TEMPRANILLO

Tempranillo is a red wine grape popular in Spain and is the most important grape variety in the production of Rioja, where it is traditional to blend grapes, although many pure Tempranillo wines of excellent quality are now being made.

In Portugal, the Portuguese call it by two different names depending upon the region in which it is grown: Aragonez and Tinta Roriz (the latter name is used only in the Dão and Douro regions).

In the Ribera del Duero region of Spain the grape is also known as Tinto Fino - a familial strain of Tempranillo, as too is Tinta de Toro native to the Toro wine region - and it is also known as Cencibel in La Mancha and Valdepeñas and Ull de Llebre in Catalonia.

It is capable of making long-lived wines of finesse and complexity. The wines made from Tempranillo often have big red and black fruit flavours of raspberries, ripe strawberries, plum and blackberry, giving the wine a softer taste.