2018 Twisted Oak Torcido Garnacha, Sierra Foothills
Torcido (Tor-SEE-doh), [SP] adj., 1. Twisted 2. Just like this gnarly Spanish clone Garnacha…
You remember when you were a little kid, and there was this little store round the corner that had a nice man behind the counter who would sell you a big bag of the best candy for a nickel? We don’t either, no one is that old! But if we were that old, this wine might just remind us a little of those days, with floral aromas of raspberry and cherry; and spicy flavors of tart strong fruit - maybe even that funny pepper candy you used to think was yucky - finishing with impressions of 10W30 oil. Whoops, I guess we wandered into the hardware department, but I think you get the idea…
Pairings? Tapas! spicy sausages and salamis - ham - game - pot roast - linguica, sweet fruit sauces - even lamb and goat!
Specs
Vintage: 2018
Varietal: 100% Grenache from the Colina Roja block
Appellation: Sierra Foothills
Alcohol: 14.4%
2018 Twisted Oak Graciano, Sierra Foothills
It may be Graciano but it’s not a boxer and it ain’t Italian either. Still, you’ll find punchy aromas of plums, blackberries, and jam with a wallop of dried spicy characters. Then a powerful jab of deep sweet blackberries and a one-two finish with dried herbs and spices.
This chewy Graciano partly comes from our own Estate vineyard on Red Hill at the winery in Vallecito. The Willow block also grows the Graciano used for our Spaniard program, but we are always thrilled to have a little left over.
Duck Goose! Or pair it with ham, Manchego, anchovies, roast pork, and all sorts of hearty, legume filled stews. And of course, slooooow-roasted lamb shoulder.
Specs
Vintage: 2018
Varietal: 100% Graciano from the Willow Block
Appellation: Sierra Foothills
Alcohol: 14.5%
2018 Twisted Oak Tempranillo, Sierra Foothills
Tasting Notes
Tempranillo! The grape that made Calaveras County famous!
Tempranillo! Ten years ago you couldn’t even say “Tem-prah-NEE-yoh” and now, you - ladies and gentlemen - from what was only an inarticulate mass of Cab-swirling tissue, I give you a Cultured, Sophisticated Tempranillo lover about town!
Specs
Vintage: 2018
Varietal: Tempranillo
Appellation: Sierra Foothills
Alcohol: 14.5%
2018 Twisted Oak The Spaniard, Sierra Foothills
Tasting Notes
A Rioja-style blend of Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha. We have quite a hodgepodge of tasting notes for The Spaniard, so rather than wrap a narrative of questionable cleverness around them, we’re just going to throw them right at you: “Cherry Black Currant bomb” “Cedar cherry tobacky” “Great gams” (gams?) “Fruitalicious”
Finished with 30% new French, American, and Hungarian oak; 70% neutral oak.
Pair this with Meat! If you don’t ever drink this with lamb, you’re not livin’ right!! Well-marbled beef by itself, or lean cuts of beef with rich sauces. How about a smoked Spanish Paprika rubbed Ribeye topped with thick applewood smoked bacon and Cabrale Spanish Blue? How about it?
We’re often asked what the background of Twisted Oak is, to which we invariably reply, “The Sierra Nevada, of course!” If we are pressed further, we are forced to admit that Twisted Oak Winery is the culmination of a delusion, er, vision by Jeff and Mary Stai. The vision was of a terroir based winery making superior, hand crafted, yummy wines, and then having more Twisted fun than anyone in the industry selling them.
Jeff and Mary found 120 acres just outside Murphys in the Sierra Foothills at nearly 2000 feet elevation. It is there that they planted 10 acres of vineyards in Tempranillo, Grenache, Graciano, and Touriga Naçional to take advantage of the continental Mediterranean soil types and climate. It is on top of this property, with an amazing view of the Sierra, where the state-of-the-art, no-pumpover, four-level gravity flow winery was built. When completed in 2004 it included open-tank, stainless steel fermenters along with our own 300-foot barrel cave. This was all under the watchful eye of a 350-year-old California Blue Oak tree that not only is our namesake, but also adorns every Twisted Oak bottle.
