texas wine journal · the tempranillo category featured 36 wines (25 producers and 13 single...

TexaS Wine Journal Category Report | Tempranillo- 2014

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April 2015 - 1Texas Wine Journal - A subsidiary of the Texas Wine Consortium a registered 501c(3) - www.TexasWineJournal.org

About Journal RatingS

Texas Wine Journal ratings are about building awareness for Texas wines through independent, credible and

objective ratings. Through consensus, as opposed to the voice and opinions of a single judge, we can create a

more comprehensive and insightful guide.

Journal ratings are based on tastings by a panel of judges; of which a five-judge quorum is required. All wines

are tasted under single blind conditions and organized based on peer group (meaning that the same types of

wines are tasted against each other and the producers’ names are not known). Price is also not a known factor

when the panel meets.

Each producer receives notice of their wine’s rating prior to any rating being published. Ratings will be held in

confidence if the producer chooses not to allow its publication. The exception to this rule is if a wine rates in

the top five of its respective category. The rating will also be included as part of the population of ratings to be

analyzed for trends within the category, which is presented as a category report. Only wines scoring 80 points

or higher will be published. Wines that are considered flawed or atypical are re-tasted.

All wines are evaluated on a standardized form based on a 20-point score. The 20-point score is converted to a

100 point score using the same conversion method that Decanter Magazine uses. In addition to pointed ratings,

a consumer rating will be provided in the form of Recommended and Highly Recommended wines. Every 0.25

points on a 20-point scale is equivalent to roughly 1.0 point on a 100-point scale.


Type Of Data We TrackWine Score (20-points and 100-points) •

Category Average •

Single Wine Deviation: A measure of panel consensus for • a single wine

Average Deviation Across Category: The average devia- • tion between a single wine and the category average - An average calculation across each wine’s individual deviation. The larger the number, the more a single wine deviates from the cateogory average

Typicity Across Category: A Measure of typicity • (consistency in style) - A deviation calculation across all averaged wine scores. The smaller the number, the higher degree of typicity

Panel Consensus: Represents how well the panel tastes as • a judging body - A deviation calculation of category averages across all judges. The smaller the number, the more consensus

Appellation Tracking: Breakdown of Texas AVAs •

Vineyard Tracking •

Vintage Tracking •

Texas vs. The World: A seperate category that places the • top rated Texas wine from a given category in a blind tasting of world wines

Year-to-Date Breakdown•

Tempranillo 2014Category Average: 14.69/20 (82 Points) •

Average Deviation Across Category: 0.94 •

Typicity Across Category: 1.84 •

Panel Consensus: 0.73•

Texas Wine Journal - A subsidiary of the Texas Wine Consortium a registered 501c(3) - www.TexasWineJournal.org April 2015 - 3

Wine Storage Wines are cellared in the bonded and air conditioned space of Vinovium Partners located at 401 Ranch Road 620 North, #C2, Lakeway Texas, 78734.

Score Breakdown 95-100 – Extraordinary. Superior character and style.

90-94 – Excellent. Noteworthy character and highly recommended.

85-89 – Very good. Wine with special qualities and potentially a great value depending on price.

80-84 – Good. Solid wine with above average character.

75-79 – Average. Straightforward with little distinction beyond being soundly made.

C Miguel Lecuona, Wine Marketing Guide LLC.Submit Photos To Be Featured


Category ReportThe Tempranillo category featured 36 wines (25 producers and 13 single vineyards) that came from grapes sourced from across the state; 15 (42%) were appellated Texas, seven (19%) from the Texas Hill Country and 14 (39%) from the Texas High Plains. The average prices of the wines submitted was $30, which ranged from $13 to $50 and included the follow-ing: 1 from the 2010 vintage, 8 from 2011, 24 from 2012, 1 from 2013 and 2 from 2014.

