TAPAS – Tempranillo Advocates, Producers and Amigos Society – is a nonprofit trade association of over one hundred wineries, growers, and amigos, whose mission is to promote Tempranillo and other varietal wine grapes native to the Iberian Peninsula, and wines produced from them in North America.
In 2011, TAPAS organized the first annual International Tempranillo Day: A celebration of the Tempranillo grape with all its regional synonyms. They encouraged everyone to open a bottle of Tempranillo, enjoy the fun, and share their experiences online with the hashtag #TempranilloDay or #Tempranillo. This year, the date is Thursday, November 8, 2012.
Tempranillo is the foundation of the red wines from Rioja and Ribera del Duero in Spain. Over the last twenty years, a number of American growers and producers have discovered or re-discovered Tempranillo, along with other Spanish and Portuguese varieties like Albariño, Graciano, Garnacha and Verdelho, as well as the grapes used in Port, such as Touriga Naçional.
Until recently, this noble grape’s entire acreage was almost all grown in Spain. Perhaps others were confused by the 60 or more regional synonyms for Tempranillo, which in itself may be a record worth celebrating.
But things have changed: knowledge of this noble grape is rapidly spreading, creating excitement and a spirit of cooperation among adventurous vintners bringing this Old World variety to New World soils. Tempranillo today is grown in many more countries including the United States, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, France, Portugal, Turkey, Canada, China, Thailand, and more. And that’s why we should all celebrate International Tempranillo Day.
We'll drink to that... Salud!
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