Ahhh, Tempranillo. Visions of your Spanish homeland dance through my head, Flamenco dancers, bull fighters, arid plains with wannabe conquistadores tilting at windmills. Full of rich color, relatively low acid, soft tannins, bright upfront fruit and an affinity to oak like a puppy to a new shoe. How is it that this wine, that sounds tailor made for the New World, has barely made a dent in American wine stores.

Perhaps the problem is, even in your homeland you are known by a couple of dozen different names, Cencibel, Tinto de Toro, Ull de Llebre (eye of the Hare). In España, Tempranillo is the grape responsible for many of the great wines. It forms the base of Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Penedès. It even plays an important part across the border in Portugal where it is known as Tinto Roriz, one of the most important grapes in Port.

Lots of great wines, all one grape, why aren’t we growing it in the U.S.? Back in the day when everyone was looking for grapes they looked to France, not Spain. At that time Spain was producing lakes of over-aged, oxidative, washed out wines. It wasn’t until a few “Flying Winemakers’ headed to Spain to try to transform old-fashioned wines into something internationally marketable.

Luckily, Spain has more acreage of vineyards than any other nation on Earth and many of them are full of this great grape. While it seems that due to poor timing and much name confusion we don’t have California vineyards awash in Tem-pranillo, Spain has plenty. The best part, most are a great bargain. Join us for this Iberian exploration with this many aliased grape in the following wines:

Lanzos, Tempranillo, Vino de la Tierra de Castillo y Leon
Deep cherry, garnet rimmed. Full nose of preserved fruit, lightly spiced, warm and charachterful. In the mouth: fruity, concentrated, full-flavored with mature tannins, good acidity, balanced and persistent. Only $7.99!!!

Embocadero, Ribero Del Duero, 2009 92Pts. Wine Advocate
The 2009 Embocadero spent 14 months in new French oak. Wood smoke, mineral, spice box, incense, and blackberry inform the nose of this dense, plush effort. Give it another 2-3 years of bottle age and drink it from 2014 to 2024. Only 14.99!!!

Flor De Pingus, Ribera Del Duero, 2006 95Pts. Wine Advocate
The 2006 Flor De Pingus is a deep purple color with a superb bouquet of toasty oak, spice box, mineral, incense, black cherry and blackberry. Youthful, full-bodied, intense, and powerful on the palate, it retains an elegant personality despite its size. Splendidly balanced, it will evolve for 4-6 years and deliver prime drinking from 2013-2026. Bubbles Note: Colorado only received 12 bottles of this rare wine, we were lucky enough to get 3, only 2 remain. Be sure and take advantage of your opportunity to get this spectacular wine for only $99.99!!!

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