TEMPRANILLO - (RIOJA)
Quick overview
Tempranillo is a black grape from Spain which makes medium to full-bodied red wines with medium acidity and normally quite high levels of tannins. It is one of the main grape varieties grown in Rijoa where it will often display red fruit favours and it's also one of the main grape varieties in the Douro, Portugal where it will display black fruit flavours.
It's sometimes blended with other grapes such as Garnacha (Grenache). Grenache gives high alcohol, fruitiness and often some spicy notes - it has light tannins.
On the grapevine...
Wines made from Tempranillo (Rioja in Spain and wines from the Douro Valley in Portugal) can age for many, many years like the wines from Bordeaux.
More about the grape...
When Tempranillo is used to make Rioja, the wine is separated into four levels of classification, which depends on the amount of time the wine spends in oak. (This is similar to the Burgundy Cru classification) The four classifications are:
​
1. Rioja: aged for a short period of time – possibly just a few months in oak.
​
2. Crianza: must spend a minimum of one year in oak. Then it must spend at least another few months in the bottle before being sold.
​
3. Reserva: must be aged for a minimum of three years and at least one year being in oak and the rest in the bottle. This Rioja is made from the best grapes in the harvest and is only made during years that were considered to have a good growing season.
​
4. Gran Reserva: must be aged for a minimum of five years and at least two years in oak and then at least three more years in the bottle. It is only allowed to be made in years with exceptional growing seasons from the most exceptional grapes.
The longer the wine has been aged for, the softer the wine becomes due to the tannins having longer to age.
Random information...
Tempranillo is indigenous to Spain and they have been making it into wine for over 2,000 years.
​
Like wines from France and Italy it is rare that the grape variety will be put on the label for wines from Spain.
Safe bet countries/ regions (this is a VERY general guide)
-
Rioja – Spain
-
Douro Valley – Portugal