The Top 5 Rated WineS

Lewis Wines, Texas Hill Country, Round Mountain Vineyard, ‘Estate Blend’ 2011 - 17.44/20, 1. 93 Points - $45

Pedernales Cellars, Texas, Tempranillo Reserve, 2012 - 17.42/20, 2. 91 Points - $49

Blue Ostrich Winery, Texas, Tempranillo, ‘Barrel Reserve’ 2012 - 17.17/20, 3. 91 Points - $30

Spicewood Vineyards, Texas Hill Country, Estate Tempranillo, 2012 - 16.92/20, 4. 90 Points - $45

Pemberton Cellars, Texas, Tempranillo, 2012 - 16.63/20, 5. 89 Points - $28

Producers Featured In The Tempranillo Category

Alamosa Wine Cellars• Brushy Creek Vineyards• Blue Ostrich Winery• Brennan Vineyards• Duchman Family Winery• Haak Vineyards & Winery• Fall Creek Vineyard• Flat Creek Estate•

Ground Up• Hye Meadow Winery• Kiepersol Estate• Landon Winery• Lewis Wines • Llano Estacado Winery • Lost Draw Cellars• Pedernales Cellars•

Pemberton Cellars• Red Caboose Winery• Solaro Estate• Spicewood Vineyards• Texas Hills Vineyards• Times Ten Cellars• Wedding Oak Winery• Whistling Duck Winery•


After each category is tasted and rated the scores across the panel are averaged, which allows us to track the consensus across a wide range of palates and thus produces a final rating that is more objective and comprehensive; even when category and panel deviations are considered. To that point, 11% of the wines rated were defined to be ‘Excellent’ by Journal definitions (scoring 90-95 points), 36% were rated ’Very Good’ (scoring 84-89 points), 22% were rated ‘Good’ wines (scoring 80-84 points), 17% were ‘Average’ wines (scoring 75-79 points) and 14% were ‘Below Average’ (74 points or less).

RatingS Breakdown Extraordinary (95-100) - 0 total

Excellent (90-94) - 4 total, 50% THC, 50% THP

Very Good (85-89) - 13 total, 31% TX, 15% THC, 54% THP

Good (80-84) - 8 total, 37.5% TX, 25% THC, 37.5% THP

Average (75-79) - 6 total, 67% TX, 17% THC, 17% THP

Below Average (<75) - 5 total, 40% TX, 60% THP

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Single VineyardS Bayer Family Vineyard - 8 acres1. Bingham Family Vineyard - 250 acres2. Cathedral Mountain Vineyards - 10 acres3. Klassen Vineyards - ? acres4. Kuhlken Vineyards - 17 acres5. Lost Draw Vineyards - 45 acres6. Newsom Vineyard - 140 acres7. Parr Vineyards - 15 acres8. Reddy Vineyards - 280 acres9. Round Mountain Vineyard - 4 acres10. Rush Creek Vineyards - 3 acres11. Salt Lick Vineyards - 35 acres12. Spicewood Estate Vineyard - 32 acres13.

