Spanish Tempranillo

Tempranillo is very much Spain’s signature grape variety, and a variety that, for whatever reason, is only found sporadically in other countries – something that seems strange given its success in its homeland. The dominant grape in Rioja, where it has traditionally yielded smooth, oak-aged, vanilla-laden wines, in recent times it has also found fame in the powerful yet vibrant wines of Ribera del Duero, where the purity of the fruit generally takes precedent over the ageing regime. Typically medium-bodied with notes of cherries, plums, tobacco leaf and leather, it easily takes on the character of the winemaker, be that through moulding with oak, as was long the case (though now less so) in Rioja, or through greater extraction and ripeness, as in Ribera.