2016 Idle Hour Tempranillo Heringer Estate Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 91 points

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  7/27/2021 - Central Coast Sharon Likes this wine:

  Super dark in the glass. Plum and cherry on the nose, following through on the palate, with a touch of spearmint on the finish. Her Tempranillo is one of my favorites.

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  4/13/2018 - Fractalage Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Excellent real wine.
  Tasted today at Oakhurst tasting room, which deserves a visit. Today's somm was well versed in his craft and provided excellent information as well as perfect service to a packed house. The place was littered with full old barrels sporting stamps of "Tarensaud" and "Nuits St. Georges" as well as boasting a full bottle of 1969 Petrus displayed among bottles of Chave Hermitage, Mouton Rothschild, Krug, BV etc. (The things you find in the remotest of places)
  
  I was so impressed by the tasting, that I picked up a mixed case.
  
  The Tempranillo wasn't offered in the tasting, but I pestered for the last two labeled bottles, so I was able to open one at home to thoroughly degust.
  
  Firstly, let me write that these wines were real, and if you're not used to real wines, meaning "natural" wines, meaning "bucking the Cali-norm" to not "craft" (manipulate after harvest with the likes of high SO2, acidification, chaptalization, adding color, adding flavor etc.) then, they are not for you, because they will not taste like what you're used to, which may be a very good thing.
  
  This Tempranillo was not their best wine, but I loved it.
  It smacked of something from Jura or Valle D' Aosta, not in taste but in authenticity, which is really what counts.
  
  Translucent ruby sparkled in its slightly effervescent first pour.
  Dusty notes of tart of tartaric spice lead the charge.
  Some foam stayed in the glass for a bit and the tannins opened up quickly, yet nicely. It certainly smelled real, which to me was refreshing to contrast the seemingly endless "crafted" Callfornia tastings I undergo.
  After ninety minutes it evolved into a nose of fresh fruit, sharp acid, floral like spring, cherry, raspberry, touch of cranberry.
  In my mouth it superbly coated with oils of tannin, sticky like after a spinach salad, yet not quite as drastic.
  This wine was great to drink, and kept evolving.
  8/10.

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