Tempranillo

and the wine from it

Tempranillo (“Tempranillo” in the true pronunciation) – red technical grape variety of Spanish origin. The word tempranillo is the diminutive of the Spanish temprano meaning “early”: the Tempranillo ripens several weeks earlier than most Spanish red grapes.

Tempranillo is the basis of many of the best wines of Spain and Portugal. Almost every wine from Rioja and Ribera del Duero based on Tempranillo. In Portugal the variety is widely used in winemaking in the Douro Valley for the production of table wines and in the creation of fortified wines – port.

Tempranillo vines are successfully cultivated in the New world, particularly in California, Australia and Argentina.

Synonyms varieties in Spain: Tinto Fino (Tinto Fino), Tinto del Pais (Tinto del Pais), Tinto Madrid (Madrid Tinto), Tinto de Toro (Tinto de Toro), Cencibel (Cencibel), Ul de Lebre (Ull de Llebre), Ojo de Lebre (Ojo de Liebre).
In Portugal: Aragonesh (Aragonez), Arinto Tinto (Arinto Tinto), Tinta Roriz (Tinta Roriz), Tinta de Santiago (Tinta de Santiago).

Cm. also Tempranillo Blanco (White Tempranillo)

Tempranillo berries have thick skins rich in anthocyanins (pigments). Wine made from Tempranillo has a very rich color, but the moderate tannins, which is quite the taste of modern consumers of red wines.

Although Tempranillo has a pronounced bouquet, in wines with its participation it is possible to detect a fairly wide range of flavors: from strawberry, black currant and cherries to prunes, chocolate and tobacco. The first berry – tone is usually characteristic of young Tempranillo from cooler places, while the latter appear due to the warmer climate and aging.

Definitely, Tempranillo is wonderful with oak. In particular, with the American oak – the traditional choice of winemakers in Rioja. New oak barrels are gracefully decorated with a bouquet of Tempranillo notes of vanilla and coconut.

To the West in Ribera del Duero prefer and used French oak barrels through which the fruit of the Tempranillo reveals a spicy undertones.

Over time, the difference between these styles is leveled, and the consumer gets beautiful in its complexity of wine.
Tempranillo – high yielding variety, so the bold trim and control productivity is a necessary condition for obtaining a quality fruit, and therefore wine.

Tempranillo is also known as a cultivar with a low level of natural acidity. So you can easily find flat and overripe samples of Tempranillo from the sun-scorched plains of the region of La Mancha (translated from Arabic – “scorched earth”), leaving no doubt from holding the glass, this wine from the hot plains.

At the same time, no excess of acidity (compared, for example, red Spanish grape, Graciano) is for the benefit of Tempranillo growing in rugged terrain with a high daily range of temperatures such as limestone mountainous terroirs of the Ribera del Duero.

That’s where Tempranillo is best reveals its potential in conditions, when hot, Sunny days allow its thick-skinned berries to ripen fully and cool nights allow us to maintain the natural acid balance. The result is a bright, lively wine with the right balance of heat and spice. The only way Tempranillo can really show what you are capable of. It is therefore not surprising that the continental climate of Argentina and Australia were among the early converts to the overseas Spanish vines.

In the 1990s in the history of Tempranillo started a real Renaissance, with the arrival of Spanish winemakers of the “new wave” to prove that can be of great Spanish wines outside of Rioja. Appeared monosortovye samples of Tempranillo from better Spanish regions such as Ribera del Duero, Navarra and Penedes.

Using the material of the portal wine-searcher.com