Tempranillo

Spain's noble red — leather and red fruit, made for oak.

Tempranillo is Spain's most important red grape, best known from Rioja and Ribera del Duero where it goes by local names (Tinto Fino, Tinta del País, Cencibel). It produces medium-bodied reds with red-cherry and dried-fig fruit, savory leather, and a natural affinity for long oak aging. Traditional Rioja's American oak gives the grape vanilla and dill notes; modern producers using French oak yield fresher, more structured wines. In Portugal it is called Tinta Roriz (Douro) or Aragonês (Alentejo) and contributes to Port and dry table wines alike.