Murrieta’s Well, Livermore Valley (California) 2020

 Although there are a lot of red grapes from Spain and Portugal planted in California, you seldom see serious Iberian blends being made there.  And when they are, they seem to be randomly chosen like some of the Douro blends that come with the heritage of traditional vineyard mixes from the earlier days of Port production.  Even there, it is seldom that you see one so rich in flavor yet light on its feet as this one.  With mainly purple fruits, though with some reds, it has ripe cherries in the forefront woven in with strands of savory notes, barrel flavors and fine tannins.  If you didn’t examine it very closely, you might blind guess it’s from the Left Bank of Bordeaux.  I would like to talk with the winemaker (and may) about how this particular blend came about – 59% Touriga (Nacional), 25% Tempranillo and 16% Souzão.  But whether the choice was opportunistic or calculated, it works