On my Radar: Red Lily Vineyards!

I became curious about the 2006 Red Lily Tempranillo when I reported its gold medal results at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition last week. As fate would have it, it was being poured in the RoxyAnn Winery Tasting Room this weekend when I visited. I will continue to say, I am a very lucky girl!

Red Lily Vineyards, the "baby" of Les and Rachael Martin, is named after the Bolander's Lily, a rare plant species found only in northern California and southern Oregon. Red Lily Vineyards produces only one wine varietal currently- Tempranillo. Tempranillo is the classic Spainish varietal and is a variant of Pinot Noir. As Jancis Robinson writes in The Oxford Companion to Wine, "Tempranillo is Spain's answer to Cabernet Sauvignon."

Tempranillo takes its name from the Spanish word "Temprano," which means "early," a reference to its fast ripening time. It bud breaks late and only needs a relatively short growing season with hot days and cool nights to preserve the fruit's acidity- Southern Oregon's climate is ideal.

While Tempranillo has always been prominent in Spanish wines, it has been making strides in the United States. Spain has approximately 4.5 million acres planted in vines with 100,000 acres of that being Tempranillo. In comparison, it is estimated that there are around 1,000 acres of Tempranillo planted in the United States, 100 of those acres in Southern Oregon.

The 2006 Red Lily Tempranillo was the highlight to the visit at RoxyAnn that day. It was being poured because Rachael Martin also helps RoxyAnn is winemaking efforts. The wine smelled of enchanting earth and wild berries. On the palate it was full of dark fruits and raisins. One taste certainly wasn't enough of this wine. The 2006 Red Lily Tempranillo retails for between $38 and $42. The wine is slightly hard to come by, but you can hunt it down on their website or at the

RoxyAnn Tasting Room in Medford.

According to the Martin's on their website, there are plans to open a winery and tasting room, but those plans are dated tentatively for Summer 2010. The site will be located where their estate vineyard is planted on Highway 238 in the heart of the Applegate Valley (joining many of my other favorite producers).

I am eager to watch and taste what the future has in store for Red Lily Vineyards!

*Information courtesy of Red Lily Vineyards.