red grape
Tempranillo
Indigenous to northern Spain; DNA studies point to a natural crossing of Albillo Mayor × Benedicto. Known under many regional synonyms (Tinto Fino / Tinta del País in Ribera del Duero, Tinta de Toro in Toro, Aragonez / Tinta Roriz in Portugal).
Named from the Spanish 'temprano' ('early') for its early ripening, which suits the short growing season of cool, high sites; thick-skinned with only moderate natural acidity and modest sugar, so it is often grown at altitude, picked to preserve freshness, and blended and long-aged in oak. Traditionally trained as low bush vines (en vaso) in Rioja.
Structure tendencies
- body
- medium to medium-plus
- tannin
- medium to medium-plus
- acidity
- medium (can fall lower in warm sites)
- alcohol
- medium to medium-plus
tendencies in prose, as read by critics/consensus — not measured ordinals
Classic descriptors
wild strawberry
in your cellar: 1 bottleBodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015red cherry
in your cellar: 3 bottlesChâteau Léoville-Poyferré 2005Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016raspberry
in your cellar: 6 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Laroque 2022Château Pontet-Canet 2022plum
in your cellar: 14 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022dried herbs
in your cellar: 8 bottlesMayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022violet
in your cellar: 13 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022iron
in your cellar: 11 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2020Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022vanilla
in your cellar: 6 bottlesChâteau Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022coconut
in your cellar: 1 bottleBodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015dill
in your cellar: 1 bottleBodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015baking spice
in your cellar: 9 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016toast
in your cellar: 3 bottlesChâteau Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Château Gloria 2020leather
in your cellar: 7 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016tobacco
in your cellar: 13 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022dried cherry
in your cellar: 3 bottlesBodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010dried fig
in your cellar: 2 bottlesChâteau Léoville-Poyferré 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015On its own, Tempranillo is a red-fruited, savoury, medium-weight grape — wild strawberry, red cherry, and dried herbs. Its most famous flavours are borrowed from the cellar: the vanilla, coconut, and dill of American oak and the leather, tobacco, and dried fruit of long ageing are the hallmark of traditional Rioja, not of the grape alone.