Tempranillo

Tempranillo is Spain's flagship black grape and the backbone of its greatest red wines, an early-ripening, thick-skinned variety that gives ruby-red, medium- to full-bodied wines of plum and red-berry fruit, leather, tobacco and — after time in oak — vanilla, dill and sweet spice. Its name comes from the Spanish temprano, "early," for the way it ripens weeks ahead of most Spanish reds. It is the heart of Rioja and Ribera del Duero and travels under dozens of names across Spain and Portugal.