Tempranillo

Tempranillo's parents are Albillo Mayor and Benedicto, a pedigree confirmed by DNA markers. Genotyping of SNP and microsatellite markers in grapevine germplasm collections identified the pair as its parents, with very high statistical support. VIVC records Spain as its country or region of origin, and lists the variety under the prime name Tempranillo Tinto, variety number 12350. Of the two parents, Albillo Mayor is still cultivated in the central Iberian Peninsula, while Benedicto is rarely cultivated today.

• VIVC prime name: Tempranillo Tinto; VIVC variety number 12350; country of origin: Spain
• Parents: Albillo Mayor and Benedicto (pedigree confirmed by markers)
• Method: DNA, from SNP and microsatellite marker analysis

DNA research published in 2012 identified Albillo Mayor and Benedicto as the parents of Tempranillo. In Rioja, Marqués de Riscal was founded in 1858 by Guillermo Hurtado de Amézaga. Construction of its original bodega began in 1860, and the expertise of Jean Pineau, cellar master at Château Lanessan, helped shape the building.

• Research published in 2012 identified Albillo Mayor and Benedicto as Tempranillo's parent varieties
• Marqués de Riscal, founded in 1858, drew on the expertise of Jean Pineau, cellar master at Château Lanessan, for its original bodega
• OIV's 2017 survey of the world's grape varieties shows Spain's Tempranillo vineyards growing by 41.5% since the early 2000s, while the national vineyard area fell by approximately 15%

Tempranillo is best known as the dominant grape of red Rioja, where it occupies most of the vineyard plantings. Rioja's zones are Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental. In Ribera del Duero, the high plateau south-west of Rioja, it is even more important, grown in an extreme climate of hot days and cool nights. In Portugal it is grown as Tinta Roriz in the north and as Aragonês in the Alentejo. Argentina has grown substantial quantities of the vine, which it called Tempranilla, for decades.

• Ribera del Duero: known as Tinto Fino or Tinto del País; an extreme climate of hot days and cool nights
• Portugal: as Tinta Roriz, a respected ingredient in port and in the table wines of the Douro Valley; as Aragonês in the Alentejo; increasingly bottled as a varietal wine
• Australia: growers are becoming interested in its novel range of flavours

The flavour of Tempranillo is essentially savoury rather than sweet, with hints of leather and a smell Jancis Robinson most often describes as 'fresh tobacco leaves'. In warm climates it gives deeply coloured wines with a high alcohol content and low acidity, characteristics that become less apparent as yields increase. Rioja's Reserva wines, aged between barrel and bottle, are usually more complex, with tertiary aromas such as tobacco and leather. In a Rioja blend, Tempranillo provides the framework, ageing ability and predominant flavour, while Garnacha adds weight; Graciano is also allowed.

The traditional way of making Rioja was ageing for years in small, vanilla-scented American oak barrels, which disguised Tempranillo's own flavour. Bodegas in Rioja have since begun to age their wines for much shorter periods in French oak, and to export young, unoaked Joven wines. At Vega Sicilia in Ribera del Duero, Unico is aged in new and used 225-litre French and American oak barrels and 22,000-litre wooden vats. Rioja's ageing rules require red Crianza wines to age for at least two years, at least one of them in 225-litre oak barrels; Reserva for at least three years between barrel and bottle, with at least one year in oak and six months in bottle; and Gran Reserva for at least five years, two in oak and two in bottle.

• American oak was traditional in Rioja, its small barrels vanilla-scented; bodegas have begun to age wines for much shorter periods in French oak
• Vega Sicilia Unico is aged for at least ten years between barrel and bottle, using 225-litre French and American oak barrels and 22,000-litre vats
• Rioja's Viñedo Singular category is directly connected to terroir and recognises wines with special origins

Vega Sicilia's Unico, from Ribera del Duero, is made from the estate's Tempranillo (Tinto Fino) and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards, and undergoes more than ten years of ageing in oak and bottle. Marqués de Riscal, founded in 1858, makes Barón de Chirel in Rioja. In Ribera del Duero, the Dane Peter Sisseck makes Dominio de Pingus. Muga, in Rioja, is among Jancis Robinson's specifically recommended examples of Tempranillo.

• Vega Sicilia Unico: Tinto Fino with Cabernet Sauvignon from the estate's vineyards, aged more than ten years in oak and bottle
• Dominio de Pingus: Peter Sisseck's Ribera del Duero wine

Primary sources: https://www.vivc.de/index.php?r=passport%2Fview&id=12350 ; https://doi.org/10.5344/ajev.2012.12012 ; https://www.oiv.int/public/medias/5888/en-distribution-of-the-worlds-grapevine-varieties.pdf ; https://riojawine.com/en-gb/the-designation/classification/ ; https://riojawine.com/en-gb/the-designation/grape-varieties/ ; https://riojawine.com/en-gb/blog/discover-the-rioja-red-grape-variety/ ; https://www.temposvegasicilia.com/en/wine/234/unico ; https://www.marquesderiscal.com/en/our-history ; https://www.marquesderiscal.com/en/winery Reference sources: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/learn/grape-varieties/red/tempranillo ; https://winefolly.com/grape-varieties/tempranillo/ Last verified 2026-10-17