VIDEO CONTENTS

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00:00 – INTRO

00:52 – WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT FROM A PAARL TEMPRANILLO?

01:11 – WHAT DOES THIS ANURA TEMPRANILLO SMELL LIKE?

02:02 – SOME INFO ABOUT HIGH ALCOHOL WINES IN THE NEW WORLD

02:47 – WHAT DOES THIS ANURA TEMPRANILLO TASTE LIKE?

03:05 – BUT WHAT IS NON-SPANISH TEMPRANILLO SUPPOSED TO TASTE LIKE?

04:00 – TEMPRANILLO – FUTURE UNDEFINED

04:44 – A NOTE ON SERVING HIGH ALCOHOL WINES

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This wine is a fringe expression from a number of angles. It is a 100% Tempranillo, which as a cultivar is one of the most widely planted cultivars in the world. In South Africa it is relatively rare, with only 100ha, out of the 90,000ha that make up the South African national vineyard. Tempranillo is the 18th most planted red cultivar in South Africa, and almost 60% of South Africa’s Tempranillo is planted in Paarl, with Anura’s vines contributing to that statistic.

The Anura Tempranillo’s rather mammoth 15.7% ABV is another element that renders it an outlier, as this puts it on the very tippy top end of the spectrum for what can legally be classified as an unfortified wine!

In this video we discuss the fortunes of Tempranillo worldwide, discuss the pros and cons of the grape, and touch on life hacks to deal with excessive alcohol in a wine. But for now, here is what’s in the glass.
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👃🏼The nose carries black cherry, ripe mulberry, stewed prunes, roasted plum, liquorice, vanilla, and some subtle black olive savouriness. The high alcohol gives an impression of pepper spice on the tail end.
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👄 Serving temperature is key here, to avoid exacerbating the volatile alcohol. By bringing down the temperature, you mellow out alcoholic spice. There is no shortage of rich, generous black fruit components, but there is some slightly more gentle strawberry elements that pop up, as well as hints of oak-inspired caramel and smoke. If anything, this wine channels more of Barossa shiraz than it does a Spanish Rioja.
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🔬100% Tempranillo from Paarl. Matured in 80% French oak and 20% American oak 225 litre barrels for 18 months (a mix of 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill barrels.