20 Point Deviation 100 Point Range Rank Price

C 15.58 0.14 86 85-86 - $20

1 16.30 1.11 88 85-94 8 $36

2 17.17 1.04 91 86-93 3 $30

3 15.81 0.80 86 83-88 12 $24

4 16.42 0.52 88 86-90 7 $20

5 14.81 0.94 83 80-86 21 $25

6 15.44 0.88 85 81-88 14 $13

7 15.08 1.01 84 81-87 19 $20

8 15.56 1.46 86 82-92 13 $24

9 13.25 1.32 77 72-81 27 $25

10 15.83 1.23 86 83-91 11 NYR

11 15.94 1.13 86 83-91 9 $32

12 14.75 0.25 82 81-83 22 $20

13 13.83 1.01 80 77-83 25 $35

14 13.17 1.13 77 73-81 28 $25

15 12.00 1.00 73 70-76 32 $32

16 16.92 2.02 90 86-97 4 $45

17 14.56 0.59 82 79-83 23 $25

18 10.75 0.35 69 68-70 36 $24

19 11.88 1.49 73 68-80 34 $23

20 13.56 0.43 79 76-80 26 $34

21 17.42 1.81 91 88-96 2 $30

22 15.33 0.38 85 83-86 15 $36

23 11.45 0.37 71 70-73 35 $22

24 11.94 1.09 73 70-78 33 $38

25 16.63 1.74 89 83-96 5 $28

26 16.44 0.59 88 86-91 6 $32

27 17.94 1.14 93 87-96 1 $45

28 15.88 0.18 86 86-86 10 $26

29 12.58 1.01 76 71-76 30 $29

30 15.06 1.33 84 78-88 20 $30

31 12.83 0.88 76 76-79 29 $30

32 14.17 0.76 81 78-83 24 $32

33 15.33 0.52 85 82-86 16 $35

34 15.13 0.88 84 81-86 18 $35

35 12.38 0.53 75 73-76 31 $50

36 15.17 1.04 84 80-86 17 $35


Vintage Breakdown

2010 - 1 total (3%) - 100% BA2011 - 8 total (22%) - 13% E, 38% VG 38% G, 13% BA2012 - 24 total (67%) - 13% E, 33% VG, 21% G, 25% A, 8% BA2013 - 1 total (3%) - 100% G2014 - 2 total (6%) - 50% VG, 50% BA

Extraordinary - EE , Excellent - E , Very Good - VG

Good- G , Average - A , Below Average - BA

AVA Breakdown

Texas - 15 total (42%) - 13% E, 27% VG, 20% G, 27% A, 13% BATHP - 14 total (39%) - 0% E, 50% VG, 21% G, 7% A, 21% BATHC- 7 total (67%) - 29% E, 29% VG, 29% G, 14% A, 0% BA

Extraordinary - EE , Excellent - E , Very Good - VG

Good- G , Average - A , Below Average - BA

Typicity AcroSS VintageS

Typicity AcroSS AVAS


TexaS vS. The WorldThe top rated Texas wine from a given category represents Texas in a separate category called Texas vs. The World, where wines of similar varietals, styles or blends are tasted blind and rated. The top rated Texas wine from the Tempa-nillo category scored 93 points in the initial category tasting and scored 91 points in the Texas vs. The World catego-ry tasting. The results of the Texas vs. The World category are below:

Bodegas Muga, Rioja, Gran Reserva, ‘Prado Enea’ 2005 - TWJ 92, RP 95, ST 94 - $551. Lewis Wines, Texas Hill Country, Round Mountain Vineyard, ‘Estate Blend’ 2011 - TWJ 91 - $452. Numanthia, Toro, ‘Tremes’ 2011 - TWJ 90, WS 90 - $323. Merkin Vineyards, New Mexico, Tempranillo, ‘Tarzan’ 2013, TWJ 90 - $304. Dominio de Pingus, Ribera del Duero, ‘Psi’ 2011 - TWJ 89, RP 91 - $455. Caduceus, Arizona (Cochise County), Tempranillo, ‘Sancha’ 2012 - TWJ 88 - $606. Marques de Caceres, Rioja, Reserva, 2009 - TWJ 87, WS 90 - $207. Bodegas Salano, Valencia, Tempranillo, 2013 - TWJ 87 - $128.

Photo Taken March 21 at Flat Creek EstateSubmit Photos To Be Featured

Tasting Order

Average Deviation Rank Range Price Other Published Ratings

1 85.8 4.32 8 82-91 $12

2 90 0.82 4 89-91 $30

3 86.5 1.91 7 85-89 $20 WS 90

4 91.2 2.77 1 87-94 $55 RP 95, ST 94

5 88 2.83 6 86-92 $60

6 89 5.15 5 83-93 $45 RP 91

7 90.8 4.60 2 85-95 $45

8 90.2 1.48 3 88-92 $20 WS 90

March 2015 - 9Texas Wine Journal - A subsidiary of the Texas Wine Consortium a registered 501c(3) - www.TexasWineJournal.org

A PartnerShip At Work

Overview of CategorieS


Category Total Wines Category Average Average Deviation Across Category

Typicity Across Category

Panel Consensus

Syrah 15 86 0.78 0.69 0.35

White Blends 21 81 1.15 1.61 1.43

Red Blends 30 83 0.69 1.15 0.41

Merlot 11 82 0.94 1.49 0.41

Cabernet Sauvignon 26 83 0.97 1.43 0.54

Blanc Du Bois 19 80 0.75 1.44 0.30

Sangiovese 12 83 0.85 1.49 0.71

Tempranillo 36 82 0.94 1.84 0.73

Total/Average 170 83 0.88 1.39 0.61


How WineS Are Arranged

1st: Light to full body based on alcohol content

2nd: Dry to sweet based on residual sugar content

3rd: Tasting by Director for side-by-side fairness

April 2015 - 12

2014 RatingS Breakdown (acroSS all categorieS)

Wines Rated To Date

170

Producers That Submit

49

Average Panel Consensus To Date

0.61Categories Rated To Date

8Hours Rating Wines To Date

54Hours Analyzing Results To Date

317

Extraordinary (95-100)

