Truchard Vineyards Tempranillo - 4 Pack

[TheHuntress]

@rpm

snip…

[labrat]
I will try to respond. I honestly felt intimidated by the rat task. I honestly feel I need to be more involved with tastings with other folks, listening to them describe while I am tasting to help me understand the break down.

Now that said, the nose on this wine was very off putting to me. More alcohol smell than anything else. You asked about my sensitivity to alcohol, interestly my favorite wine right now is the Verge Syrah offering we had a few months back, in fact purchased a case from that winery yesterday. It’s alcohol content is 14.8 which is higher than this, yet I don’t feel the same about that wine as this one. Is this the spice I am suppose to be picking up? I really do not know. You mentioned tannin versus dryness… I wonder if it was a combo of dryness, tannin and alcohol. Since I obviously do not have an adversion to alcohol content based on my other likes, it must be some combination of these three things. My taste preferences at the moment are not very wide due more to exposure, as in I like what I like and haven’t ventured out. So I’ve never had this varietal before, so could only compare it to what I do like. I honestly do not know if this was a good representation of this veriety or not.

Thank you for taking the time to comment on my review. This helps me as well as the community decide on if my taste can relate to their’s. I have found though that there are folks whose tastes I relate to, and others I do not. Which reminds me, I am also a big PS fan… LOVE PS. Surprized I left that out of my tasting notes.

[cfburne]

Woot! Great deal. I’m in for 3.

[rpm]

@TheHuntress

I will try to respond. I honestly felt intimidated by the rat task. I honestly feel I need to be more involved with tastings with other folks, listening to them describe while I am tasting to help me understand the break down.

Now that said, the nose on this wine was very off putting to me. More alcohol smell than anything else. You asked about my sensitivity to alcohol, interestly my favorite wine right now is the Verge Syrah offering we had a few months back, in fact purchased a case from that winery yesterday. It’s alcohol content is 14.8 which is higher than this, yet I don’t feel the same about that wine as this one. Is this the spice I am suppose to be picking up? I really do not know. You mentioned tannin versus dryness… I wonder if it was a combo of dryness, tannin and alcohol. Since I obviously do not have an adversion to alcohol content based on my other likes, it must be some combination of these three things. My taste preferences at the moment are not very wide due more to exposure, as in I like what I like and haven’t ventured out. So I’ve never had this varietal before, so could only compare it to what I do like. I honestly do not know if this was a good representation of this veriety or not.

Thank you for taking the time to comment on my review. This helps me as well as the community decide on if my taste can relate to their’s. I have found though that there are folks whose tastes I relate to, and others I do not. Which reminds me, I am also a big PS fan… LOVE PS. Surprized I left that out of my tasting notes.

You certainly need not feel intimidated - you should continue to do just what you did: pay attention and write down your impressions as clearly as you can.

Clearly, as you taste more, especially with others, you will learn more and more. If you don’t have one, get your self a Wine Aroma Wheel for a very modest charge. Spend some time with it, and spend some time with the thread A Cat Died in My Mouth! (or) How to Develop the Professional Palate YOU Want!

The rest of your post gives food for thought. Not having tasted the wine, I can’t really offer any suggestions as to what’s going on, or why you’re perceiving what you are. You’re clearly getting something you don’t like, whether it’s accurately described or not, and what you’re describing is not inconsistent with either the varietal or a hot wine. Hmmm. I’d love to hear more about this from SB or Scott Harvey after they taste it.

[SmilingBoognish]

@TheHuntress

I honestly felt intimidated by the rat task.

I think you did a great job.
Out of curiosity, how warm was the wine when you drank it? Sometimes when I find that a wine tastes “hot” of alcohol, a few minutes in the fridge really helps out.

[losthighwayz]

@TheHuntress

Labrat Report

Wow, first of all, based on previous rat reports I see I am going to be different. While I enjoyed the final glass of wine more than the first, I did not find this variety to be my cup of tea. I like Syrahs, Pinot Niors and Cabs. I also do not tend to buy budget wines any more thanks to Woot my tastes have moved upwards. So, I did find myself a little intimidated on the tasting note side, I’ve not EVER done this before.

2005 Truchard Tempranillo

Vineyard description:

A complex nose of ripe plum, cassis, and black cherry; accented with notes of tea, tobacco, and cedar. The mouth is smooth and rich, layered with flavors of red currants, rhubarb, and sweet vanilla. Chalky tannins focus the palate and provide a delicate finish of red fruit, mineral and spice

My Notes:

After 10 minutes in glass (Riedel Vinum Bourdeaux):

Appearance: Very brilliant black cherry color, not very thick, with LOTS of legs. No bubbles or sediment.

