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Illahe Tempranillo Rose' Willamette Valley 2018

Illahe Vineyards and Winery is committed to making wine in the most natural way possible.  They are committed to responsible water management with no irrigation for mature plants.  Grapes are hand picked.  Mowing and transportation of grapes to the winery utilize horses rather than tractors.  No additives are used in the wines.  Their premium 1899 Pinot Noir is made without the use of electricity and transported to Portland by stage coach and canoes.

Illahe has experimented with small lots of different grapes to see if they can be grown in their vineyard.  They planted one acre of Tempranillo but found it was very difficult to grow in the Willamette Valley.  Their solution has been to pick the grapes early and make a Tempranillo Rose'.
The grapes are whole cluster pressed and barrel fermented.

The wine is a pale pink color with aromas of strawberries.  To me, the flavors are primarily citrus.  The wine is very dry and has an alcohol content of 12%.  I enjoyed this wine and found it a little different than the rose's I usually drink.  I would drink this with the same foods as a dry white wine.

Since Illahe grows only one acre of Tempranillo, this wine may be difficult to find.  Some online vendors are sold out of the 2018 Rose' but I found it at a local wine shop.  The winery sells this for $19.99.

SC Wine Joe rating = 89 points



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