much more fruit do you have to bring in?

Most of it.

Yeah, we picked Tempranillo this morning and Viognier last week, um, and Sauvignon Blanc last week.

Um, but the Cabernet is hanging out there as-

It was probably more so than I think I remembered.

And in my mind, I often have Grenache and Tempranillo and mix them up in my head, and I've since learnt that that is way off, Tempranillo being very medium bodied and medium, um, sweetness.

So-

So

So they source their grapes elsewhere, but they're making it here.

They're making Cab Franc and they're also making Tempranillo.

And so the total diversity of the types of wines you're going to find here at our wineries is second to none.

Very cool.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc all have a place here, and good examples of them are made, but familiarity on a wine label and suitability in a vineyard are two different things.

As the industry has matured, a more useful question has become, which grapes actually make sense here? Tempranillo has become strongly associated with Texas, but the list is considerably broader.

Mourvedre, Grenoche, Sanso, Syrah, Sangiovese, Sagrantino, Montepulciano, Alianico, Tanat, and other cultivars with histories in warm and dry parts of Spain, southern France, and Italy have all found promising places in our vineyards.

Tanat is one that I think deserves more attention.

Grapes destined for sparkling production are harvested earlier, while sugars are lower and acidity is still higher, which can turn one of our climatic challenges into an advantage if the vineyard and cultivar are appropriate.

Producers are now making excellent sparkling wines from both traditional vinifera grapes and hybrids, using traditional method production as well as other approaches.

We're seeing sparkling Tempranillo Rosé, Blanc de Bois, Pinot Noir, and other examples, and I think this is an area that deserves considerably more attention than it currently receives.

That brings us to Blanc de Bois, a grape I think is too often introduced with a phrase, well, it's resistant to Pierce's disease.

Now, if you want to build this into a full spread, I've got some pairing ideas for you.

For wine, a Spanish red like Tempranillo or Garnacha complements the heartiness of the dish beautifully.

Serve it with crusty bread or a baguette to soak up all those savory juices left in the pan.

A light salad with fresh greens, cherry tomatoes, and a simple vinaigrette gives you a refreshing contrast against the richness.