Rocio Osborne visited San Francisco recently to roll out her new line of screw-top wines, called Tempra Tantrum, from Malpica in the Tierra de Castilla region of Spain, an hour southwest of Madrid. The name evokes the kind of market-driven wine, like Yellow Tail, that is fresh, fruity, unpretentious, uncomplicated and affordable. As Rocio was telling me, her friends (all in their late 20’s, early 30’s) are mostly beer drinkers, and these wines are designed to appeal to this crowd in a way that an aged Rioja might not. Even for those of us who may appreciate an aged Rioja on a special occasion, at $10 a bottle the Tempra Tantrum wines serve admirably as everyday wines to enjoy with dinner. I should mention that all of these wines are well balanced table wines under 14% alcohol, so you can actually enjoy a few glasses from aperitif to postprandial quaff.
The "Tempra" of Tempra Tantrum refers to Tempranillo, as each of the four wines is a 60/40 blend of Tempranillo and either Cabernet, Merlot, Shiraz or Grenache. Though Tempranillo constitutes 60% of the blends, it serves as a neutral background upon which the supporting grapes leave their mark. There is no oak aging to complicate matters; the flavors of the different grape varieties shine through. Cabernet, with its strong cassis character, provides the flavor profile for the Tempranillo/Cabernet; the Tempranillo/Merlot displays lush cherry-berry fruit; the Tempranillo/Shiraz is dry and slightly peppery; and the Tempranillo/Grenache serves up the plum-like flavor of Grenache in the forefront, coupled with cherry-cranberry background notes from the Tempranillo.
I enjoyed them all. It’s a welcome change to find new wines that are balanced and affordable, and it will be interesting to see if Spain can mount a serious challenge to Australia and Chile.
