Tempranillo

Tempranillo - early-ripening and its name means ‘little early one - whilst grown elsewhere, it is synonymous with Spain. It has a warm, strawberry flavour which gets a lick of vanilla when it has been aged in oak – as it often is. Rioja is its heartland, where it is blended with Garnacha, Mazuelo, and Graciano. In Valdepeñas it is known as Cencibel; in Ribera del Duero as Tinto Fino; in Toro as Tinta de Toro. It is also popular in Portugal where it is known as Tinta Roriz and widely used in Port production and, more recently, in the excellent Douro Red table wines of the same region. There are small plantings elsewhere in South America, California and Australia to name a few.