Excellent (90-94)

Very Good (85-89)

Good (80-84)

Average (75-79)

Below Average (<75)

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March 2015 - 13

Judge Feedback - Raw & Unfiltered


“Tempranillo has either become the popular or unofficial red grape of Texas; should it be? I think it is still too early to tell and my main two reasons are as notated in the following statements.

Tempranillo in Texas does not yet have a clear typicity from any of it’s Approved Viticultural Areas. If Tempranillo is considered a major red varietal player in TX wine production than what is the classic style for a Hill Country AVA or High Plains AVA Tempranillo? As an example, Spanish Toro (Tempranillo) is over-ripe and raisinated in their style while nearby Rioja is much less ripe and more elegant. Texas, of course, is more than expansive and diverse enough to deliver more than one overall style, however, to be taken seriously, each AVA, in time, should have a certain level of typicity to point to. This is based more on what the vineyard source (terrior) brings to the wine and then secondly what the wine maker and cultural norms may have on the final product. Just judging the wines based on balance and the ability to drink it brought out one major point. The tasting group all agreed that the lighter more restrained style of Tempranillo scored much better than the bigger riper style. It is easy to name off producers and the wine makers of several established Texas Tempranillos but it is very difficult for us to name several key Tempranillo vineyards and vineyard managers who can consistently grow quality Tempranillo, especially if they openly sell the fruit. The focus in the state and all the pressure is on the winemaker and not the viticulturist if there ever even was one involved at all. The tasting showed that there is invariable grape growing and a lack of quality fruit sources and without that there will not be consistently well made Tempranillo that the state of Texas can put its stamp on. I would like to see my home state of Texas win the claim to consistent quality driven Tempranillo but based on my recent travels, and tastings the “Spanish alternative’s” such as Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington may be the bet-ter alternates to the Tempranillo home land of Spain than Texas, but it is not too late, as we are all just getting started.”

“When there is substantial evidence of Brett, it is because of a hygiene problem in the vinification or stocking areas. Contrary to popular or-ganic beliefs of those making such contaminated wines and those who sell it to the public, the aromatic and organaleptic characters of Brett is not a desirable element; nor is the shelf life expectancy of these wines long lasting and durable.

Some of the Tempranillo’s where prematurely oxidized. Although it can be flattering for some wines, the oxidation denatured the true charac-teristic of the Tempranillos affected. The control of the flow of oxygen is a vinification issue that needs to be monitored more closely during the alcoholic fermentation.

As for the Volatile acids present in many of the wines, this can be not only a vinification problem, but can also be due to the poor quality of the fruit used during the fermentation. Fruit and vine health, as well as small yields are the true factors for quality wines more than anything else. Over producing a vine to get maximum yields is not a good long term solution for producing concentrated quality grape juice and repu-table quality wines.”


Judge Feedback Continued“The Good: A few wines were excellent to outstanding. Aromatic profiles including tart cherry, mahogany, leather, and orange rind, con-firmed on the palate, well-balanced, nice structure and a long finish, leaving you wanting more and wanting to lay down a few for the 10 year ride. If you like your Tempranillo lively but under disciplined control, you were happy to encounter these stallions in the stable. I also think a few of these studs may have blended with other grapes, from Cabernet to Tinta Cao or Touriga. It is not uncommon in Rioja to encoun-ter amazing wines blended with as much as 25%+ OTT (Other Than Tempranillo), so not only is this “allowed”, it is actively pursued in quality Reserva and top-level Tempranillo-based wines. And they do stand the test of time.

