Glossary T
Tinta Roriz refers to a grape variety which is also known as Tempranillo in Spain and is the only key 'Port' variety that is widely planted outside of Portugal. Tinta Roriz produces large crops that can vary widely in quality depending on the vintage and the vineyard site. Its wines can range from light in body to full bodied with heavy tannins. It is not a grape that makes very good wine on its own but it can be useful when used as a "spice grape" in a blend.
Tinta Roriz is the only classic variety of the Douro not indigenous to Portugal. It is known in Spain, its birthplace, as Tempranillo. The name, from "temprana," or "early," refers to its trait of ripening early. Of the top varietals, Tinta Roriz is the most variable in in quality.
High in vigor, moderate in productivity and highly resistant to heat and aridity, Tinta Roriz grows best on hot, dry south-facing schist slopes, away from water, with shelter from wind. Such siting helps curb the vine’s vigor and also helps it avoid rot, to which it is susceptible.
The Tinta Roriz produces thick-skinned, deeply-colored grapes not too high in acidity which yield masculine wines of firm tannic structure, excellent complexity and distinctive resiny fragrance. It constitutes 12.1% of plantings in the Douro Valley, the second most prevalent vine.
Alternate name of Tinta Roriz are: Tempranillo; Aragonez; possibly the Valdepeñas of California