Tempra Tantrum

Trifecta…triple threat.. hat trick

So we decided that we would try a full suite of wines and review them as an entirety. So it’s the Tempra Tantrum wines from Spain, with each being a tempranillo blend. We’ve had them for a while now wanting to do this, but as you have probably guessed by the flurry of recent updates, we just haven’t really had the time to get around to reviewing wines (jokes….I make them).

Grenache/Tempranillo

Going into this, I had assumed this was likely to be my favorite. For the record I was terribly terribly wrong about that that. I had originally planned to equate both the taste and the smell of this wine to dirty socks, at which point I received an injunction from the sock lobby preventing me from making said comparison. Instead I shall liken it to gym clothes. The nose is just off and the flavor isn’t much better. The wine is flat, and while it has a long finish, you almost wish it doesn’t.

Shiraz/Tempranillo

Well…pinch me I am dreaming. The star of this show is the wine statistically speaking the one I am the least likely to pick out of a lineup. While I am a sucker for a petit syrah odds are I tend to start spouting incredibly pejorative things anytime the word shiraz is used in my presence. While it does have some larger than life characteristics, notably that somewhat jammy jam that comes with the territory, I found this to be the softest on the palette, almost like a gentle misting of flavor on the tongue (For the record: if that sounded like I was waxing poetic about a shiraz I will deny it in court). To its detriment, the finish is somewhat short, and the wine is a bit one note, but if complexity is not your destination, then this will certainly serve as a pleasant distraction.

Cabernet/Tempranillo

While I enjoyed the shiraz blend the most, this one I will crown the best wine (given the usually measures). I feel like it had depth, complexity and character. The cabernet had all the structure and body that the tempranillo was lacking, the nose was pleasant and the finish was about where you expected it to be. It’s a good solid functional wine, but despite all of its merits, it was somehow lacking in soul for me. Oddly, this is where all the quality in the world breaks down…I’d rather have an interesting wine, even if its flawed, rather than just a good one.

So what’s the bottom line? I’d probably pass on all three of these wines in the future. They aren’t that good, and I’m glad I don’t know what we paid for them. It was a fun experiment, and now that I’m done writing, odds are I am pouring a full glass of the Shiraz.

2008 Tempra Tantrum (Tempranillo Blends)

Well, since we haven’t done a review in 3 months, we decided to give you a 3-fer (or is that 3-for?). I can’t believe we’re opening 3 bottles of wine for the 2 of us on a Sunday evening, but hey…, it’s all for the cause.

Here are the facts:

2008 Tempra Tantrum Tempranillo/Grenache
Variety: 60% Tempranillo, 40% Grenache

2008 Tempra Tantrum Tempranillo/Shiraz
Variety: 60% Tempranillo, 40% Shiraz

2008 Tempra Tantrum Tempranillo/Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: 60% Tempranillo, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: Tierra de Castilla, Spain
Aging: Micro-oxygenation
Winemaker: Rocío Osborne


My take
Tempranillo/Grenache

I would describe the nose on this as pinkish-purple. The taste and feel - I’m having a hard time describing the taste; the feel is easier. It’s a bit juicy, but not chewy. It has a round, full flavor up front with a hint of spice in the middle, and a moderately long finish (not short, but not long either). However, there’s not a lot of complexity in this wine. (Of course, for the price point, complexity isn’t something I’d expect.) It’s a bit dry as well.

This wine was fine as a sipping wine and might accompany food just fine, but in my opinion, it does not go well with grilled pork that has a southwestern flavor to it. Once I introduced the grilled pork to the picture, the wine turned purple and ashy.

Now, on to the...

Tempranillo/Shiraz

The nose on this is reddish; it brings strawberry to mind. The taste – a bit on the alcoholy side. Without food, it’s a bit chewy at first, then it falls flat. It’s short and feels like there’s no middle to it. This strikes me as new world in style – big and fruity. I just wish there were more going on.

The southwestern grilled pork we had for dinner actually made this wine fuller and extended the life of it in my mouth. Without food, this was my least favorite of the three. With the pork, this was my favorite. Just goes to show you how your experience of a wine can change given circumstances!

Tempranillo/Cab Sauv

The nose on this smells purple-black and a little green. It tastes much the same – rather dark purple and it definitely has some of that musty dampness to it that I love (that’s what I smell as green). This is the driest of all three, but not in a suck-your-mouth-dry-I-desperately-need-a-drink-of-water kind of way.

