Tempranillo
Tempranillo is most common in Spain, though it is also found in other countries including Portugal (where it’s called Aragonês or Tinta Roriz) and Argentina. It is the main grape used in some of Spain’s most highly-regarded regions including Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Toro. Flavors of berries, plum and tobacco spice are commonly experienced, with the depth and complexity of the wine dependant on the oak aging it has undergone. Popular synonyms include Cencibel, Tinta de Toro, Tinto del Pais and Tinto Fino. You can use Wine Enthusiast’s online Buying Guide to find the top-rated Tempranillo among our extensive Tempranillo wine reviews and easy-to-use database. Our Tempranillo reviews will give you a general idea what to expect from wines made from Tempranillo, and will help you find one that best suits your needs.
François Lurton 2006 Campo Eliseo Tinta de Toro (Toro)
- Editors' Choice
- $100
Everything that’s fantastic about 21st-century Toro is encapsulated in this big, intense beauty. Tobacco, vanilla and blackberry aromas grace the forceful but stylish nose, while the palate pulses with toasty blackberry, dark plum, tobacco and chocolaty flavors. Smoky, pure and long on the finish. A hands-down winner to drink now through 2016.
— M.S.
(12/15/2011)
Viñedos de Paganos 2005 El Puntido Red (Rioja)
- Editors' Choice
- $65
Our wine of the year in 2007 (the ’04 El Puntido) is back with a vengeance in the 2005 vintage. This is a deep-fruited modern specimen with that elusive mix of floral, fruit and meaty characteristics. The palate is ripe and everlasting, with berry, coffee and hickory flavors. Long and calm on the finish, with amazing texture. An excellent encore to the prior year’s…
— M.S.
(12/15/2008)
Numanthia-Termes, S.L. 2009 Termanthia Tinta de Toro (Toro)
- $200
This Toro wine is a mindblower. The nose is exemplary: it bursts with smooth, rooty aromas of licorice, kirsch and roasted black plum. The palate is huge and tannic but luxurious, and the flavors of tobacco, cedar, lemon peel, spice and black fruit set up a finish with espresso, black cherry and a wall of tannins. Drink now through 2018.
— M.S.
(5/1/2013)
Telmo Rodríguez 2004 Altos de Lanzaga Tempranillo (Rioja)
- Cellar Selection
- $105
Masculine and heady stuff, as leather, espresso, smoked meat, mocha and intense blackberry aromas set the stage for an intense, driven, structured palate that’s full of coconut, vanilla bean, cocoa and pure plum and berry. A serious nuevo classico Rioja if there ever was one.
— M.S.
(9/1/2007)
Sierra Cantabria 2009 Finca El Bosque Tempranillo (Rioja)
- Cellar Selection
- $170
El Bosque is Eguren family top-shelf Rioja that’s a knockout. It’s dark as night, with dusty aromas of cola, cocoa, marzipan, blackberry and spice all rolled into a finessed whole. Feels tight as a drum but balanced, with monstrous flavors of boysenberry, cassis, peppercorn, baking spices and chocolate. Young and raring to go; hold until 2013 then drink through 2018.
— M.S.
(4/1/2012)
Maurodos 2008 San Roman Tinta de Toro (Toro)
- Editors' Choice
- $70
One of Spain’s great full-force, modern-style wines, this excels despite the marginal 2008 vintage. It’s open-knit and soft on the nose, with ladels of spice, graphite and black fruit aromas. It feels fresh, balanced and not overly tannic, with strapping blackberry, coffee, chocolate, spice and tobacco flavors all rolled into a fabulous whole. Licorice, espresso…
— M.S.
(12/31/2012)
Bodegas Roda 1998 Cirsion Tempranillo (Rioja)
- $215
Yes, it costs a fortune, but this first-of-its-kind release from Bodegas Roda delivers tons of extraction and concentration along with subtleties that complete the package. It’s yet another new-world-styled red from Spain sporting incredible density and depth. Flavors of prune, coffee and smoked meat yield to a finish of soft vanilla oak and the blackest coffee…
— W.E.
(8/1/2000)
Teofilo Reyes 1996 Reserva Tempranillo (Ribera del Duero)
- $150
Dark cherry aromas and beautifully integrated oak with attractive mint-menthol notes grace the complex nose. The flavors are very complex as well, with tart cherry, licorice, balsamic, prune and cocoa notes dancing on the palate. Big in scale but very well balanced, with a long dry finish and firm but not sharp tannins. Truly excellent. (Available in magnums only…
— M.M.
(8/1/2000)
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