Dark garnet color. Dark fruits and roasted meats, with hint of licorice and leather in the nose - almost Syrah-like. Black cherry and blueberries, with decent acidity. Not quite as rich as I would like with fine tannins, good balance, and a moderate finish. A nice bottle that complimented the lamb that we had with it. This could probably stand a few years of bottle age. 87 points.

Duke - so the rumors are true about Tempranillo in Oregon. Where in OR do they grow this grape?

They grow Tempranillo in the southern part of the state. This vineyard is just south of Roseburg. Somewhat warmer and drier down there. I don't know of any other producers here.

Abacela seem to focus on Spanish varietals. According to their label, Abacela means 'to plant grape vines' in archaic Castillian.

From what I understand southern oregon is experimenting with a lot of varietals other than the pinot's. Makes sense as the climate down there is much more of a desert climate, more similar to eastern WA than to western oregon (pinot-ville)

The Abacela Reserve Tempranillio is wonderful. Really wonderful!

Can't recall which vintage I had (last summer), but went through a few of these and was consistently impressed. It's not cheap, but for the quality of wine that it is, it is worth the money, me thinks...