Encruzado (en-crew-ZAH-doh)

Important grape in the dry white wines of Portugal’s Dão region.

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.

“I like my coffee black, my beer from Germany, wine from Burgundy, the darker, the better. I like my heroes complicated and brooding, James Dean in oiled leather, leaning on a motorcycle. You know the color.”

Barbara Crooker,

American poet, from the poem Ode to Chocolate

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