Tempranillo

Tempranillo is the most famous and important red grape variety of Spain and the key contributor to that country’s best-known wine, Rioja. In Rioja, its wine is traditionally aged for long periods in large oak casks. This helps it to develop a strawberry flavour to go alongside its more commonly-found characteristics of leather and spice. High in tannin and relatively low in alcohol, it makes a good blending partner and is often combined with other, complementary varieties, such as Grenache and (increasingly in modern wine regions) Cabernet Sauvignon.