Whatever the formula Jeff & Mary have devised for Twisted Oak, it has been validated by the hundreds of consumers that buy us out of wine each and every year. Twisted Oak Winery has also received accolades by publications and competitions which have graced us with many scores of 90 or above. We think the Wine Enthusiast put it best “The gang at Twisted Oak Winery are taking winemaking in this area to the next level…” Cheers! And always, keep it Twisted! Twisted Oak Winery!
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, ID, IL, IA, KS, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NV, NH, NY, NC, ND, OR, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY
@ilCesare For what it’s worth, the 2017 version was offered last August for $25 for 4 and $240 for the case. [Got the four pack then; grabbed the case this time].
/giphy doubtful-feared-basket
Just bought a case the other day. But I missed this the last time (kids - buy before you get on a plane and go to a different time zone!)
/giphy normal-quaint-thought
Wine is coming your way! IYKYK. We are all freaking busy these days; I didn’t get around to this until 6pm to spectate on what Freakishly rare wine we have here tonight!
2018 Twisted Oak Calavera County Graciano
No time to look up the Graciano grape, I was super gracious to receive a bottle of Twisted Oak though! I have gotten a case of the Spaniard and Tempranillo before and enjoyed it a lot! Coincidently enough, we already planned on making all homemade chipotle Brioche Smash Burgers tonight, what an awesome pairing and I found that this wine has brought out different sensory profiles I normally don’t quickly detect.
Nose: dark fruit, vanilla, smoke, savory spices.
Palate: dark fruit forward, smokey upon opening but mellows out bringing blackberry to a bramble, meaty, hints of vanilla, hard tannins, long chewy finish. I like it in small quantities, then again here we are nearly finishing the bottle. That’s exactly how that sums it up.
I wouldn’t mind having a few bottles on board to see how it evolves over the next 6 years. I have had it opened for the last 4 hours now having it with some dark chocolate covered toffee chips from Trader Joes and that tastes pretty good too. If you couldn’t tell, I’m big into food, and this wine goes great with my fatty and meaty go to foods. This offer is painfully tempting! Thank you for giving me an opportunity to shed some light on it. Cheers!
@TechnoViking The Graciano has really emerged as our “sleeper” variety the last couple years. Our regular customers are mad for it, and chipotle smash burgers really do sound like a perfect pairing - what luck!
@eastcoastmary again it’s a demand thing. When we started 20 odd years ago I tried to stay permitted in every state I could, but it just got too expensive. DC and VA are right next door at least, but you know that.
@eastcoastmary it depends. For some states a one year membership commit for a couple cases will inspire me to give it a try. For others it’s a higher bar because of the high permit cost and other hoops to jump through. It’s hard for a couple 1000 case winery to justify.
@eljefetwisted I’m honestly a little surprised Kansas is still on your list; I’ve heard from a couple small wineries that they just cannot justify the cost Kansas charges. And it’s dropped off for a few other wineries who sell through Casemates. But maybe you have a few club members here that justify it? Whatever the reason, I like to see it!
Would love to understand how wineries decide which state licenses to buy. In this case, I see Mississippi on the list which almost never there… but no Ohio or PA, which are almost always included. I’m sure there’s a rationale to it all, but it escapes me.
@hscottk MS shouldn’t be on the list. I’ll have to check with WD about that. Ohio is a glitch we’re working on (sorry). PA there just hasn’t been demand.
Actually, your comment makes me wonder how you measure demand from states that can’t buy from you. Is it just feedback from disgruntled would be buyers like myself?
@hscottk The great majority of our shipping customers - like 98% - are people that are visiting the winery and want more. My staff knows that if we don’t ship to a state and someone requests it, they should bring it to my attention. That said some states are terribly expensive to get legal with, and NJ is one of them.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
Twisted Oak Spaniard and Friends - $40 = 16.66%
I was ready to hit the “Place Your Order” button when I remembered recently spotting my $15 “Cheer” coupon and wasn’t sure if I had used it. I hadn’t! (per bottle price down to $15.42)
/giphy hideous-gaudy-territory
Aaarrg, I never pass up Twisted Oak, that is the main reason I still am a member, but alas, we will be gone during the shipment window and a little longer. Bought these before and they are all great!
@normanl0 You can make a “UPS My Choice” account and have your UPS packages delivered to UPS access point for pick up at your convenience. Just note that while it is active, pretty much all of your UPS packages will be automatically redirected.
