2023
Stoneridge Tempranillo
The dark, blood-red color of this wine reveals some of its primal aromatic and flavor characteristics. Steak juice, iron, venison, beef jerky, hard salami, or perhaps liver pâté. There is something wonderfully feral about it, though not for long. With time in the decanter, the savory characteristics subtly fade and the fruit core asserts itself: sun-warmed, mashed berries from the bottom of the basket; an elderberry tincture; plum sauce. Texturally, the wine doesn’t ask too much of you. Alcohol, acid, tannin, and body are all present without becoming the point of the wine, leaving plenty of room to savor its wild and pretty nature. Some flowers and earthy mushroom qualities round things out, and before long we’ve wandered pretty deep into the edible forest.
Buy Now $55Vintages
- 2023
- 2022
Labeled Appellation
Vineyard(s)
Stoneridge Vineyard
Varietal(s)
95% Tempranillo, 5% Syrah
Vinification
Fermented for 14 days in oak barrels, with 30% whole cluster inclusion. The must was left on the grape skins for 30 days of extended contact with the grape skins. Aged 23 months in oak barrels.
Alcohol
14.7%
Cases Produced
43
Vintage Notes
A Distinctive Royal Slope Site
The 2023 growing season was a welcome return to balance in the Columbia Valley. After a cool start delayed bud break into late April, a dramatic warm-up in May quickly brought the vines back on pace. Summer settled into steady warmth, and aside from a brief heat spike in mid-August, the season avoided the prolonged extremes of recent vintages. Cooler September and October days slowed sugar accumulation and gave the fruit valuable hang time, allowing flavor, color, and tannin development to reach maturity at their own pace.
The Stoneridge Tempranillo was hand-harvested in October from this distinctive Royal Slope site. Fermentation took place in oak barrels for 14 days with 30% whole-cluster inclusion, followed by 30 days of extended maceration on the grape skins. The wine was then aged for 23 months in oak barrels, with no new oak—a notable departure from the 100% new French oak used for the 2022 bottling.
The finished wine is 95% Tempranillo with 5% Syrah, and just two barrels were produced, yielding only 43 cases. Like the 2022, it comes from Stoneridge’s Tempranillo parcel planted in 2006, giving us another look at some of the Columbia Valley’s older Tempranillo vines, this time through the lens of an exceptionally balanced 2023 vintage.
Trade Materials