Amplify - 'My Friend Matt's Vineyrad' - Tempranillo - Santa Barbara County, CA - 2019

2019 Tempranillo, My Friend Matt’s Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley Our second year working with Tempranillo from My Friend Matt’s Vineyard (formerly known as C5), we are convinced this is a truly special site for Tempranillo. Like the 2018, we fermented roughly 1/3 of this with its stems whole cluster, sandwiched in a single fermenter between destemmed whole berries. This site delivers some of the ripest stems we’ve ever seen, which contribute spice and structure. We continue to utilize a very small amount of neutral American oak, taking inspiration from classic Rioja, with the balance in neutral French. Structurally, this is medium-bodied; tannin is present, but it is much more vibrant than one would expect from old world Tempranillo, as this site holds acid very well. We love it now with braises or fall vegetables from the grill, but this is going to age 5+ years, if not significantly more. 10 ppm sulfur dioxide, solely at bottling. No other additions. Unfined/Unfiltered