Wine Country Texas - Pedernales Cellars

Pedernales Cellars is run by a family of sixth-generation Texans who specialize in making wine from Spanish grapes varieties and those from the Rhône Valley. Tempranillo and Viognier are their red and white flagship wines, but I got the chance to taste a really wonderful - and a bit unusual - sparkling rosé.

Pedernales Cellars Kyla Texas Hill Country Sparkling Wine is actually a Petillant Naturel - carbonated during primary fermentation - which opens up quite fizzy from under its bottle cap closure. The folks at Pedernales say Kyla is pronounced "shoola" by their Swedish relatives. It means "chill," and it offers the perfect opportunity to do so this summer. "Pedernales," by the way, was pronounced "Perdnales" by Lady Bird Johnson, so there are some linguistic tricks to learn in order to appreciate this Hill Country wine from Stonewall, Texas. It has an alcohol mark at a very reasonable 11.5% abv and it retails for $35.

This 2020 Tempranillo sparkler shows a beautiful salmon orange color, along with a nose of strawberries, an herbal quality and tangerine peel. The palate lays out red cherry flavors laced with citrus minerality and a razor-sharp acidity which really refreshes. It is bold and even brawny, in a way - unusual for a sparkling rosé but entirely welcome.

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Wine Country Texas: Spicewood Tempranillo

Edward and Madeleine Manigold are proud of their Spicewood Vineyards wines, proud of their awards and proud to be Texan, dammit. And who wouldn’t be? They founded the family-owned estate in the early ‘90s

Spicewood, Texas, in the Texas Hill Country, northwest of Austin a bit, near the Colorado River and out around Lake Buchanan. You know, out by Burnet and Marble Falls. Ya cain’t miss ‘em. They won an award with their very first wine and never looked back.

This 2012 Spicewood Vineyards Tempranillo is made 92% from that Iberian variety and 8% is Cabernet Sauvignon.  It is aged 12 months in French oak barrels, only 30% of which are new. It sells for $24, and it was provided to me for the purpose of review.

You can get the Spicewood wines at the tasting room, from fine Texas stores and restaurants or online, but they only ship within the Lone Star State.

This wine is deep ruby in color with just a little light getting through the glass. The nose is pretty and flowery and fruity at first, but Mr. Savory sneaks in after it opens up a bit. Right at the top of the glass are smoky, leathery spices and earth. The palate is full of black and blue berries with a layer of minerals over them. The earthy component lasts well into the finish.

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Tempranillo Willing And The Pedernales Don't Rise

Many in the great state of Texas would consider Tempranillo their signature red grape. Texan winegrowers have done a great job over the past decade or so of finding the right grapes for their various terroirs. Mediterranean and Iberian grape varieties are working well, and Tempranillo seems to be a popular favorite in Lone Star vineyards.

A virtual tasting from Texas Fine Wine, a group of four distinctive wineries committed to making quality wines from Texas appellation vineyards, included Tempranillos from Duchman Family Winery, Brennan Vineyards, Bending Branch Winery and Pedernales Cellars.

Pedernales Cellars Tempranillo 2014

Stonewall, Texas offers a great view of the lovely Pedernales River valley. That is where Pedernales Cellars has helped pioneer the Lone Star State’s embracing of Tempranillo as one of the top grapes to grow there. The Pedernales website crows that the boutique winery is owned and operated by a sixth-generation Texas family and employs "ecologically sound and environmentally sustainable practices."

This Texas Tempranillo is a blend of Tempranillo grapes from the Hill Country and High Plains AVAs. The alcohol content strikes 13.3% abv. For pairing purposes, they like their Tempranillo with grilled rabbit and Alamo-style Texas redfish, as described on the site.

It’s a dark wine, inky, nearly black. The aroma package is brambly and rustic, full of black fruit and oak spice - toasty vanilla, aromatic cedar, smoke. It's also a brawny wine, big on the tongue. Black plums, blackberry and anise color the wine as dark as night. Tannins are big, too, but not so imposing that they upset the enjoyment of the sip.


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Texas Tempranillo: Pedernales Cellars

The key for success of the Texas wine industry has been identifying the right grapes to grow. The first drip of perspiration during the long, hot Texas summer made someone think about Spain's Tempranillo grape, and the rest is history. Texans have had some luck with Italian and Rhône varieties, too, but Tempranillo sure seems like the most logical choice to me.

The sixth-generation Texans at Pedernales Cellars makes wines that are "100% Texan," no matter that the grapes in question originated in Spain - or France, in fact. Those grapes for the Texas Tempranillo 2012 are all Texan now, some grown in the Texas High Plains and some in the beautiful Hill Country. Their trophy case must be ready for remodeling since they have raked in awards from a wide variety of wine competitions.

By the way, the pronunciation of the town - and river - from which the winery takes its name is "Per-den-al-ess, according to natives of the area. I seem to remember Lady Bird Johnson using the term, "If the lord's willing and the creek don't rise," but I know I recall her - or maybe Fannie Flagg's impersonation of her - making it, "If the lord's willing and the PERdenales don't rise." Fact check me on that, if you like, and let me know if I'm correct.

This ten-gallon Tempranillo has a really strong smell of alcohol on the first whiff - and quite a few whiffs to follow. And this was after it had been decanted for a day. The wine only carries a 13.2% abv number, so it was disconcerting to find the alcohol so prominent. It's a bucking bronco of a wine, and needs to be busted before you can expect a quiet ride.

An hour in the glass, with a lot of swirling, brought the oak-spiced cherry aromas into focus. A little cedar, a little clove, a little pipe tobacco and you've got yourself a nose. Sipping is a treat, too, once the tannins are tamed. Brilliant cherry and blueberry flavor washes along the spicy notes that result from the oak aging.

The wine compares quite favorably to Rioja in both taste and mouthfeel. That acidity is really mouthwatering, and a steak or a pork chop would be great with the Pedernales Tempranillo.

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