Who It's For: Spanish wine fans, WSET and CMS candidates working through Spain, and anyone who has drunk Rioja for years without realizing how many other places the same grape grows.
Tempranillo is Spain's most planted red grape and one of the most shape-shifting varieties in the world. It goes by different names in different regions, takes on wildly different personalities depending on the climate and soil, and produces wines that can range from silky and floral to dense and brooding within a few hundred miles of vineyards.
This comparative tasting stays inside Spain and works through the regions where Tempranillo defines the local style. Rioja and its aging tradition. Ribera del Duero and its structured, high-altitude version. Toro and its darker, more concentrated expression. Plus a few less-talked-about corners of the country where Tempranillo shows up under a different name and behaves like a completely different grape. Along the way we cover how climate, elevation, oak, and local tradition each shape the wines in the glass.