Tempranillo

Tempranillo is Spain's national red grape and it changes name almost everywhere it goes: tinto fino and tinta del país in Ribera del Duero, cencibel in La Mancha, tinta de toro in Toro, ull de llebre in Catalonia, and tinta roriz across the border in Portugal. The name comes from temprano, early, because it ripens well before most Spanish grapes.

On its own it is a moderate grape: medium tannin, moderate acidity, red fruit, leather and tobacco, without the density of cabernet or the perfume of pinot. What makes it work is that it takes oak better than almost any other red, and it stays fresh when it is aged for a long time. The vanilla and coconut of American oak is so bound up with the classic Rioja style that many people read it as the flavour of the grape.

Rioja is the historic centre, where tempranillo is blended with garnacha, graciano and mazuelo and released after years in barrel. Ribera del Duero, higher and colder, makes a darker and more structured version. Toro makes the biggest. In Portugal, as tinta roriz, it goes into port and into Douro reds. Almost all of it is good value, because Spain sells wine that arrives already aged at a price nowhere else matches.