@eljefetwisted@normanl0 problem is that the stated shipping window no longer means much of anything. Frequently they ship before the window and screw up the delivery because people bought the over counting on something relatively accurate. Happened to me twice recently.
@eljefetwisted@klezman@normanl0
The stated window has always been inaccurate. But fairly consistently inaccurate, in that the wine usually shows up a week before the window.
@chipgreen@eljefetwisted@klezman i was going to be away for long enough that it didn’t matter if it was a week early, a week late or on time. But i have seen them accurate, early and late. One of the things that makes ordering here a bit complicated as you have to make sure you have about a 3 week window of availability around the estimated delivery window to receive or a little bit of leeway to have UPS hold. @eljefetwisted hopefully i will be home the next time Twisted comes back through and at least I was able to get these during the last offer.
@chipgreen@eljefetwisted@normanl0 I’ve almost never had to pay attention to it, but when they shipped something the week of xmas when half the country is out of town I got a little hot under the collar.
Received the email from Alice on Tuesday wine was on its way. Always that incredible anticipation between that time and the opening of the box. Kind of like the feeling one gets when being lucky enough to get a BOC over at the old site. And while I have been disappointed a few times with the contents of the those boxes it still never fails to get me excited when I get that shipping notice. Can honestly say I have not experienced that disappointment with Alice’s offerings. This time though I feel like I got the 70 inch plasma in the BOC box that you occasionally hear about. But enough. On to the wine and our impressions.
Twisted Oak The Spaniard 2018
Yes. We got the golden ticket and got the Spaniard. First off a confession. Have not had any Twisted Oak wines before. Not really a good explanation for that. My wife and I have been drinking wine for over 30 years now. Plenty of rioja along the way but never a California offering. My recollection is Twisted Oak is normally more expensive than this or maybe that is colored by the fact that we just finished putting our second son through college and the wine budget was somewhat impacted. Regardless on to the wine.
Received the bottle on Wednesday and let it settle until last night. Opened it up around 3 o’clock with dinner planned for 7. Grilled new york strip steaks with roasted broccolini and carrots on the menu.
Initial impressions on pouring a couple of small glasses at around 5:30 was a great deal of alcohol on the nose with very little fruit discernible to both us. A little surprised honestly and perhaps concerning? Not to worry though. After sitting in the glass for a few minutes the nose really opened up as did the flavor. While my first sip gave the impression of a lighter to medium bodied wine with time in the glass the wine continued to take on a much more full bodied character. With that short period of time aromas of cherry, vanilla, and almonds came through. This from my wife whose nose I trust much more than my own.
With dinner though is where the wine really shone. Paired beautifully with the steaks which had plenty of fat to complement the acidity of the wine. The tannins are certainly there and I have no doubt this wine will cellar well for years. But no reason not to enjoy at the present and cellar some to see how it changes. Plenty of cherry and blackberry in there with slight cedar undertones to compliment a wide variety of food in my opinion although meat would seem to be a perfect companion. We did have a glass each with some dark chocolate after dinner and my wife especially liked that pairing. To both of us the evolution from that opening impression to the final taste was impressive.
Impressions on the second day? Unfortunately no such thing in our household even in the name of science. Was a long week and a bottle like this stood no chance of making until today. Overall an easy recommendation. The 4 bottles of The Spaniard alone are definitely worth more than half that case price. If the other 3 varieties are on par this is a great offering . And happy to answer any questions if there are any.
Always a pleasure to labrat a wine for y’all. I’ll apologize up front that this review isn’t a recommendation to buy. My buy-o-meter is less than 50% for 'ratted wines, so I’m worried Alice is going to yank me from the list.
2018 Twisted Oak Torcido Garnacha
Standard Bordeaux bottle, light-weight glass, no capsule over the cork. I paused and gave an audible “huh” when I started pouring it. It was much lighter than I expected, thin looking, with an orange tint around the edges. Like cranberry juice.
My wife and I both wafted it and reacted the same way. VERY heavy alcohol smell. Vaporous, kindof menthol? Underneath you could make out the odor of something berry skins, and by that I mean fruit-ish but dull.
First sip was also a recoil reaction, this wine BITES. It’s sharp. Short finish, light body, sucks the moisture right out of your mouth. Something of a chemical taste to it as well. Their website says “impressions of 10W30 oil” and I think they meant that as a joke, but YES. My wife’s comment was “Alcohol. I don’t think it’s bad, just weird”. She suggested we use it to make mulled wine with honey, or sangria.
