Mike Andrews grows more than two dozen grape varieties across his Horse Heaven Hills site south of Prosser, Wash., and he bottles both Tempranillo and Graciano on their own. In this instance, his erstwhile winemaker, John Gabriel, created a Spanish-style wine for his reserve tier involving Tempranillo (56%) and Graciano (44%). The Tempranillo, an early ripener, was harvested Oct. 5, and the Graciano came off 17 days later. There’s significant influence of barrel with aromas of toast, coffee, tar and spice, but there’s an abundance of fruit, too, with black cherry and blackberry. Sandy tannins akin to bittersweet chocolate back up the blackberry and blueberry flavors, leading to a long finish of cherry jam on toast. Enjoy it with lamb chops.
Rating: Excellent
Production: 287 cases
Alcohol: 14%
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