Nose: Pomegranate and vanilla. Found this very hard to pull individual scents due to the high alcohol content, had a very astringent nose. Did not find it very pleasant.

Taste: Earth forward, very dry, crisp acidity, tannic, and HOT. Medium body and average complexity. Found the taste harsh, believe this due to alcohol content and need for air. Didn’t find it very balanced.

Overall: Only drank about 2 ounces which took me 20 minutes as I considered my notes. Was not digging this wine. Needs air or decant time.

Bottle now open for 45 minutes. Considered again, and found no real change from above notes. So, I took the remaining 2 ounces of my glass and ran it through my Vinturi and added another 2 ounces from open bottle through Vinturi.

This really did change things for the better.

Nose: No changes to above.

Taste: Only changes from above relate to acidity. Understand that I love acid, so those sensitive to acid keep that in mind as I might rate acidity lower than you. The acidity taste was mellowed by the vinturi, found it vibrant. Found it not a hot this time. I never really know if a wine I find hot on the first glass and less so on the second to be if the wine has changed with decant time or if my state of mind has changed. Either way that always happens for me, so I lean towards it being me not the wine. Balance has improved. Find it average.

Overall: Find it much better than the first glass.

Went and made dinner and finished second half of the above glass. When I had read the yesterday morning email indicating I was selected for a Lab Rat, I pulled a copy of beef tenderloin fillets. So I pan seared the fillets, and sautéed shitake (s-h-i-t-a-k-e) mushrooms with some green peas.

Bottle now open for 1 hours and 45 minutes. So, technically this is really only the second glass, as I’ve only drank about 6 oz. of the wine prior to this. It still needed the vinturi. This I found interesting. After almost two hours the wine was still too hot and astringent. The taste notes did not change from the second glass. It was only okay. Was better than average, budget wines.
Would I buy this wine? No Would it make a good Thanksgiving wine? Probably so for folks I know are not wine savy. Wish I could have made a better report.

Rating: 2/5

Thanks for your insightful rattage! I want to point out that you reviewed the '05 while the two previous rats reviewed the '04. Your review confirmed what I suspected: that the '04 is a good wine while the '05 is just not GOOD. In essence, we are paying $39.99 for two good wines with two bad wines being thrown in. Thanks again and I am not sure I am willing to spend $20/bottle for this.

[klezman]

@TheHuntress

I will try to respond. I honestly felt intimidated by the rat task. I honestly feel I need to be more involved with tastings with other folks, listening to them describe while I am tasting to help me understand the break down.

You’ve done a bang-up job with your rat report. We all thank you for being thorough and thoughtful. It would be great if all rats put this much effort into their reports - trying the wine over time and making notes as you go. Kudos.

[hogfatt]

@jhkey

Questions for the winery:
Forgive the machine-gunning nature of these, but I’m not very familiar with Tempranillo (but I do like to say the name) - is it pronounced Tim-pra-nee-yo?

That’s how I say it…I also call it, “Yummm”, but I believe that’s more of a native pronunciation! Native to my palet!

[jessekincy]

Thanks to TheHuntress for an excellent rat report. One other possibility for the excessive heat of the wine is the 1.5% alcohol variance. Just something to think about.

@SmilingBoognish

I think you did a great job.
Out of curiosity, how warm was the wine when you drank it? Sometimes when I find that a wine tastes “hot” of alcohol, a few minutes in the fridge really helps out.

You speak truly, sir (at least in my experience).

[merryberry]

Is there anything blended in to these, or are they 100% Tempranillo?

[rpm]

@jessekincy

One other possibility for the excessive heat of the wine is the 1.5% alcohol variance. Just something to think about. .

The 1.5% variation is only if the alcohol is 14.0% or below. If it is above 14.0%, the permissible variation is + or - 1%. Thus, the wine could be as high as 15.1%, but typically, people are much more careful above 14% since there is less leeway.

[btuckerman]

I’ve been to the winery and have purchased the '04 (still have a couple of bottles) Truchard makes some great wines and the Tempranillo is very good, at least the '04 was! I can tell you that what I know about Truchard is first they own more varietal acreage than any other vineyard or winery in the Carneros region. They sell to many many wineries in Napa and are very well respected among the wine producing community. The Tempranillo was a very nice easy drinking wine well paired with game (venison, rabbit, duck) as well as most beefs (Fillet Mignon would be a stretch) Love this wine and at ~11 bucks a bottle that value is very good, I really hope the Truchard will woot other wines they produce the Chardonnay, and Pinots are great as well…GREAT WOOT DEAL!

[amtruchard]

@merryberry

Is there anything blended in to these, or are they 100% Tempranillo?

