2012 Suncé Tempranillo Ripken

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 91 points

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  3/24/2015 - Wine.woot_taster wrote:

  We tasted the 2012 Suncé Winery & Vineyard Lodi Tempranillo Ripken Vineyard the other night and were pleasantly surprised with the quality of this wine. It is produced in small batches of only 12 barrels.
  
  On the pallet I got Black cherries, tobacco and a certain minerality. It had a long finish. It was a very pretty ruby red with nice clarity.
  
  After 15 min of of being open, the tannins began to soften beautifully. An hour later, the aromas in the glass were heavenly and remained so, even until the next day! ddeuddeg & I paired it with some whole wheat pasta with homemade sauce and some medium Italian chicken sausage patties and a side of peas. I added a few red pepper flakes to my sauce. It worked well with this food selection.
  
  This is a very difficult decision: to buy or not to buy? No space. No money. I'll have to see what the other tasters have to say.

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  3/24/2015 - Wine.woot_taster wrote:

  LW and I enjoyed a bottle of the Tempranillo on Sunday. Upon opening, there was a delightful aroma of black cherries and plums, with a hint of something more. In the glass, a deep, dark color, very rich-looking. I gave it a swirl and took a sip, swished it around, and swallowed. Then came the violation of one of our house rules: I exclaimed, "Ooh, that's really nice." We each try hard not to comment on wines before the other has had a chance to form an independent opinion.
  No real harm done, just sayin'.
  
  On to taste some more with our meal of pasta with my homemade marinara sauce, a few hot pepper flakes added for flavor, and some chicken sausage. The wine was a perfect accompaniment for the food, an embodiment of Scott Harvey's explanation of why we want wine as part of a meal: "Each sip of wine clears the palate, making it ready for the next bite of food." As we continued, I detected some additional notes of cassis and leather, with smooth tannins, and an underlying astringency reminiscent of my favorite Tempranillos, and which makes it just right with a wide variety of foods.
  
  This wine compares very favorably with my favorite Tempranillos from Spain, and from Twisted Oak, where the winemaker is a master at crafting wonderful wines from this particular grape. If the other wines in this offer are anywhere near this good, this is a tremendous deal.

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