Twisted Oak 2005 The Spaniard

Twisted Oak 2005 The Spaniard

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black currant • clove • Blueberry • plum • cherry • Leather • oak • tempranillo • red blend • red
Queue price $44.99

From the Winery

Made at Twisted Oak by Winemakers Of Unusual Size, this swash-buckling Calaveras blend is so big you'll need six fingers to hold the glass. It's inconceivable that one could resist the aromas of black currants and clove spices, the flavors of blueberries and plums and tannins as big as Fezzik himself. This wine will certainly leave you mostly dead. Share it with your special buttercup, a gentle giant, or the entire Kingdom...as you wish.

Tasting Notes

We have quite a hodgepodge of tasting notes for The Spaniard, so rather than wrap a narrative of questionable cleverness around them, we're just going to throw them right at you: "Cherry Sweet Tart" "Leather berry berry" "Oakberry pepper" "Great gams" (gams?) "Fruitalicious" "Way better than beer" "A great [Italian] red" (that was one confused taster, and we won't repeat the inappropriate ethnic characterization that rhymes with Winnebago.) Our favorite: "It's turtles all the way down!" OK, so that last one is maybe too hip for the room (you can read about it on Wikipedia) - we're pretty sure he was referring to the long finish.

Food Pairings: If you don't ever drink this with lamb, you're not livin' right!!

Composition 32% Tempranillo
 Twisted Oak Sheep Shack Vineyard
30% Tempranillo
 Twisted Oak's Spaniard block
25% Graciano
 Twisted Oak's Willow block
13% Garnacha
 Twisted Oak's Oruga & Colina Roja blocks
Appellation Calaveras County
Alcohol 14.5%
pH 3.61
TA .59
Aged for 19 months
Aged in 70% New French oak
10% New American oak
20% 2-year old French oak
Awards GOLD MEDAL
2008 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
Member Reviews
robm
Yum!
robm
Nov 14, 2007, 8:48 PM
I could try to sound like a sommelier and quote the "aromas of blackberry and currants" and the flavors of "blueberry and plum" however, I can never tell those things until I read the back of the bottle and then can pick out the flavors. Truthfully, when I tasted this wine, the first thing that came to mind was - damn, this is a great wine. It was truly one of the best that I have had in quite sometime. The longer that I let it breathe, the better it tasted. I highly recommend this. I enjoyed it all by itself, but can imagine having it again with a seared tuna steak. I can't wait for my next bottle.
farley
Sipping Something Spanish and Twisted
farley
Nov 11, 2007, 1:16 PM
On opening the bottle, I found the cherry and other fruit to be a little tart, along with cocoa, vanilla, and leather. Good body and well-balanced. The next afternoon opened up a whole new world. The nose exploded with cinnamon, leather, plum, blackberry, and later settled into slight notes of violets and coffee. It was like unpeeling an onion - minus the tears - as the layers revealed themselves gracefully. My tongue took turns with different dance partners: first black cherry, then fig, then pepper, a stack of smoke, and finally, cinnamon toast.

We all thought it was super smooth to be a fairly young wine. You'll think you were in Rioja, since it's made from 64% Tempranillo, 21% Graciano, and 15% Garnacha. But you'll know it was made at a crazy little winery in Murphys, CA, when you read the back label. What better way to describe such a concoction than with blatant references to one of my favorite movies ever: The Princess Bride, itself a delightful blend of comedy, tragedy, and romance.

(That extra 16-18 hours of being open seemed to help make the wine incredibly smooth. I shared it with my four co-workers, who all raved about it, remarking on its deep color and softness. Now, these are not people who are scared to tell you if they don't like a wine you bring in. So, the fact that two or three mentioned getting a bottle for themselves is yet another reason to feel secure purchasing this bottle yourself.)

Read my full review in my blog post, Sipping Something Spanish and Twisted.