Epoch Estate Wines, Paso Robles, Reserva, Tempranillo 2009 Sonoma Aged in small French oak

Aged in small French oak barrels

some carob some pencil lead - it’s got that beautiful elegance - aristocratic w hints of a nutty sweetness

we have added a bit of grenache and/or mourvedre to add to the complexity of flavors and to make this wine a little less monolithic

but here there's altogether more red and darker fruit intensity and an element of mid-palate energy that does not read as greenness

Dinner at Gene and Georgetti in Chicago with Todd

Epoch Estate Wines, Paso Robles, Reserva, Tempranillo 2009 Sonoma Aged in small French oak95 CellarTracker We had this wine side by side with the 2009 Epoch Tempranillo (non reserva). It was very apparent with the longer barrel aging of the Reserva, the 2 are very different. The reserva had more notes of dark berries, vanilla, earthiness and "muscle" whereas the non reserva was more fruit forward on the nose. After about 2 hours of oxidation, the wine opened even more so revealing more earthiness and tobacco notes. This is a very powerful