Over here in Spain we have a lot of different grapes, both red and white, that we plant throughout our more than one million hectares of vineyards. That being said, if you ask anyone about Spanish wine they’ll probably say ‘Um…Rioja? Red wine?…Tempranillo?’ And they would be right on all three counts. Spain is mostly famous for those three things. Its reds are more famous and better-regarded in the market than its whites and Rioja is the most venerable and venerated region in the country. However, its time to zoom in on something else.
Today we meet Tempranillo: Spain’s superstar grape.
The Grape:
- A classic Spanish thick-skinned beastie. This is the country’s answer to Cabernet Sauvignon, though according to wine kingpin Telmo Rodriguez it has the characteristic of Pinot Noir to show off terroir down to the village.
- There is more than 30,000 hectares of it grown in Spain; and over 60% of that is in Rioja.
- The name Tempranillo comes from the word temprano, ‘early’, because of the grape’s propensity to ripen early.
- It’s been here in Spain for quite a long time indeed. It has been grown here since the Phoenicians arrived in 1100BC.
- Its fairly short growing cycle means it can thrive in fairly harsh climates such as Rioja Baja, Ribera del Duero and Toro.
- In Rioja it is often blended with Garnacha, Mazuelo, Graciano and Viura.
- Just to be confusing, Tempranillo goes by many other names; so look out for:
- Tinta de Toro
- Tinto del País
- Tinto Fino
- Cencibel
- Ull de Liebre
- There are 500 variations in total. So that’s a lot of names and personalities.
- Also grown in smaller quantities in Portugal (known as Roriz), USA, Argentina, South Africa, France and Australia.
The Wines:
Of course this is going to depend a lot on the region where it is grown, both in Spain and around the world. Everything from climate to soil; from regional grape variations to the quality and talent of the winemakers themselves. Here’s a quick breakdown of three distinct styles.
- Rioja:
- The climate is generally more moderate in the principal regions of Rioja Alta and Alavesa.
- The resulting wines are the classic all rounders. Mr. Medium. Medium-body, medium-acidic, medium-tannin. Elegance and sometimes quite dainty flavours and aromas shimmer out from good Riojas.
- The cooler temperatures bring out gentle touches of strawberry and other red fruits.
- Famously spicy and leathery, smoothened with sweet spices and vanilla, when aged. Rioja just loves to age their wines!
- Ribera del Duero:
- A warmer climate with both brutal winters and summers. Swinging from -18C to 40C.
- Also looking at medium-acidity and tannin, though a little more full-bodied than the Riojas.
- The wines are darker here; inkier with plummy and blackberry fruits abounding. These are bigger and more masculine wines that yearn for cooked meats, yet still retain their suave style.
- Also loves a bit of ageing in barrels à la Rioja.
- Toro:
- A very hot and stark region, whose climatological violence is represented in its wines.
- The wines historically, and we are talking medieval fame here, were heavyweights. Without care and intense management the alcohol will shoot up to 16% and beyond when you’re not looking. The bull has been tamed in recent decades and an elegance is creeping in.
- The heat punch is presented in both big booze, big body and big dark fruits like blackberries and sloes and rusticity.
- Known for being the kind of wine that slaps you in the face and reminds you it means business, Toro wines are often blasted with American oak to soften them.
- These hefty, jammy wines also follow the Rioja system of ageing and do take to it well.
All this being said, Spain as a country is so diverse geographically, climatically, and topographically, that trying to pen down one style of Tempranillo is almost impossible. It can be grown in both moderate temperature areas and screaming hot ones; from low gentle valleys to the highest mesetas a kilometre in the air. This noble grape’s genius has been its ability and willingness to let the country throw it about this way and that; to test its limits with some of the harshest winters and highest temperatures on the continent.
In the hands of great winemakers Tempranillo can take many forms, but it is and will always be the joyous ruby grandmaster of Spain and is unlikely to be toppled any time soon.
