Yorba Tempranillo

dark purple-black. nose was a bit alcoholoic, but settled down in decanter. dry, tobacco, fruit, sweet tannins, well balanced. would buy again if mid-$20's.

Great wine and drinking very nice.

Lots of sediment in the bottle, but clear ruby nonetheless. Cigar box nose, ultra-smooth tannins, great red fruit, white pepper, and a long silky finish. The Tempranillo equivalent of a 10+ year old Cabernet. I love this wine.

Drinking at peak now. All red fruit and spice and sweet tannins. Wonderfully expressive Tempranillo.

2012 TAPAS (Tempranillo Advocates, Producers and Amigos Society) Tasting (Fort Mason Festival Pavillon, San Francisco, California) : Dark purple red violet color; deep plum, tart black fruit, violets nose; tasty, tart black fruit, plum, tart berry palate; medium-plus finish

Consistent with prior note. Definitely fruit-forward, but with good structure.

Ruddy purple. Spicy blackberry, dried leather, and a bit of creamy vanilla on the nose. Medium bodied, blueberries, black cherries, tobacco, dried herbs, smooth drying tannins, good acid, and a spicy medium to long finish. Really good now.

2011 TAPAS (Tempranillo Advocates, Producers and Amigos Society) Tasting (Herbst Pavillion, Fort Mason, San Francisco, California) : Medium dark purple red violet color; aromatic, berry, dried berry nose with wood tones; tight, tart berry, smoke, black fruit palate with integrated oak; needs 3-4 years; medium-plus finish

This wine was popped, poured and serially tasted over two hours. The bottle had been kindly given to me as a gift by one of the winery's owners. I must admit that my initial thought was that this would simply be another substandard Italian knock-off from California. I was wrong. The wine shows a beautiful opaque purple robe with violet rim. The nose is clean, with quite intense aromas (developing over the first hour) of black cherry liqueur, licorice, minerals, …

In Vino Unitas: California Producers Direct Market (St. Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco, California) : Dark purple red violet color; nice ripe berry, spice, blue plum, licorice nose; tasty, lovely, ripe plum, berry palate, delicious now but should be humming in 3-plus years; medium-plus finish 92+ pts. (95% Tempranillo, 5% Graciano)

2010 Family Winemakers Tasting San Francisco; 8/22/2010-8/23/2010 (Fort Mason Festival Pavillon, San Francisco, California) : Spicy berry nose; tasty, spicy berry palate with depth; medium-plus finish 92+ pts. (95% Tempranillo, 5% Graciano)