The Bad: Quite a few wines indicated a degree of ripeness to the point of being off-putting. At first pass, I thought I was encountering a series of corked, oxidized wines, one after another. Or, wines that were well past their code dates. After a round-table discussion with the group, what emerged was a sense that there is a style of Tempranillo that exudes an over-ripe, softer, raisiny profile. In fact, the Tempranillo brought in as the Calibration Wine (as 90 point Wine Spectator rated wine from Spain) was more in this profile than the restrained version. It too, was marked down! Whatever, intentional or not, this style of “fast and loose” Tempranillo dominated the tasting, and was not pleasant. Judging from the reactions of my peers, I was not alone in this conclusion.

The Ugly: A few winemakers may have been disappointed in the grapes they received, because there was evidence of manipulation in the worst examples. Layered on top of this over-ripe, raisin-prune compote was overt acidification, varying degrees and styles of oak, and even chaptalization, all in a desperate (or misguided?) attempt to create something from nothing. Many tasting notes were simply omitted or the wines marked down so severely as to make it seem to publish scores. These were embarrassing disasters.

Do the winemakers and growers communicate about the quality of the resulting wines, tasting them together and in context with other Tem-pranillo?

These wines were tasted in November 2014. Most were harvested in 2011 and 2012. The mindset in the Texas wine industry, among growers as well as wineries, is evolving at a rapid rate. So this tasting reflects the reality of the state of the industry at those moments, not necessarily of today.”

“What I am seeing is not so much oenology “outpacing” viticulture, but rather there is a huge almost dysfunctional disconnect between the two. Any quality winemaker will be hugely concerned with management of the vineyards for his fruit and should have a close hands on work-ing relationship with the vineyard management team (short of owning his/her own vines of course which is ideal). It is not enough to say “Harvest at 27 Brix” and be done with it. Conversely, any grape grower who wants to have his fruit made into quality wine must be well versed in winemaking technique and understand what will be needed by the winemaker long before the grapes are harvested.

What I see is two sides working alone and not together as a team, and the end result is a sea of mediocre wines that all taste essentially the same.”


In ConcluSion The Tempranillo category featured 36 wines, from 25 producers, and averaged out to 82 points. The average retail •

bottle price was $30

The Journal Highly Recommends 8 wines or 22%, which is the most seen to date for a single category, not the • highest percentage seen however; and Recommends 17 wines or 47%

Four wines in the category are defined as “Excellent” wines by Journal definitions scoring 90-95 points, which is • both the most seen and highest percentage across all categories tasted to date

The Tempranillo category featured the highest rated wine out of the 170 total wines tasted to date. It is also the first • category to reach 4 or more wines that rate 90+

70% of the wines submitted were rated 80 points and above. 47% rated Very Good to Excellent and 11% rated • Excellent. The Tempranillo category featured the highest percentage of wines rated 90+

Zero wines in the top 5 were appellated Texas High Plains. The top 5 consisted of 40% Texas Hill Country AVA and • 60% Texas AVA. Only 2 wines in the top 10 were appellated Texas High Plains. The top 10 breakdown is 4 Texas, 4 Tex-as Hill Country and 2 Texas High Plains respectively.

13 Single Vineyards were represented, which is the most seen in all categories tasted to date. The single vineyards • represented in the Top 5 are Round Mountain Vineyard and Spicewood Estate Vineyard

The panel consensus score of 0.73, is within what is considered statistically accurate for normal distirubtions. The • average panel consensus across all categories tasted to date is 0.61

The Texas Hill Country had the highest percentage of wines rated Very Good to Excellent and the smallest percent-• age of wines rated Good to Below Average


ConcluSion Continued The panel rated the Tempranillo category with the least amount of consensus when compared to the other varietal •

categories. Even though the consensus score of 0.73 points (2.92 on a 100 point scale) is the highest score of all vari-etal categories, it is still within statistically acceptable deviations. Only the White Blends category shows the least panel consensus overall with a consensus score of 1.43 points (5.73 points on a 100 point scale)

The Tempranillo category has the highest degree of non-typicity between individual wines when compared to • ALL other categories. This factor suggests that while certain Texas Tempranillos can perform very well individually, the cat-egory as whole contains a lot of variance from one wine to another. In fact, the Tempranillo category shows less typicity than the White Blends category. The difference, is that the panel consensus is more accurate in the Tempranillo catego-ry and better supports the claim that the Tempranillo category shows less typicity overall