Ok, ok, let it sit. Nope, about the same. We re-corked it to save by the stove for cooking. Thanks, and sorry. Not for me.
@eljefetwisted could be. No obvious defects on the cork, doesn’t smell or taste like TCA I’ve had in the past, but could be oxidized. Happy to re-review!
@tburritt I appreciate the honest review and the description and photos definitely help. I think the ability to read honest immediate experiences, good or not-so-much, is one of the key benefits of this site that keeps many of us coming back. There are plenty of online wine sites that will Always have Overly Enthusiastic and Only the Most Wonderful Reviews tell you what an Amazing Deal it is. The honest real-time interaction here is very welcome. (and winemaker response as well.)
@tburritt Odd - I ratted the 2017 of this late last summer and loved it. Got a hint of spice and bourbon but my experience was nothing heavy or overpowering like that. Hopefully was just a single anomaly bottle
The color around the edge makes me strongly suspect a bad bottle, that there’s some oxidation going on. I’ve been on the verge of going 100% screw cap for a little while, though even a screw cap can be misapplied and not seal properly. (The light weight bottle is intentional to reduce shipping costs, even though we love a heavy bottle. We went no foil several years ago to reduce waste, a foil really serves no useful purpose, and we rather like our tree on the end of the cork.)
@eljefetwisted You’ve got my vote to go 100% “screw cap.” I remember when Randall Graham of Bonny Doon tried to push for this about 35 years ago, and to make a point went to screw caps on his flagship wine first. I finally see it adopted more now in some Pacific Northwest wines but still hasn’t been widely as I’d hoped. Also my 95-year-old mother prefers screw caps on her doctor-approved 1/2 glass of wine a day.
@pmarin The last couple years it has (still!) been a little problematic getting our choice of glass to bottle in. I may not be quite able to let go of the cork on The Spaniard but for almost everything else…
@eljefetwisted "a foil really serves no useful purpose - YES - Please pass this along to other winemakers. Along with the reediculous polymer wax treatments that make me want to saber the bottles open. So, for this, and to keep MI in the mix for shipping - I ordered a case - even though I have an absurd amount of wine at this point.
@pmarin@rpstrong “charged a few percent more for the screw capped version” - I don’t recall he did that but he’s ornery like that. Thankfully we’ve resolved whether wines age with screw caps (they do just fine).
@eljefetwisted Go for it! Screw top it. If the proof is that they seal just as well and age properly and less likely to “cork”, go for it. I will say that myself and others do still perceive a cork as a higher end bottle vs a screw top. But heck the times are a changin’
Appreciate you being on here and answering questions, it does make it (for me) much more likely to order , even when I have a full up set of racks of wine !
When I saw this, I was like, really another case of wine to buy, I know, i know, I’ll regret it later. Glad it hasn’t sold out yet, been a long day so nice to be able to order this!
We opened up a 2016 Graciano from a prior offer. It was a treat! We’re in the “where are we gonna put this?” camp, but will make room for a case. Thank you, @eljefetwisted!
@chipgreen@eljefetwisted@klezman This 100%. I was going to crack one of the 2017s to gear up for another order, but didn’t when I saw Ohio was no longer on the list. I feel for both winemakers and wine drinkers who are stuck dealing with the patchwork regulations of the various states
@dmischke99had a quick thing to say on 2024-03-18 06:00
Did anyone else get a bad bottle of the recent Twisted Oak offering. Our first bottle, The Spaniard, was unpleasantly sharp with no real fruitiness (per description). It was almost vinegary. I’m hoping this was just an off bottle,
I’ve had bottle variation in Twisted Oaks historically. At least twice, I think more, I’ve gotten bad / prematurely aged bottles in otherwise (very) good cases. I’d almost expect a bad bottle on average from TO. Worth it to me, for the otherwise excellent QPR (especially on casemates!). I figure it’s something El Jefe knows about and is addressing.
I just opened the TO (Torcido), and it was undrinkable. The wine was very sharp & had a strong taste of wood. This bottle was from my most recent purchase from TO.
