Trust in Tempranillo: Spain’s Famed Black Grape Makes Wine Sing

To Spanish winemakers, no more important fruit exists than the black grape known as Tempranillo. The main ingredient of the famous robust red wine Rioja, and an important part of other red wines, the black grapes generally are used in varietal, or blended, wines.

 

The low acidity of the Tempranillo grape leads most winemakers to blend it with other wines to keep its body after aging. But not much is needed to correct what the otherwise-perfect grape lacks in PH. To make Rioja wines, for example, winemakers sometimes use as much as 90 percent Tempranillo grapes in their blends. In Portugal, makers of fine Port often utilize the thick-skinned grape.

 

Deeply, richly red in color, wines made from the Tempranillo grape yield plummy-blackberry flavors with undertones of herbs, vanilla and leather. The wines present a full body, especially when aged for several years in oak barrels before distribution.

 

Wines made with aging in mind are known as “crianza” wines, and have a more robust quality. The lighter “joven” wines can be enjoyed soon after production.

Tempranillo grapes get their name from the Spanish word “temprano,” meaning “little early one,” due to their tendency to ripen weeks before other grapes. This classic mainstay of Spanish winemaking may have been transported to the country by French monks, possibly even as a genetic offspring of Pinot Noir, the grape that it most resembles.

 

Whatever their origin, Tempranillo grapes go back so far in Spanish culture that historians can’t pin down their discovery as wine grapes, or whether they are truly native to Spain. The earliest specific reference to the grape appears in a 13th century poem praising “las tempraniellas” as superior to other grapes.

 

Grown initially just in mainland Spain, specifically the La Rioja and Valdepeñas regions, Tempranillos prospered in their northern, high-altitude climates. Those provinces which receive ample heat during the day but cooler temperatures at night best suit the Tempranillo’s growing culture. According to experts, high altitudes yield the cool nights that give the grape its low acidity and subtety, while the warm days yield high sugar content and thick, dark skins.

In the 1600s, the grapes traveled to North America along with the Spanish Conquistadors. But because the West Coast conditions didn’t yield the superior grape that the Spanish regions did, the grape was not considered good for anything but jug wine.

 

Then during the 1960s an Oregon winemaker named Earl Jones studied the grape’s growing needs, also known as vitaculture, and devoted considerable acreage to growing superior Tempranillos.

 

A few California vineyards have lately begun following suit, but even today, only a few dozen acres altogether are devoted to growing the famed Tempranillo grapes, compared to the more than the 80,000 acres Spain reserves for the black grape!

 

Still, it’s worth looking for American-made Tempranillo varietals, because they are considered rich and full, and even lusher than their Spanish cousins. Experts consider them especially full when aged for a few years, but they do have that “ready to drink now” character as well.

 

Recently, even Australians, best known for their Shiraz wines, have started getting into the Tempranillo game. Given the different regions of Spain and its neighbors, as well as U.S. and Aussie growers now growing the black grape, it is worth remembering some other names Tempranillo might go by, including Aragon, Cencibel, Extremadura and Valdepeñas.

 

Among the varieties to keep an eye out for are Ardilla, Ochoa and Monte Marcal Tempranillo wines.

When it comes to what foods to serve with Tempranillo-based wines, some say that what goes well with a Cabernet Sauvignon will go well with the Tempranillos. To that end, beef, ham, lamb, buttery cheeses and other hearty foods are great choices. Of course, Spanish dishes such as paella and various tapas (Spanish-style appetizers) are great choices to highlight the wine.