Again, after introducing the southwestern grilled pork, this wine turns ashy and unpleasant. Without the pork, this was by far my favorite. With the pork, it’s not the wine I’m reaching for.

If you want more info on the wine, vineyard, etc., check out their website at www.tempratantrum.com. They also make a Tempranillo/Merlot blend that I didn't pick up because I figured 3 was enough. :)

Price Point: Between $7 and $10 per bottle.

Cat Amongst The Pigeons - reviewed by Kerri

The facts:

2007 Cat Amongst the Pigeons – Alley Cat
Region: Barossa Valley, Australia
Winemaker: Mark Jamieson
Variety: 61% Grenache, 39% Shiraz

My take:

I ended up tasting this wine because I was lambasting Australian wines. (In general, I am not a fan of new world style wines - I prefer old world style wines.) Seeking out a glass of wine after a conference and before a dinner meeting, I went to New Heights restaurant, in Washington, DC. After perusing their reds by the glass, I opted for a Spanish wine and started talking with the bartender about wine.

After talking some smack about Australian wines, which I typically find too bold, too fruit forward, and too jammy, the bartener insisted I try the Cat Amongst the Pigeons. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. So much so that I made Jonathan come back to New Heights with me the following week to check it out.

The wine is much more mellow and subtle than I ever expected from an Australian wine. The wine smells a bit red (you’ll see after reading some of my reviews that I tend to smell in colors), maybe a bit dark or slightly on the purple side. Anyway..., it’s a soft, mellow wine. It’s not too dry, not overly tannic, has some depth in the middle, and has a relatively long finish.

It makes a good sipping wine for sure, but it also pairs well with food. I’ve had it with various cheeses and with steak and in both cases feel like it paired well. All in all, it’s one that I’ve sought out since I first had it – and I never thought I’d actually go looking for an Australian wine in a wine shop. If you’re looking for something unexpected, I highly recommend checking it out.

Price point:

After doing a quick search online, it looks to be between $14 and $20 a bottle.

Cat Amongst The Pigeons - Opined By Jonathan

The facts:

2007 Cat Amongst the Pigeons – Alley Cat
Region: Barossa Valley, Australia
Winemaker: Mark Jamieson
Variety: 61% Grenache, 39% Shiraz


“So I had a good Australian shiraz”

The words still reverberate through my skull…and quite possibly the echoes even might be heard from space one day. A good Australian wine? Is that possible? Sure, I understand on an intellectual level that people:

A: Like Shiraz (who am I to Judge)

B. Like Australian wines (I mean…I’m sure they are good…I mean, when I think of wine, visions of koala bears and platypuses are the first thing that comes to mind)

So given that you could see that, in fact, I was more than a tad dubious. I agreed to go check it out. In general, I’ve never been a fan a Shiraz, maybe a petit syrah (Concannon…. I’m looking in your general direction....) but a Shiraz? Good…sounds a bit strong to me.

“But it was” she said with conviction.

Now with that level of certainty in her voice and a good excuse to go drink some wine, I decided to give it a go. So we hauled ourselves up to New Heights to have a glass.

I asked for a glass of the Cat Amongst the Pigeons, and the bartender starts to wax poetic about it as well. Now I knew something was up, either the pod people had taken over or there was something to this wine.

He poured, I drank.

I’d like to now take a moment and apologize (well…somewhat) for the last 200 words besmirching the honor of this good wine. I was actually fairly impressed. Is it from the northern Rhone, no, is it a good wine, yes. The first thing I noticed was a nose, that while robust, didn’t punch me in the face with the smell of fruit. I thought it had a decent balance of scents, with and undercurrent of subtlety that certainly prompted me to explore it further.

Where this wine really shines for me is in the mouth (as it should). Pull a decent sip, and hold on to it for a moment, letting it wash over your taste buds. Its not particularly tannic, nor seemingly too young. What it has a nice rich velvety texture, but not enough so to write sonnets about, but certainly worth a haiku (minus the effort of getting the syllabic count correct).

I had two glasses of it the first night (for scientific reasons of course) and have subsequently bought another three bottles. For me the bottom line, is: Its tasty and drinkable. It’s a good drinking wine, pleasant; upfront what you see is what you get. Is it exotic? No. But it has a place in our limited wine fridge and is fantastic with tenderloin. Buy it and drink it proudly. This one doesn’t aspire to be anything its not, and certainly calls me back for a second or third glass.