All the wines we tasted were phenomenal.”Ī year ago, one of the Northwest’s more fascinating examples of Tempranillo was produced by Walla Walla Community College. ![]() Try some of these other varietals that deserve the attention - like today. “We can get Tempranillo the spotlight it deserves and get consumers to try more than their standard Pinot Noirs, Cabs and Syrahs. “We want to come back, and when we come back we hope there will be more producers,” Castillo said. There also were a number of Tempranillo bottles poured by wineries in the North Willamette Valley - Pinot Noir country. That wine was among those inserted into one of the tasting seminars, which featured brief informal presentations by those who made the individual wines. “From a wine standpoint, I thought the Southern Oregon wines were expressive and more fruit-driven and balanced than we what have to work with in the Walla Walla Valley at this point.”Įarlier this month, Martin’s winemaking wife, Rachael, earned a double gold for her Red Lily 2012 Tempranillo at the 2016 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. “The focus was Southern Oregon rather than the Willamette Valley, and as Milton-Freewater we were a bit of an outside example,” Castillo said. The single-day conference included a series of blind Tempranillo tastings to study the influence of soil types and aging as well as analyze wines made in several American Viticultural Areas throughout Oregon - including the Walla Walla Valley. (Photo by Eric Degerman/Great Northwest Wine) And we had 30 of those wineries sign up and participate for the Celebration.” Tempranillo symposium features 3 blind tastings Rachael Martin, winemaker for Red Lily Vineyards in Jacksonville, Ore., earned a double gold at the 2016 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for her 2012 Red Lily Tempranillo. “We now have 42 members starting from scratch, and that’s out of 57 Tempranillo producers in the state, so we’ve gotten the majority of the wineries to sign on with us. “We were super happy with the way things turned out,” Martin said. Jones recruited Martin, Scott Steingraber of Kriselle Cellars and Eric Weisinger of Weisinger Family Winery in January 2015 to help develop and coordinate the program for the alliance’s Oregon Tempranillo Celebration. ![]() We’ve piggybacked on what he started, and now some people are piggybacking off of us.” He’s probably tired of me calling him ‘The Godfather of Tempranillo,’ but he really is. Les Martin, co-owner of Red Lily Vineyards in Jacksonville, said, “Obviously, we are always grateful to Earl. “It’s remarkable growth in such a short period of time.” ![]() “This came together beautifully, thanks to all of the Tempranillo producers,” said Jones, who noted the grape now has a $9 million presence in Oregon. “We really wanted to be a part of this because there’s the opportunity in Oregon to showcase high-end domestic Tempranillo,” Castillo told Great Northwest Wine.įriday’s conference was the brainchild of Earl Jones, founding winemaker of Abacela in Oregon’s Umpqua Valley, who planted the state’s first commercial Tempranillo vineyard in 1995. The winemaker of Castillo de Felicana Vineyard and Winery traveled the farthest to reach Ashland near the California border, but he and his parents felt at home as members of the new Oregon Tempranillo Alliance. Chris Castillo made sure the Walla Walla Valley was represented at the inaugural Oregon Tempranillo Celebration. ![]() (Photo by Eric Degerman/Great Northwest Wine)ĪSHLAND, Ore. Chris Castillo, winemaker for Castillo de Feliciana Vineyard and Winery in Milton-Freewater, Ore., made the eight-hour, cross-state drive to attend the inaugural Oregon Tempranillo Alliance Celebration on Jan.
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