2018 Twisted Oak Torcido Garnacha, Sierra Foothills
Specs
2018 Twisted Oak Graciano, Sierra Foothills
Specs
2018 Twisted Oak Tempranillo, Sierra Foothills
Tasting Notes
Specs
2018 Twisted Oak The Spaniard, Sierra Foothills
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
4-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$576.00/Case for 3x 2018 Twisted Oak Graciano, Sierra Foothills + 3x 2018 Twisted Oak The Spaniard, Sierra Foothills + 3x 2018 Twisted Oak Tempranillo, Sierra Foothills + 3x 2018 Twisted Oak Torcido Garnacha, Sierra Foothills at Twisted Oak Winery
About The Wineries
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, ID, IL, IA, KS, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NV, NH, NY, NC, ND, OR, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Mar 11 - Wednesday, Mar 13
Twisted Oak Spaniard and Friends
4 bottles for $79.99 $20/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $199.99 $16.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2018 Twisted Oak Graciano
2018 Twisted Oak The Spaniard
2018 Twisted Oak Tempranillo
2018 Twisted Oak Torcido Garnacha
@ilCesare time to grab these…
@ilCesare For what it’s worth, the 2017 version was offered last August for $25 for 4 and $240 for the case. [Got the four pack then; grabbed the case this time].
/giphy doubtful-feared-basket
No Ohio? We could partake in the last offer. (2017’s I think?)
@shrimp74 yes, in August, at a $99.99/239.99 tariff!
@shrimp74 and they were good - Boo!
Damn good price
@klezman @gtcharlie sums it up well
/giphy pertinent-exhausted-sky
Just bought a case the other day. But I missed this the last time (kids - buy before you get on a plane and go to a different time zone!)
/giphy normal-quaint-thought
@TK4TWO1 Ha, I love the Harkle gif.
Wine is coming your way! IYKYK. We are all freaking busy these days; I didn’t get around to this until 6pm to spectate on what Freakishly rare wine we have here tonight!
2018 Twisted Oak Calavera County Graciano
No time to look up the Graciano grape, I was super gracious to receive a bottle of Twisted Oak though! I have gotten a case of the Spaniard and Tempranillo before and enjoyed it a lot! Coincidently enough, we already planned on making all homemade chipotle Brioche Smash Burgers tonight, what an awesome pairing and I found that this wine has brought out different sensory profiles I normally don’t quickly detect.
Nose: dark fruit, vanilla, smoke, savory spices.
Palate: dark fruit forward, smokey upon opening but mellows out bringing blackberry to a bramble, meaty, hints of vanilla, hard tannins, long chewy finish. I like it in small quantities, then again here we are nearly finishing the bottle. That’s exactly how that sums it up.
I wouldn’t mind having a few bottles on board to see how it evolves over the next 6 years. I have had it opened for the last 4 hours now having it with some dark chocolate covered toffee chips from Trader Joes and that tastes pretty good too. If you couldn’t tell, I’m big into food, and this wine goes great with my fatty and meaty go to foods. This offer is painfully tempting! Thank you for giving me an opportunity to shed some light on it. Cheers!
EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!
@TechnoViking The Graciano has really emerged as our “sleeper” variety the last couple years. Our regular customers are mad for it, and chipotle smash burgers really do sound like a perfect pairing - what luck!
I’m here, let me know what you want to know. Heck ask me anything. (Didn’t that used to be a thing?)
@eljefetwisted - Why don’t you ship to Maryland? I’m a big fan but I am always disappointed when Twisted Oak shows up on this site and I can’t buy it.
@eastcoastmary again it’s a demand thing. When we started 20 odd years ago I tried to stay permitted in every state I could, but it just got too expensive. DC and VA are right next door at least, but you know that.
@eastcoastmary @eljefetwisted Texas is always on the list for every casemates deal. God blessed Texas.
@eljefetwisted How do you measure demand? I do not work in VA or DC so having the wine sent there isn’t a solution for me.
@eastcoastmary it depends. For some states a one year membership commit for a couple cases will inspire me to give it a try. For others it’s a higher bar because of the high permit cost and other hoops to jump through. It’s hard for a couple 1000 case winery to justify.
@eljefetwisted I’m honestly a little surprised Kansas is still on your list; I’ve heard from a couple small wineries that they just cannot justify the cost Kansas charges. And it’s dropped off for a few other wineries who sell through Casemates. But maybe you have a few club members here that justify it? Whatever the reason, I like to see it!
