Wow, Tempranillo—

–It is indigenous to Spain. 

–It has a list of aliases…Tinta Roriz, Tinta del Pais, Cencibel, Aragonez, Valdepenas and Ull de Liebre (and more) and it is the major component of Rioja and Ribera del Duero.

–It's earthy, it handles the heat and LOVES oak.

—and I love Tempranillo. 

I'm drinking a 2-day old bottle where the acidity has lightened and the tannins have become silky.  This Matchbook 2009 comes from the Dunnigan Hills AVA in western Yolo County north of Sacramento where the grapes see hot days and cool nights.  CA is a great frontier for this wine varietal, and I'm predicting a great future for this grape in my home state. Tonight I'm having it perfectly paired with an Asiago coated in Rosemary from Trader Joes.  If you don't have the patience to wait 2 days for your wine to settle, decant this young red; it will serve it well.

 If you're local, check out this Tempranillo Celebration in Sacramento at Caverna 57 this Thursday evening.  I'm gonna try to be there.  XOSB