Zuccardi Q Tempranillo - An Eye Opener • Reverse Wine Snob®

Mendoza channels a little Ribera Del Duero with the Zuccardi Q Tempranillo.

100% Tempranillo from Santa Rosa Vineyards, Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina. The wine is aged in French and American medium toasted oak barrels for one year and another year in the bottle before release.

SRP of $20 and available as low as $16. Sample submitted for review. Imported by Winesellers Ltd.

From the bottle:

“Zuccardi Q Tempranillo is sourced from select old vines on our Santa Rosa estate in Mendoza. This is a wine of great structure with notes of tobacco, leather and chocolate. It can be consumed now, but will age beautifully for several years.
The front label image illustrates the stone walls of the Zuccardi winery rising from the Uco Valley soils symbolizing how the Andes mountains emerged millions of years ago.
14% Alcohol”

I love trying grape varieties from unexpected places. Everyone knows Argentina is all about Malbec, right? And, of course, Tempranillo is king in Spain and grown widely in Portugal (although often called something else). Sure, there’s some nice Tempranillo being made in California, Texas and even Oregon, but if asked the average wine consumer to list off the top of their head the other red varieties being made in Argentina I doubt Tempranillo would make the list at all. Yet, here it is and from 40 year old vines no less!

In reality Tempranillo is grown quite widely throughout Argentina and has been for some time, but it has only been in recent years that wineries have focused on making single varietal bottlings of the grape versus using it in blends.

The 2012 Zuccardi Q Tempranillo begins with a very pleasant aroma featuring lots of ripe, dark fruit (plums, blackberries and black cherries primarily), violets, cedar, vanilla, cinnamon and even a hint of a nutty note. The wine definitely needs some air as it is a bit oaky when first opened but then…wow, this is a dark and juicy wine! Are you sure this isn’t from Rioja or Ribera Del Duero? With excellent structure and complexity; a really smooth, silky texture; good acidity; and nice tannins this is a fantastic full-bodied example of Tempranillo. It ends dry and persistent with a spicy finish featuring more ripe and juicy tart dark fruit and plenty of lingering chocolate and tobacco notes. This is an eye opener indeed!

Looking for more of our favorite Tempranillo? Check out our full listing here!