2014 Idle Hour Winery, Tempranillo, Heringer Estate Vineyard, Clarksburg.
Anna Marie Dos Remedios crafts some very interesting wines, mostly natural style efforts with most coming from vineyards that are on the Delta in the Clarksburg AVA for her Idle Hour Winery in Oakhurst, especially charming and alluring is her 2014 Heringer Estate Vineyard Tempranillo. Made in a traditional Crianza style with used American and French oak, the 2014 Tempranillo, grown on sandy loam, shows a real homage to youthful Rioja Baja and or Ribera del Duero wines with expressive dark fruits, floral tones and earthy notes in a richly flavored medium bodied wine. Anna Marie’s wines are extremely low sulfur offerings and remind me a little of Alfredo Maestro’s Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon wines with just a tiny amount of funk and light reduction, but this 2014 is clear and fruit forward with nice balance and hedonistic character with a bright ruby/garnet color, sweet violets and dried roses along with briar spices on the nose which leads to a palate of ripe raspberry, bing cherry, fresh picked plum and earthy mulberry fruits as well as subtle anise seed, dusty stones, cedar, cola and faint vanilla bean. This 2014 seems to have enough acidity and fine grained satiny tannin to hold up well for a few years, though it should be enjoyed in it’s current window and with cuisine, in particular roast meats or mushroom dishes. Of the Idle Hour lineup this 2014 100% Tempranillo was by far my favorite, I tasted it at the Carmel Valley Village tasting room, though they also have a tasting room at the winery near Yosemite, with winemaker Anna Marie Dos Remedios, who also makes some fine single clone Santa Lucia Highlands Pinots, well worth checking out, her wines will appeal to those that enjoy authentic handcrafted, slightly rustic and natural wines.
($26 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive
