Tim Adams ‘Ladera’ Tempranillo

Retail: $40.00

Varieties: Tempranillo

Vintage: 2021

Country: Australia

Region: Clare Valley

Alcohol: 14%

Bottle size: 750 mL

Description

As the principal variety of the world-renowned wines of Rioja, Tempranillo has long been the backbone of the Spanish red-wine industry. We discovered two important things many years ago; that drinking these wines from Rioja could be a wonderful experience and that the variety itself is well suited to the Clare Valley’s growing conditions and terroir.

This wine demonstrates the definitive Tempranillo characters of strawberry and cherry, in harmony with clove and cinnamon spice derived from 18 months ageing in new French oak hogsheads. The palate is juicy and savoury by Australian standards and is lower in alcohol than most typical red wines.

Winemaking Notes

On an exploratory trip to Spain to meet the winemakers and taste wines in Rioja, Tim met Isaac Muga, who decided to join us to work in Clare for vintage 2004. That same year, we planted 6.5 hectares of Tempranillo on a dry grown site just to the east of the winery. We named this unique site ‘Ladera’, Spanish for ‘slope’ or ‘hillside’ as it has a very valuable and beautiful steep easterly aspect.

Dry-grown Clare Valley Tempranillo was fermented on skins for 10 days and then pressed, with all pressings being returned to the blend. The wine spent 24 months in new and second-use French oak in our barrel store prior to blending, fining and bottling. We recommend decanting before serving.

Growing Conditions

The 2021 vintage was very warm and dry, so yields were low and flavours concentrated. This is one of our smallest Ladera Tempranillo releases on record.

Food Pairing

Spanish tapas, including chorizo sausage and pork and lamb dishes.

Category:

Additional information

Weight 1.33 kg