@eljefetwisted no love for the great state of Tennessee….
@eljefetwisted Confirming no SC? Haven’t tried your wines, thought I’d give the 4 pack a whirl
@nathanbsmith sorry. Ditto sorry SC.
@eljefetwisted Is the Spaniard a blend of the 3 other wines in this offer?
@eljefetwisted
Not enough demand in OH either?
Would love to understand how wineries decide which state licenses to buy. In this case, I see Mississippi on the list which almost never there… but no Ohio or PA, which are almost always included. I’m sure there’s a rationale to it all, but it escapes me.
No wine for me
@hscottk MS shouldn’t be on the list. I’ll have to check with WD about that. Ohio is a glitch we’re working on (sorry). PA there just hasn’t been demand.
@eljefetwisted NJ for the win!
Actually, your comment makes me wonder how you measure demand from states that can’t buy from you. Is it just feedback from disgruntled would be buyers like myself?
@hscottk The great majority of our shipping customers - like 98% - are people that are visiting the winery and want more. My staff knows that if we don’t ship to a state and someone requests it, they should bring it to my attention. That said some states are terribly expensive to get legal with, and NJ is one of them.
@eljefetwisted @hscottk Any update on OH shipping?
@eljefetwisted Makes sense. Thanks for the explanation!
@eljefetwisted @shrimp74 How about a deal for Ohio peeps then the glitch is fixed? Thx
@eljefetwisted @itsjer I have a coupon that’s burning a hole in my wallet!
@itsjer @shrimp74 Drop me a note at tastingroom@twistedoak.com and I’ll let you know.
No Georgia either. I’ve got too much wine anyway…
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
Twisted Oak Spaniard and Friends - $40 = 16.66%
I was ready to hit the “Place Your Order” button when I remembered recently spotting my $15 “Cheer” coupon and wasn’t sure if I had used it. I hadn’t!
(per bottle price down to $15.42)
/giphy hideous-gaudy-territory
Just to mention, if my sense of taste and smell do not return, I’ll be having a big wine sale!
Aaarrg, I never pass up Twisted Oak, that is the main reason I still am a member, but alas, we will be gone during the shipment window and a little longer. Bought these before and they are all great!
@normanl0 You can make a “UPS My Choice” account and have your UPS packages delivered to UPS access point for pick up at your convenience. Just note that while it is active, pretty much all of your UPS packages will be automatically redirected.
@dmac88 unfortunately they will only hold for 7 days
@normanl0 I’m a little confused at the shipment window. Is CM really doing it a month after the sale now?
@eljefetwisted @normanl0 problem is that the stated shipping window no longer means much of anything. Frequently they ship before the window and screw up the delivery because people bought the over counting on something relatively accurate. Happened to me twice recently.
@eljefetwisted @normanl0 it’s typically 2 weeks till drop at your door time (midwest)
@eljefetwisted @klezman @normanl0
The stated window has always been inaccurate. But fairly consistently inaccurate, in that the wine usually shows up a week before the window.
@chipgreen @eljefetwisted @klezman i was going to be away for long enough that it didn’t matter if it was a week early, a week late or on time. But i have seen them accurate, early and late. One of the things that makes ordering here a bit complicated as you have to make sure you have about a 3 week window of availability around the estimated delivery window to receive or a little bit of leeway to have UPS hold. @eljefetwisted hopefully i will be home the next time Twisted comes back through and at least I was able to get these during the last offer.
@chipgreen @eljefetwisted @normanl0 I’ve almost never had to pay attention to it, but when they shipped something the week of xmas when half the country is out of town I got a little hot under the collar.
I love the stuff from Twisted Oak but after yesterday’s delivery I am now overfull again.
Received the email from Alice on Tuesday wine was on its way. Always that incredible anticipation between that time and the opening of the box. Kind of like the feeling one gets when being lucky enough to get a BOC over at the old site. And while I have been disappointed a few times with the contents of the those boxes it still never fails to get me excited when I get that shipping notice. Can honestly say I have not experienced that disappointment with Alice’s offerings. This time though I feel like I got the 70 inch plasma in the BOC box that you occasionally hear about. But enough. On to the wine and our impressions.
