2020 Carbonic Tempranillo Joven

"It is good to be young. If not to look the part, to have an excuse to live in such a way that you have all the time in the world to be wild, to be curious, to be sporadic, to make mistakes and with reckless abandon. Being young is drinking too much red wine on a Monday evening. It's feeling too much emotion and letting go of any and all logic. Being young is spending too much money gallivanting afterdark. It's loving, at times too freely, and forgetting too quickly how easily we can find ourselves broken-hearted. Being young is dreaming without ceilings. It's planning not nearly enough. It's living selfishly and foolishly and haphazardly while having the youthful energy to weather the consequences. As gravity grounds us and we begin to grow older, we wick from our souls the moisture of youth. Some of this wicking is for the better. Some of it, not so much. Guzzling cheap wine, cursing Tuesday morning hangovers, living paycheck to paycheck and suffering from the inability to effectively do any sort of planning are all youthful behaviors worth leaving in the past. But, being curious, making mistakes, feeling emotions, loving deeply and dreaming? Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to leave these behind. Joven is Spanish for youth, and this bottle of Tempranillo Joven is a delicious reminder that some elements from our youth are worth holding on to."

Underneath the cork.

Joven. Young. Youthful. It refers to not only a state of mind but the very little time this Tempranillo and all of its black cherry cola and strawberry and toffee goodness spends aging in the barrel. At just $25, it's tremendously affordable. And, it's designed with a screw top to remind the wine drinker that, sometimes, life has a way of working out, even when you forget your corkscrew for your afternoon picnic. Serve it chilled. And, sip it alongside something deliciously casual like tacos, barbecue chicken, chips, salsa or BLT sandwiches.

92 points, Wine Enthusiast, Editor's Choice

100% Tempranillo
Pomar Junction Vineyard, SIP Certified
El Pomar, Paso Robles, CA

Fermented by carbonic maceration for 12 days in stainless steel tank then finished in stainless steel drums and neutral oak barrels using native yeasts and enzymes.
Aged in 60% stainless steel drums and 40% neutral oak barrels for 6 months.

Harvested 10/13/2020
Bottled 5/25/2021
Minimal use of SO2 prior to bottling.
3.8 pH, 6.2 g/L TA, 0.1 g/L residual sugar
12.9% alcohol
Vegan
56 cases produced