Tempranillo grape wine variety

Posted by Isabelle Verma on January 28th, 2021

https://www.thepitcherexchange.com/tempranillo-grape-wine-variety/

Tempranillo is the popular red grape variety which forms backbone of the finest wines from Portugal and Spain. Almost every nice red wine from Rioja has Tempranillo at its core, and specially in Portugal the variety is widely used in Douro Valley i.e. under the name of Tinta Roriz – both for fortified wines and table wines. Tempranillo grape variety vines have been successfully adopted in the New World, especially in

• Argentina
• California
• Australia

Tempranillo is the name given to it by Spanish growers which means “little early one” because of its habit of ripening earliar than Garnacha (Grenache) which is traditional Spanish blending partner. By Studies of the DNA suggest that grape originated in Navarra, and the lack of clonal variation among the various locations from where it is planted indicate that it has only spread through Spain relatively recently.

Tempranillo Grape Origin

Tempranillo is an old grape i.e. dating back to at least the ninth century. Tempranillo grape variety originated in the Iberian Peninsula and the vast majority of plantings are still in Spain, and moreover it is an essential component of the Port wines of Portugal.