Twisted Oak The Spaniard 2018
Yes. We got the golden ticket and got the Spaniard. First off a confession. Have not had any Twisted Oak wines before. Not really a good explanation for that. My wife and I have been drinking wine for over 30 years now. Plenty of rioja along the way but never a California offering. My recollection is Twisted Oak is normally more expensive than this or maybe that is colored by the fact that we just finished putting our second son through college and the wine budget was somewhat impacted. Regardless on to the wine.
Received the bottle on Wednesday and let it settle until last night. Opened it up around 3 o’clock with dinner planned for 7. Grilled new york strip steaks with roasted broccolini and carrots on the menu.
Initial impressions on pouring a couple of small glasses at around 5:30 was a great deal of alcohol on the nose with very little fruit discernible to both us. A little surprised honestly and perhaps concerning? Not to worry though. After sitting in the glass for a few minutes the nose really opened up as did the flavor. While my first sip gave the impression of a lighter to medium bodied wine with time in the glass the wine continued to take on a much more full bodied character. With that short period of time aromas of cherry, vanilla, and almonds came through. This from my wife whose nose I trust much more than my own.
With dinner though is where the wine really shone. Paired beautifully with the steaks which had plenty of fat to complement the acidity of the wine. The tannins are certainly there and I have no doubt this wine will cellar well for years. But no reason not to enjoy at the present and cellar some to see how it changes. Plenty of cherry and blackberry in there with slight cedar undertones to compliment a wide variety of food in my opinion although meat would seem to be a perfect companion. We did have a glass each with some dark chocolate after dinner and my wife especially liked that pairing. To both of us the evolution from that opening impression to the final taste was impressive.
Impressions on the second day? Unfortunately no such thing in our household even in the name of science. Was a long week and a bottle like this stood no chance of making until today. Overall an easy recommendation. The 4 bottles of The Spaniard alone are definitely worth more than half that case price. If the other 3 varieties are on par this is a great offering . And happy to answer any questions if there are any.
Always a pleasure to labrat a wine for y’all. I’ll apologize up front that this review isn’t a recommendation to buy. My buy-o-meter is less than 50% for 'ratted wines, so I’m worried Alice is going to yank me from the list.
2018 Twisted Oak Torcido Garnacha
Standard Bordeaux bottle, light-weight glass, no capsule over the cork. I paused and gave an audible “huh” when I started pouring it. It was much lighter than I expected, thin looking, with an orange tint around the edges. Like cranberry juice.
My wife and I both wafted it and reacted the same way. VERY heavy alcohol smell. Vaporous, kindof menthol? Underneath you could make out the odor of something berry skins, and by that I mean fruit-ish but dull.
First sip was also a recoil reaction, this wine BITES. It’s sharp. Short finish, light body, sucks the moisture right out of your mouth. Something of a chemical taste to it as well. Their website says “impressions of 10W30 oil” and I think they meant that as a joke, but YES. My wife’s comment was “Alcohol. I don’t think it’s bad, just weird”. She suggested we use it to make mulled wine with honey, or sangria.
Ok, ok, let it sit. Nope, about the same. We re-corked it to save by the stove for cooking. Thanks, and sorry. Not for me.
@tburritt
See below post for reply
@eljefetwisted could be. No obvious defects on the cork, doesn’t smell or taste like TCA I’ve had in the past, but could be oxidized. Happy to re-review!
@tburritt I appreciate the honest review and the description and photos definitely help. I think the ability to read honest immediate experiences, good or not-so-much, is one of the key benefits of this site that keeps many of us coming back. There are plenty of online wine sites that will Always have Overly Enthusiastic and Only the Most Wonderful Reviews tell you what an Amazing Deal it is. The honest real-time interaction here is very welcome. (and winemaker response as well.)
@tburritt Odd - I ratted the 2017 of this late last summer and loved it. Got a hint of spice and bourbon but my experience was nothing heavy or overpowering like that. Hopefully was just a single anomaly bottle
The color around the edge makes me strongly suspect a bad bottle, that there’s some oxidation going on. I’ve been on the verge of going 100% screw cap for a little while, though even a screw cap can be misapplied and not seal properly. (The light weight bottle is intentional to reduce shipping costs, even though we love a heavy bottle. We went no foil several years ago to reduce waste, a foil really serves no useful purpose, and we rather like our tree on the end of the cork.)
