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Degrees Fahrenheit recorded in a vineyard in St. Helena in the Napa Valley last week. Unrelenting record-breaking temperatures over 110 degrees F in wine regions around the Bay Area have forced vintners to immediately start harvesting grapes. The city of San Francisco itself recorded its highest temperature ever recorded—106 degrees F.

Tempranillo, the Spanish grape most famous for its starring role in Rioja, has a different name in nearly every region in which it’s grown. Which of the following is not one of tempranillo’s aliases?

A. Ull de llebre

B. Tinta de Toro

C. Tinta barroca

D. Tinta roriz

Tinta barroca, one of the red varieties used in the production of Port is not the same as tempranillo. The rest are. Ull de Llebre (“eye of the hare”) is what tempranillo is called in Penedés region of northeastern Spain. Tinta de Toro is what tempranillo is called near the town of Toro. And tinta roriz is tempranillo’s name in much of northern Portugal. In Spanish, temprano means early; the grape’s name is thought to have originated because tempranillo ripens earlier than garnacha (grenache), its blending partner in much of Spain.

“To drink Champagne in a flute glass is like going to a concert with earplugs in. You lose everything that is fragile and nuanced.”

—Margareth Henriquez
CEO, Krug Champagne, on the necessity of using a wide white wine glass for Champagne. At Krug, the preferred glass is “The Joseph,” created for the House by Riedel

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