Description
The King of Spain.
Tempranillo is the chief component found in red Rioja, and Ireland drinks more of it than anywhere else in the world. So....Eurovision and Rioja consumption we are unparallelled! Tempranillo is mid weight in terms of acidity, tanniin and alcohol, it is amenable to blending with a number of bedfellows, loves a bit of oak but is happy without and is generally delicious! It straddles the red fruit spectrum. The main grape of both Rioja and Ribera del Duero it is massively common across Spain but relatively rare elsewhere. This 6-Pack is dynamite for €90.
From the hotbed of modern Spanish wine making of Valencia, Marques de caro Tempranillo is a pitch-perfect introduction to the style. Moving to Rioja, Aradon Tinto is made in a Joven/young style, that is, without oak and in concrete to preserve freshness and purity. Letargo Crianza is a classically styled Rioja wine with a good lick of oak (the term Crianza refers to the fact that the wine must spend 18 months or more in oak before release).
El Mozo Herrigoia is a curve ball. A new-wave Rioja N Roller in that it is made with Tempranillo and white varieties via carbondic maceration, the natural wine making method used in Beaujolais. It is bright and juicy but with some tannic heft. (Funny enough this is how Rioja was made before the advent of commercial Rioja as we know it). Finishing in Ribera del Duero where wines must be 100% Tempranillo, a wine that has been with us since the start; Galinita Ciega, and a new one, one our fave wines of the year: Arrocal Roble. They are big and bold, but like the best RDD examples, offer loads of freshness, giving them elegance.