@eljefetwisted You’ve got my vote to go 100% “screw cap.” I remember when Randall Graham of Bonny Doon tried to push for this about 35 years ago, and to make a point went to screw caps on his flagship wine first. I finally see it adopted more now in some Pacific Northwest wines but still hasn’t been widely as I’d hoped. Also my 95-year-old mother prefers screw caps on her doctor-approved 1/2 glass of wine a day.
@pmarin The last couple years it has (still!) been a little problematic getting our choice of glass to bottle in. I may not be quite able to let go of the cork on The Spaniard but for almost everything else…
@eljefetwisted @pmarin Was he the guy who also offered the flagship corked, but charged a few percent more for the screw capped version?
@eljefetwisted "a foil really serves no useful purpose - YES - Please pass this along to other winemakers. Along with the reediculous polymer wax treatments that make me want to saber the bottles open. So, for this, and to keep MI in the mix for shipping - I ordered a case - even though I have an absurd amount of wine at this point.
@pmarin @rpstrong “charged a few percent more for the screw capped version” - I don’t recall he did that but he’s ornery like that. Thankfully we’ve resolved whether wines age with screw caps (they do just fine).
@eljefetwisted Go for it! Screw top it. If the proof is that they seal just as well and age properly and less likely to “cork”, go for it. I will say that myself and others do still perceive a cork as a higher end bottle vs a screw top. But heck the times are a changin’
Appreciate you being on here and answering questions, it does make it (for me) much more likely to order , even when I have a full up set of racks of wine !
Stevin Cap! Do it!
/giphy restorative-honorable-riddle
Ugh fine. Currently in sauvignon blanc heaven (marlborough). Should be home before this ships!
/giphy quilted-unusual-ramen
@a5meiser white wine…I never knew
@ttboy23 only in summer!
I was going to pass on this, as have so much wine on order…(it’s getting ridiculous)
Yet I went down to my cellar to pick out a wine for dinner, and my rule is, if you touch it, you pull it and drink it!
I just so happened to touch a Twisted Oak Graciano 2017…
And I’m thinking, Twisted Oak is being offered on CM right now…!
Well, the wine is delicious; from the nose (amazing), to the taste…(even better!)
So, in for another case…great stuff (at least from that year)…
/giphy festering-snobbish-boa
/giphy tragic-delirious-jackalope
In for a case! Just brought up a 2011 Murgatroyd to have with dinner.
Cheers!
/giphy gallant-elaborate-church
So surprised this hasn’t sold out! Great wines & price. Bought 2 cases myself. The 2017 were great
When I saw this, I was like, really another case of wine to buy, I know, i know, I’ll regret it later. Glad it hasn’t sold out yet, been a long day so nice to be able to order this!
/giphy weird-winding-heron
We opened up a 2016 Graciano from a prior offer. It was a treat! We’re in the “where are we gonna put this?” camp, but will make room for a case. Thank you, @eljefetwisted!
/giphy macho-cute-government
Yeah, how has this not sold out?!
@klezman @eljefetwisted
Because he dropped a bunch of ship-to states?
@chipgreen @eljefetwisted @klezman This 100%. I was going to crack one of the 2017s to gear up for another order, but didn’t when I saw Ohio was no longer on the list. I feel for both winemakers and wine drinkers who are stuck dealing with the patchwork regulations of the various states
/giphy favorable-bare-peace
@dmischke99 had a quick thing to say on 2024-03-18 06:00
Did anyone else get a bad bottle of the recent Twisted Oak offering. Our first bottle, The Spaniard, was unpleasantly sharp with no real fruitiness (per description). It was almost vinegary. I’m hoping this was just an off bottle,
@wardad said on 2024-03-19 12:00
I’ve had bottle variation in Twisted Oaks historically. At least twice, I think more, I’ve gotten bad / prematurely aged bottles in otherwise (very) good cases. I’d almost expect a bad bottle on average from TO. Worth it to me, for the otherwise excellent QPR (especially on casemates!). I figure it’s something El Jefe knows about and is addressing.
Thanks - we did really enjoy the Tempranillo so hopefully the rest of the case is fine.
I just opened the TO (Torcido), and it was undrinkable. The wine was very sharp & had a strong taste of wood. This bottle was from my most recent purchase from TO.
@fibercot sounds possibly corked. Get in touch with the winery.