Keplinger Sumo 2015

  • 94 James
    Suckling
  • 93 Wine
    Spectator
  • 93 Jeb
    Dunnuck
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Keplinger Sumo 2015 Front Label
Keplinger Sumo 2015 Front Label

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2015

Size
750ML

Features
Boutique

Your Rating

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Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

The 2015 Sumo is a blend of 84% Petite Sirah, 13% Syrah, and 3% Viognier, all from Shake Ridge Vineyard. The nose is super dark and exotic, showing layers of blackberry concentrate, tar, bittersweet chocolate, black licorice, black pepper corn and turpentine. The palate is massive, with blue and black fruit, crazy spice, creosote and a long plush finish.

Professional Ratings

  • 94

    A layered and rich wine with so much richness and tension at the same time. Nothing is overdone here. Blackberry and blueberry character. Full and flavorful.

  • 93
    Broad and burly, but wrapped in a polished exterior, with plump blueberry, tar and sandalwood accents that take on power toward the bold but refined tannins. Petite Sirah, Syrah and Viognier. Best from 2019 through 2028.
  • 93
    The 2015 Sumo checks in as 84% Petite Sirah, 13% Syrah and 3% Viognier, mostly cofermented, that was brought up in 60% new Burgundy barrels. It’s as inky as they come yet offers a pure, elegant bouquet of blueberries, caramelized black cherries, graphite, smoked earth, and leafy herbs. With full-bodied richness, awesome intensity and depth of fruit, good freshness, and a great finish, it’s one hell of a steakhouse wine that’s going to keep for 10-15 years.

Other Vintages

2019
  • 94 James
    Suckling
  • 94 Jeb
    Dunnuck
2016
  • 95 James
    Suckling
  • 94 Robert
    Parker
  • 94 Jeb
    Dunnuck
  • 93 Wine
    Spectator
2014
  • 92 Wine
    Spectator
2013
  • 95 Wine
    Spectator
Keplinger

Keplinger

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Keplinger, California
Helen Keplinger attended the MS program in Enology at UC Davis. Since UC Davis, she has worked with Heidi Barrett at Paradigm in Napa Valley,Kathy Joseph at Fiddlehead in Santa Barbara, Michel Rolland, and DavidAbreu in Napa Valley. She has made wine for some exciting projects, including Cellers Melis (Priorat, Spain), Kenzo Estate, Arrow & Branch,Bryant Family Vineyards, and is currently crafting Kerr Cellars, Carte Blanche and Grace Family Vineyard. Helen’s time in Priorat, Spain working with Grenache as Winemaker for Melis was the inspiration for Keplinger wines. Auspiciously, Helen met her now husband and business partner DJ Warner in a Spanish focused wine shop in Los Angeles towards the end of 2003. DJ, having worked in sales and marketing within the technology sector, moved to Los Angeles to launch an organic line of foods. Managing a Spanish wine shop part time in the evenings led the two to meet over a bottle of 1995 Pago de los Capellanes, Riserva from Ribera del Duero. In 2006, Helen founded Keplinger and the couple launched their first vintage in 2008 with a focus on small production, single vineyard Rhone varietal wines. Keplinger strives to create seamlessly-crafted, terroir-driven, Rhone varietal wines from diverse sites in Napa, Sonoma & Sierra Foothills. All the vineyards are hillside or mountain sites, carefully farmed for small berries and concentrated flavors, in close collaboration with Helen. The wines are made in small lots, with careful attention paid to every detail. Keplinger constantly strives to make unique wines that are expressions of their vineyards and vintages. Today, production of nine boutique cuvees totals 1,600 cases, and a single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Oakville Ranch Vineyard, Oakville AVA has been added to the line up.
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With hundreds of red grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended red wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged resulting in a wide variety of red wine styles. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a red wine blend variety that creates a fruity and full-bodied wine would do well combined with one that is naturally high in acidity and tannins. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.

How to Serve Red Wine

A common piece of advice is to serve red wine at “room temperature,” but this suggestion is imprecise. After all, room temperature in January is likely to be quite different than in August, even considering the possible effect of central heating and air conditioning systems. The proper temperature to aim for is 55° F to 60° F for lighter-bodied reds and 60° F to 65° F for fuller-bodied wines.

How Long Does Red Wine Last?

Once opened and re-corked, a bottle stored in a cool, dark environment (like your fridge) will stay fresh and nicely drinkable for a day or two. There are products available that can extend that period by a couple of days. As for unopened bottles, optimal storage means keeping them on their sides in a moderately humid environment at about 57° F. Red wines stored in this manner will stay good – and possibly improve – for anywhere from one year to multiple decades. Assessing how long to hold on to a bottle is a complicated science. If you are planning long-term storage of your reds, seek the advice of a wine professional.

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Amador Wine

Sierra Foothills, California

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As the lower part of the greater Sierra Foothills appellation, Amador is roughly a plateau whose vineyards grow at 1,200 to 2,000 feet in elevation. It is 100 miles east of both San Francisco and Napa Valley. Most of its wineries are in the oak-studded rolling hillsides of Shenandoah Valley or east in Fiddletown, where elevations are slightly higher.

The Sierra Foothills growing area was among the largest wine producers in the state during the gold rush of the late 1800s. The local wine industry enjoyed great success until just after the turn of the century when fortune-seekers moved elsewhere and its population diminished. With Prohibition, winemaking was totally abandoned, along with its vineyards. But some of these, especially Zinfandel, still remain and are the treasure chest of the Sierra Foothills as we know them.

Most Amador vines are planted in volcanic soils derived primarily from sandy clay loam and decomposed granite. Summer days are hot but nighttime temperatures typically drop 30 degrees and the humidity is low, making this an ideal environment for grape growing. Because there is adequate rain throughout the year and even snow in the winter, dry farming is possible.

ASWKEPSUMO15_2015 Item# 407280

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