Complex Numbers

International Tempranillo Day

Hot on the heels of "International Merlot Day"  and "Harvey Wallbanger Day" , it seems that today is...

    International Tempranillo Day  

Don't look at me; I don't make these things up. Apparently, it's set for the second Thursday in November every year, which, sadly, means it can never fall on the same day as Merlot Day. I was looking forward to blending them.

I wanted to highlight this observance for several reasons:

1) I like Tempranillo. It's usually a blending variety, but I'm pretty sure I've had pure Tempranillo and liked it;

2) In my discussion of wine regions the other day, I shamefully left out Spain, Portugal, and Italy, where this grape tends to thrive (I also left out Germany, which, with a few exceptions, really should stick to beer);

3) The promoter of International Tempranillo Day is named "Tempranillo Advocates Producers and Amigos Society (TAPAS)," and that made me laugh.

Clearly, TAPAS   is an American organization, because only English speakers would dare to create such a boldly horrible forced acronym, and the UK wouldn't want another war against Spain; Canada doesn't produce much Tempranillo, if any; and Australia and New Zealand are too classy to torture language like that.

As for the grape itself, obviously, it's associated with Spain in the way that Merlot and others are associated with France, but it's a very popular variety, so it's been transplanted to other places, like California. I suspect, though, that more people have heard of Merlot. That's partly because, as I noted up there, it's often used in blends; and partly because France likes to think that good wine can only come from their side of the Pyrenees (and their side of the Alps), and they have a better marketing cartel.

The name, incidentally, refers to it ripening earlier than other grapes (same Latin root as other "time" words like tempo, tempus, temporary, temporal, and tempura). I imagine this is a desirable quality for winemakers, as it means their harvest and production periods (and thus, output) can be extended, if they have other vines planted as well.

As for the wine itself, it's been a while since I've had any, so I couldn't describe the taste even if I could bring myself to use oenophilic language like I did in the Merlot entry. I don't keep wine-tasting notes the way I do for beer, but I do remember that it's quite tasty, though probably not as bold as the common French varietals.

It's also, as I understand it, a common grape used in port.

Port can only be labeled "port" if it comes from Portugal, which, as I'm sure you can guess, has roughly the same wine-growing conditions as Spain, being on the same peninsula and all. I mean, I don't know what penalties they could impose if someone in California called their product "port;" war, I suppose. Trade, shooting, nuclear, or otherwise. This is analogous to how champagne has to come from Champagne, or tequila can only be called tequila if it comes from a small region of Mexico, outside of which it must be labeled mezcal or agave spirits or whatever.

But the point here is that port can be made from many different grape varietals, and blends thereof, but the ubiquity of Tempranillo in the region means it's a popular one for the famous fortified wine.

So there you have it. If you like red wine, give it a try next time you see it (doesn't have to be today); it may surprise you, and that surprise might even be pleasant.