Tejada Wines

Tejada Wines
USA CA
Phone: (510)231-6930
http://www.tejadavines.com/

Contact: Celia Tejada
Email: [email protected]

While the vineyard is the most important part of any wine,
what happens in the winery should not be understated. Though the wines of the Rioja are the inspiration for the Tejada wines, we started out with a “blank slate” when it came to making the wine.

The first two years of production from the vineyard (2002 and 2003) were devoted to learning about the fruit, and experimenting with how it should be turned into wine. Even though the variety is the same, California Tempranillo is different from Spanish Tempranillo. As it turns out, the best method seems to be the gentlest- we handle it almost like Pinot Noir, even though the grapes are quite different. Tempranillo can be quite tannic, but
it has intriguing fruit qualities, unlike any other variety, that we try hard to emphasize. Because it’s tannic, we don’t pump over much during the fermentation and run the wine off the skins pretty early, sometimes even before it is finished fermenting. The idea is to get the tannin balance right from the beginning, so the wine does not need a lot of racking and handling during the aging. In general the wine is racked only once during its 16 months in barrel. We think it is a worthy expression of the rocky ground where it grows. While we are obviously inspired by the great wines of Spain, the goal with this wine is to make it the best expression possible of the place it’s from . . . The Tejada Ranch.

Winemaker: Byron Kosuge

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