Bleasdale Tempranillo 2022

Tempranillo is a variety of black grape widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its native Spain. It is the main grape used in Rioja, and is often referred to as Spain's "noble grape". Its name is the diminutive of the Spanish temprano ("early"), a reference to the fact that it ripens several weeks earlier than most Spanish red grapes. In the last 100 years it has been planted in Mexico, New Zealand, South America, USA, South Africa, Australia, and Canada.

In Australia

Tempranillo is now grown in many Australian wine regions including McLaren Vale, the Adelaide Hills, Wrattonbully and in Western Australia. There are now over 200 Australian wineries making wine from this variety.

Characteristics

Tempranillo wines can be consumed young, but the most expensive ones are aged for several years in oak barrels. The wines are ruby red in colour, with aromas and flavors of berries, plum, tobacco, vanilla, leather and herb.

Around 50km southeast of Adelaide, and just north of Lake Alexandrina, Langhorne Creek is one of the oldest vineyard regions in South Australia. With vines first planted in 1860's, it is predominately a producer of full-bodied reds. Cabernet sauvignon and shiraz do well in the cool climate, and benefit from the unique soils along the riverbanks.

The climate is often cool, with southerly winds coming in from the ocean and blowing straight across Lake Alexandrina. Like most South Australian regions, the heat will kick in when the wind comes down from the north in summer, but there are intermittent and not as constant as they are up north in the Barossa. Soils are deep, sandy loams, regularly flooded in winter by diverting the nearby Bremer River into the vineyards. This all adds up to vigorous vines with generous canopies,