Yes, they are both 100% Tempranillo. - Anthony Truchard

[richardhod]

@rpm

Whether one agrees or disagrees with your evaluation, you have clearly done exactly what one should expect from a labrat: you considered the wine very carefully in all of its aspects and described what you perceived over the evening tasting it. You included some (probably enough) information about your own preferences to put your comments in some perspective.

I found some aspects of the review curious, especially that it seemed particularly hot to you. I don’t like hot wines, but 14.1% is not particularly hot by current standards, and so that fact that you perceived the alcohol as prominent calls for more consideration of what’s going on. Are you particularly sensitive to alcohol levels? What are the wines you ordinarily drink and what are their alcohol levels? I note most red wines on woot are around or north of 14% these days. I also note that you mentioned pronounced astringency. From your review, I think you mean something other than tannin. I find a quality that combines a perception of dryness and astringency in the entry and middle palate typical in all but the fullest bodied Spanish wines - so your perception of something like this in a Tempranillo would make sense. I had wondered whether this is characteristic of the grape, or, like some Italian wines, characteristic of the style and terroir.

At any event, strong kudos for a thoughtful review - and I’m sorry you didn’t like it. At least you seem to understand why you didn’t like it.

I would find it very interesting to hear from the winery with respect to your review - not as a “refutation” or “defense” but as a thoughtful response to the things you perceived.

Seconded! Thank you for the review! I hop you can lo into your thoughts again after this expert prod! Good questioning teacher this one

rpm, do you remember the Tempranillo from Gundlach Bundschu? Another Carneros winery. Reminds me. time to write up my notes…

[jessekincy]

@rpm

The 1.5% variation is only if the alcohol is 14.0% or below. If it is above 14.0%, the permissible variation is + or - 1%. Thus, the wine could be as high as 15.1%, but typically, people are much more careful above 14% since there is less leeway.

Always thought it was 1% across the board. This is why I love reading these boards. Thanks.

EDIT: I meant “1.5% across the board.” Oops.

[aderyn]

@mxracer98

I will probably be in for 2 also, I like BBQ, so then I should buy some so that I make BBQ?

I find it somehow reassuring that I’m not the only one who thinks like this.

[amtruchard]

@NightGhost

From Sal’s audio, it doesn’t sound like he’s intentionally trying to mimic another varietal. However, a couple of reviews on the web suggest that maybe he did so unintentionally.

And of course, the alcohol ain’t shy.

Sal did mention that the vines are grown on a “volcanic ash and rocky knoll” (not sure if those are the exact words). I hope he comes here to answer some of these questions - the wine certainly sounds interesting.

Sal is in the caves making wine today, but I would love to answer your questions. We are not trying mimic any other variety. In fact it is 100% Tempranillo because when we tried to do a blend it would take on the charaterisctic of the grape we blended in. If we added 5% Cab it tasted like Cab. We wanted a pure expression of Tempranillo and kept it at 100%.

Yes is in Volcanic Ash which is rare in Carneros but we have a few out croppings on the property. Let me know if you have any other questions, I would love to help. It is a very tasting wine. We just happened to make a little too much in 04 and 05.

[amtruchard]

@jessekincy

Always thought it was 1% across the board. This is why I love reading these boards. Thanks.

Yes, he is correct about the 1% leeway above 14%. The 2005 Tempranillo however is only 13.9%. We are fairly truthful with our alcohol levels and at 13.9% I don’t think it is too high octane considering what is out there.

[amtruchard]

@richardhod

Seconded! Thank you for the review! I hop you can lo into your thoughts again after this expert prod! Good questioning teacher this one

rpm, do you remember the Tempranillo from Gundlach Bundschu? Another Carneros winery. Reminds me. time to write up my notes…

Yes, we have compaired them. Not too dissimliar in style between the Truchard and Gun Bun. Gun Bun is not in Carneros but both wineries are situated at the southern base of the Mayacamas and share simliar climate and soils.

[amtruchard]

@btuckerman

I’ve been to the winery and have purchased the '04 (still have a couple of bottles) Truchard makes some great wines and the Tempranillo is very good, at least the '04 was! I can tell you that what I know about Truchard is first they own more varietal acreage than any other vineyard or winery in the Carneros region. They sell to many many wineries in Napa and are very well respected among the wine producing community. The Tempranillo was a very nice easy drinking wine well paired with game (venison, rabbit, duck) as well as most beefs (Fillet Mignon would be a stretch) Love this wine and at ~11 bucks a bottle that value is very good, I really hope the Truchard will woot other wines they produce the Chardonnay, and Pinots are great as well…GREAT WOOT DEAL!

Glad to hear from a fan. Yes, this is an incrediable value. My father, the farmer, sometimes plants varieties without to much forethought to marketing.

[amtruchard]

@merryberry

Is there anything blended in to these, or are they 100% Tempranillo?

They are both 100% Tempranillo.