Editing Tempranillo (section)

== Viticulture ==

Tempranillo is a black grape with a thick skin.<ref name=guru/> It grows best at relatively high altitudes, but it also can tolerate a much warmer climate.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Perkins|first=Sid | title=Global Vineyard. Can technology take on a warming climate? | journal=Science News | volume=165 | issue=22 | date=29 May 2004 | pages=347–349 | jstor=4015089 | doi=10.2307/4015089}}</ref> With regard to Tempranillo's production in various climates, wine expert [[Oz Clarke]] notes:
{{Quote|To get elegance and acidity out of Tempranillo, you need a cool climate. But to get high sugar levels and the thick skins that give deep color you need heat. In Spain these two opposites are best reconciled in the [[continental climate (wine)|continental climate]] but high altitude of the Ribera del Duero.<ref>{{cite book | last=Clarke|first=Oz | title=Encyclopedia of Grapes | publisher=Harcourt Books | year=2001 | page=272 | isbn=978-0-15-100714-1}}</ref>}}
[[File:ClosLaPlanaEdit.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Tempranillo vines in [[Penedès (DO)|Penedès]] region, [[Province of Barcelona|Barcelona Province]]]]
In the Ribera del Duero the average July temperature is around 21.4° [[Celsius]] (70.5° [[Fahrenheit]]),<ref name="Johnson atlas pg 191">{{cite book | last1=Johnson|first1=Hugh | last2=Robinson|first2=Jancis | title=The World Atlas of Wine  | publisher=Mitchell Beazley Publishing | year=2005 | page= 191 | isbn=978-1-84000-332-1}}</ref> though temperatures in the middle of the day in the lower valley can jump as high as 40&nbsp;°C (104&nbsp;°F). At night the region experiences a dramatic [[diurnal temperature variation]], with temperatures dropping by as much as 16&nbsp;°C (30&nbsp;°F) from the daytime high. The Tempranillo grape is one of the few grapes that can adapt and thrive in [[continental Mediterranean climate]]s like this.<ref name="Oxford pg 576">{{cite book | editor-last=Robinson | editor-first=Jancis | title=The Oxford Companion to Wine | edition=third | page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00janc/page/576 576] | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-19-860990-2 | url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00janc/page/576 }}</ref>

Pests and diseases are a serious problem for this grape variety, since it has little resistance to either. The grape forms compact, cylindrical bunches of spherical, deep blue-black fruit with a colourless pulp. The leaves are large with five overlapping lobes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wine Grapes of California:Tempranillo|publisher=University of California at Davis|page=151|url=http://iv.ucdavis.edu/files/24363.pdf}}</ref>

The Tempranillo root absorbs [[potassium]] easily, which facilitates pH levels of 3.6 in the pulp and 4.3 in the skin when it reaches maturity. If it absorbs too much potassium, the [[must]] becomes salified (increased levels of salt), which slows the disappearance of [[malic acid]], resulting in a higher pH. {{Citation needed|reason=more likely potassium ions bonding with tartaric acid is the driving force here|date=September 2020}} The skin does not present any herbaceous characters. The grape is very susceptible to inclement weather, contracting when there is a drought and swelling when there is too much humidity. The swelling has a negative effect on quality since it affects the colour of the wine. The effects of the weather are attenuated in places with [[limestone]] because of the effect of the clay and humidity in the roots; the effects are worse in sandy areas, as well as for vines that are less than twelve years old, as the roots are generally too superficial.<ref name=arrakis>{{cite web | last=Hernández | first=Manuel Ruiz | title=Variedad Tempranillo | publisher=www.arrakis.com | year=1999 | language=es | url=http://www.arrakis.es/~mruizh/a9.htm | access-date=2007-04-04 | archive-date=2000-11-02 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001102184229/http://www.arrakis.es/~mruizh/a9.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=May 2012}}