What still red wine do you drink in Queensland summers?
Answer: A Granite Belt Joven Style Tempranillo slighty chilled.
The two conditions above together with the right food are a great match, even Santa wanted to get into this picture.
Lovely crimson hues, very bright and reflective in the glass from the quality young fruit. Hello Cherry cola, sour cherry! These two feature very strongly on the bouquet with a little spice and very slight hints of sarsaparilla and a little of The Granite Belt signature black tea. The palate repeats the cherry cola/sour cherry of the bouquet and adds citrus rind characters, mainly orange but with a ‘very little’ lemon. There is spice and enjoyable savoury aspects, the acid is fresh but well balanced and there is some tannin grip later on the palate – just a little more tannin than the 2018.
If you really want still red wines under the current hot conditions, then it is difficult to stop drinking this 2019 or the 2018. I actually ran out of 2018’s and had to make an emergency phone call to Mark to send up some 2019’s before he closed for Christmas. In Queensland we can be grateful to have access to these local joven style tempranillos from The Granite Belt as they are superb matches for our summer conditions and can also be enjoyed throughout the rest of the year.
This wine received a silver medal at the Australian Small Wine Makers Show with 51 points and the 2018 a bronze medal with 47 points. Personally I think that points difference is an anomaly as they are both high quality wines.
Tasted: Thursday 19th December, 2019 without food and then with over several hours. Re-tasted the next day after breathing in refrigerated bottle overnight.
Alcohol: 13%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $30
Suggested Drinking Window: Now to 2024
Winemaker: Mark Ravenscroft
