2007 Core C 100% Tempranillo

I'm working on becoming a better photographer but this bottle from our #2 favorite winery was giving me fits because it was really dark. Without a light box I had a hard time shooting this 100% tempranillo that poured every bit as dark as the vessel it came in, so even though the picture says 2005 our bottle was actually a 2007.

D and I wanted something that was red but light the other night with dinner and usually a tempranillo fits the bill. We poured this and the first thing that struck us was how inky it was. It was really dark with some hints of garnet around the rim. The next thing that hit us was the alcohol. It was pretty boozy. I looked at the ABV and it wasn't abnormally high for a California red(Cali likes to up the booze factor). There was also a significant amount of oak and leather on the nose which is a diffferent for a tempranillo.

The first sip I definitely got booze, but there was a hint of chocolate, leather, spice, and just a really unctuous earthiness to this wine. We knew that this was a little young to be drinking now so we hoped it would calm down as it aired a bit. We both left our glasses alone for a good 10 minutes and then tried again. MMmmm more chocolate, more leather, more spice. With all of those qualities you would think that this wine was a big heavy wine but it was surprisingly light in body. This thing was getting good.

D and I had a glass or so each the first night and left the bottle corked with our awesome Rabbit Stoppers. If you don't have a set of these you NEED one. They are the best stoppers ever. They don't stick up too high and they are AIRTIGHT. They will keep bubbles in your bubbly. I even use them to stopper up my 22 Oz beers I don't finish on my own.

Back to the wine though. We reopened it the next night and this thing had blossomed. This was now an unctuous, chocolatey, leathery, earthy, wonder of a wine. One day later this wine was so much better. We had to drink it wuick though because it started turning about 30 minutes after the second opening.

This was a great bottle.