Southern Oregon Meets Spain

I do like John and Dorothy's regular column on wines in the Wall Street Journal. While some critics have labeled their commentary as pedestrian (aka the Rachel Rays of the wine world) .I entirely disagree and believe that, given the breadth of WSJ readership, John and Dorothy have had a significant and materially positive impact of wine consumption in the US. Their approach and analysis de-mystifies wine, while celebrating its delights. They make finding and enjoying a variety of wines much easier for novices and guzzlers alike. Just b/c they don't discuss the threat of brett, TCA and cork taint, and their flavor profiling uses real words and tastes (Parker once noted a "tincture of iodine" in one of his tasting notes--what?? Tanzer gets lost in his forest of superlatives) don't short change their taste buds either, as both John and Dorothy have sensitive, sophisticated palates. My hat goes off to them.

Which brings me to the reason for the reference; they often have an "unusual wine" section in their weekly report. Sometime last year they reported that a winery in the Southern Oregon appellation (where?) was making enjoyable Spanish and Italian varietals. Intrigued, I gave the winery a call and as is my ilk ordered a case of its varietals from the 2003 vintage. I found Abacela's wines, the Dolcetto, Malbec and Albarino I tried, to be good to very good, relatively straightforward, but nice expressions of fruit. The Abacela 2003 Estate Tempranillo, Southern Oregon, however, is a distinct wine by any measure and is worth tracking down as it is excellent. I think I paid around $28 a bottle with the case discount. It checks in at a modest 13.7% alcohol.

Tasting Notes: Nutmeg on the nose, with cedar and cinnamon, chocolate and dark fruit mid-palate, chewy and dense, complex array of anise, dark fruits and rich flavors, firm blackberry finish. From any other appellation, one could say that this wine is a fine expression of its terroir but, not to knock the wine in the least, what represents an expression of the vineyards of Southern Oregon?? The simple answer might be the Abacela Estate Tempranillo.

Rating: Excellent, tasty.

Cheers, Barrld

PS The Abacela website(abacela.com) posts a late January 2007 article for Matt Kramer (of WS fame) in the Oregonian in which Matt profoundly praises the 2004 Estate Tempranillo so I guess Abacela has things going for it. Good for the founders they deserve applause for going against conventional wisdom and planting interesting varietals in unique locations then bringing high quality affordable wines to the market. Bravo!