Enfield Tempranillo Pretty Horses 2019

75% Tempranillo, 10% Grenache, 10% Pinot Noir, 5% Graciano. Enfield Wine Co. is the family project of John Lockwood and Amy Seese, with a focus on producing wines of personality. They do not subscribe to the idea of the perfect wine, but to the notion that the very best wines tell a unique story. After surviving a summer job in high school hand-weeding grape vines at a winery in Vermont and studying as an apprentice to a Master Luthier (guitar builder) in Oakland, John Lockwood got his start in the California wine industry in 2004 working up at Heron Lake vineyard. He went on to work harvests with Ted Lemon at Littorai, Bodega Melipal in Argentina, and Failla Wines with Ehren Jordan where he worked for five years farming and managing the Sonoma Coast and Russian River estate vineyards. He started Enfield Wine Co. in 2010 as a small side-project while still working at Failla, and in 2013 took the plunge with Enfield as a full-time project. Driven by soil first and foremost, Enfield Wine Co. seeks out vineyards that possess a distinct and powerful sense of place – across the region, grape variety, and vine age. Working only with small vineyards and independent growers, every step of the process is guided by the intent to maximize this character of the terroir. Grapes are harvested for balance and the wines are all given the chance to ferment naturally. Pretty Horses is a blend of varietals in a uniquely California wine. They were aged eleven months in barriques and big oak barrels with only 10% being new oak. Tempranillo provides the architecture, with precise dark fruit, sweetly spiced aromatics, and a touch of earthiness. Grenache and Pinot provide soft fruit and a more generous palate, and the Graciano provides brightness. The wine is dark-toned, but light in body, with precise tannins that soften quickly. It drinks extremely fresh on the first pour but opens up with a luxurious mouthfeel and a deep sense of umami if you give it time. It's a wine that makes us fall in love with Californian wine and Enfield itself.