Casa di Arcilla Tempranillo 6-Pack
Sold by: Middleton Family WInes
$54.99 $132.00 58% off List Price
2010 Casa de Arcilla Tempranillo
[winenotes]
Notes yo.
This temprànillo is a medium red with only a minor bit of sediment in the bottom of the bottle. Moderate note of blackberry, cherry and some vanilla. Really nice subdued nose with plenty of fruit left.
Poured a 1/4 glass before going out to see stars wars and enjoyed it but when I got back a couple hours later the bottle had opened nicely and was quite a bit more enjoyable.
The wine is dry, medium bodied and enough acidity to not come across as flabby. Minimal rounded tannins help present a nice finish to the wine which has a really nice round mouthfeel. The wine is well balanced and quite tasty.
I did not drink this with food but I would imagine it is quite food friendly. To those concerned about the vanilla note, its really not the dominating flavor and I really noticed more as the wine opened up. I think this is a terrific opportunity to buy some really pretty good temprànillo that’s in its sweet spot for $10 a bottle.
I’d be all over this if I was buying wine right now but I have no room.
Very interesting description of the wine making process is included on the front page. I have never really considered the impact of yeast selection on wine until today other tha Brett. I know it has a dramatic impact on beer and a quick googling indicates that it does for wine, as well.
Would the winery be able to give any insight into the selection of Prise de Mousse yeast?
I’ll go in for one. I mean, from the notes, I will probably be nicely surprised by this.
Clayhouse generally makes a very good QPR wine.
Pop (screw?) and pour. Slightly faded color. Looks a bit like an older Sangio. Pretty, subdued nose of red fruits and a little something else. Cory says vanilla which I’ll roll with.
Medium bodied, nice acid, very mild tannin. Overall good structure but I don’t think it has the stuffing to last much longer. Red fruit, a little dusty, smooth mouthfeel. A bit tight right out of the gate. I don’t get the vanilla on the palate. Nor do I sense any of the (14.2%) alc.
This kind of reminds me of a fruitier Sangio, actually. Predominantly red fruit, a bit drying on the palate. I’m guessing air and food will help this wine. I’ll post again in a few hours.
At $10/btl delivered, this is a great buy it you a) are looking for something in this range and b) like this style (nice, refrained fruit).
Hello, Stacey with Clayhouse Wines. I checked in with our winemaker, Blake Kuhn. He said the following about the use of Prise de Mousse yeast in this wine: “PDM, as it is know is one of the most reliable and most commonly used yeast in the US. It is a steady fermenter that does not produce high VA or Sulfide compounds. It is a workhorse yeast that does not impart secondary flavors but rather produces wines that express their varietal characters. Some winemakers use it for both red and white wines.”
I hope that answers your question.
Thanks for jumping on. What’s the winery’s best guess at how much life this particular bottle has left? From tasting it I was guessing another two years if stored properly.
Yes, a couple more years would be about right. It wasn’t intended for really long aging. That said, it’s been developing nicely in the bottle over the past couple years. I taste this wine every 6 months or so and am pleased each time with the great balance of fruit, acid and tannins.
Good wine, good price, in for an order! Seem to be going through a lot of wine during this especially rainy portland winter.
Clayhouse at this price is a no brainer for me. In for one.
All these hours later and this is better. Fleshed out more, more complete mouth-feel, the acid has balanced a bit. The label mentions blackberries and plum. I can see the blackberry but this is a more deep red-fruit palate at this point (the label also mentions “spicy red fruit”).
I like this wine at $13-$15. At $10, this is quite good. I really think this has a year to go though and not much more. This is an open-freely-and-soon buy, IMO. But at $10, what more can we expect?
I stored the second 1/2 in a completely full 375ml bottle and found that while the fruit had faded considerably the mouthfeel was still smooth and the wine still tasty.
Screw cap auto NO BUY – any corked Clay House not necessarily autobuy but worth review – judging comments today of peeps whose reviews I respect paid shills comes to mind – just braying
I know I’d be smarter to leave this alone, but I can’t stop myself. Wine in screwcap can be excellent. If you swear off anything bottled that way then no Siduri or Tercero for you! In fact, maybe that’s good…more for me!
Oh, and Kyle and cortot are anything but shills. If they didn’t like the wine they would say so.
^^^ .THIS. ^^^
I’ve had some excellent wine under a Stelvin closure.
PM me your email addy and I’ll get you on the non-paid “shill” list, and I’ll even make sure they send you only screw top bottles. It might even expand your horizons…
Screw caps are fine. I’ve had some fine wines with them. Only problem is it’s hard to open them with a corkscrew! 
The jury is still out on long term storage. Some respected winemakers think they are fine. Others not so much on effects.
As to Kyle and cortot20 being shills, they can be very annoying (see variety vs. varietal discussion) most of the time, but there is no way they could ever be shills.