The 2012 vintage showed more typicity than the overall category and the 2011 vintage; 1.66, 1.84 and 2.06 respectively. • This suggests that even though there is a tremendous amount of variance across both the vintages mentioned and the overall category, the 2012 vintage shows 10% more typicity over the overall category and 19% more typicity over the 2011 vintage. Because these typicity numbers are well above what is considered a normal distribution we cannot de-fer any absolutes from the 2012 vintage data outside of the comparison made to the category as a whole, which shows that 44% of the 2012 rated Very Good to Excellent, while 47% of the overall category rated Very Good To Excellent. The typicity calculation is the biggest demarcation between the 2012 vintage and the overall category

Photo Taken April 3rd at Pilot Knob Winery Submit Photos To Be Featured


Our CollaboratorS

By industry professionals, for industry professionals, the new SOMM Journal serves as an educational tool for on- and off-premise hospitality professionals as well as those looking to further their understanding of wine and spirits. Under the guidance of Meridith May, Pub-lisher and Editorial Director for the nation”s most-red beverage industry publication, the The Tasting Panel Magazine, Somm Journal’s team of top-shelf contributors includes internation-ally renowned wine writers, sommeliers and authorities. The SOMM Journal is a bi-monthly publication that has a distribution list of 50,000 beverage professionals throughout the Unit-ed States and an ever growing international audience.

The Texas Wine Consortium (the Consortium) is a nonprofit launched in April 2012 with the mission to inform, educate and promote Texas Wines to the trade, consumer and prospec-tive industry partners. The Consortium aims to be the go-to source for data and information about the industry, a leader in the development of quality standards as well as cellaring the largest library of Texas wines with which to use for educational and awareness purposes; of which the Texas Wine Journal is included.

Vinovium Partners was organized in 2012 and permitted in 2013 as a Bonded Wine Cellar / Wine Blender (TTB) and a G permit winery in Texas (TABC). Our business model is a négoci-ant model, where through the power of consolidation we are able to provide one-stop-shop capabilities for a varying degree of end customers. Our goal is to become the premier seller and marketer in Texas of fine wines packaged in recyclable commercial kegs and in recyclable consumer-oriented, aseptic packages. Vinovium Partners inventories and cellars all wines for the Texas Wine Journal.

The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas is a membership nonprofit using their passion for wine and food to better the health and well-being of our community by hosting public wine and food events, educational opportunities and the finest wine auction in the Southwest funding culinary scholarships, educational grants and other deserving causes. The Founda-tion provides the Texas Wine Journal a home each month to conduct panel tastings.

Our CollaboratorS ContinuedTexas Hill Country Wineries is a not-for-profit community organiza-tion that preserves and promotes the healthy and value added lifestyle of Texas Wines. THCW contributes to the quality of life in and around the Texas Hill Country’s nationally recognized wine trails and events. They represent 32 unique and independent wineries committed tpromoting industry ad-vancement and consumer awareness through event and agricultural pro-grams.

The mission of the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association, Inc. is to promote the production and appre-ciation of premium grapes and fine wines from Texas, and to represent a unified state industry with common marketing, governmental and educa-tional goals.

Texas Wine & Trail Magazine is a multi-faceted magazine that offers “ACCESS TO THE MOST INFLUENTIAL WINE VOICES IN THE STATE.” The publica-tion is dedicated to showcasing the amazing diversity of Texas wine cul-ture and growing the success of the Texas wine industry. Submit Photos To Be Featured

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Tasting Date

March 17, 2015April 21, 2015

May 5, 2015May 19, 2015

June 23, 2015July 21, 2015

August 18, 2015September 22, 2015

October 20, 2015November 17, 2015December 15, 2015

Category

SyrahWhite Blends

Viognier and RoussanneDry Rose and Other Mediterranean

White VarietalBlanc Du Bois

Red BlendsSangiovese

MerlotOther Mediterranean Red Varietal

Tempranillo

Submission Due Date

March 10, 2015April 14, 2015April 28, 2015May 12, 2015June 16, 2015July 14, 2015August 11, 2015September 15, 2015October 13, 2015November 10, 2015December 8, 2015

texas wine journal · the tempranillo category featured 36 wines (25 producers and 13 single...

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