Tempranillo is a Spanish variety, VIVC-recorded as a cross of Albillo Mayor and Benedicto. California's bearing acreage has grown modestly since 2000, from 613 to 925 acres in 2025, spread across 38 counties, led by San Luis Obispo, San Joaquin, and Fresno. It is Spain's principal grape for Rioja, valued for moderate acidity and firm tannin. In California it remains a small planting, grown mostly by producers making varietal wines outside the state's mainstream Bordeaux and Rhone varieties.
What kind of grape this is
- Registry name
- TEMPRANILLO TINTO
- Species
- VITIS VINIFERA LINNÉ SUBSP. SATIVA (DE CANDOLLE) HEGI
- Berry color
- NOIR
- Country of origin
- SPAIN
- Parentage
- ALBILLO MAYOR×BENEDICTO
- Synonyms
- 96
- Approved on a US label
- Tempranillo (Valdepeñas)
- FPS selections
- 21
CDFA prints it as Tempranillo
confirmed by DNA markers
names this grape is known by elsewhere, per VIVC
the names TTB permits on a bottle
distinct clones and selections held at UC Davis
Registries
What is published
Counts describe what this atlas holds for Tempranillo, not what California grows. A zero is a published answer: it means the source names the grape and reports nothing under it, or does not name it at all.
- 721
county-years of acreage
38 counties, 925 bearing acres in 2025
- 410
district-years of crush
17 of 17 crush districts, 26 crop years
- 410
district-years of Brix
tonnage-weighted at the crusher, Crush Report Table 3
- 14
producers in this atlas
producers whose curated wine list names it — a curated roster of 2,772 producers, not a census of California
- —
regions with a maturity date
not one of the eight cultivars with a
Acreage in California
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Counties and concentration
loading concentration…
Where it is planted
Reported by county — never by AVA
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Share of each county's vineyard
Reported by county — never by AVA
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The counties
Reported by county — never by AVA
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Tonnage and price by district
Reported by crush district — never by county or AVA
All 17 districts on one axis →
loading crush report…
Brix at the crusher
Reported by crush district — never by county or AVA
loading must chemistry…
Growers in this atlas's roster
- Bedrock Wine Co.bottled
Winery · Carlisle Vineyard, Dolinsek Ranch
- Black Stallion Winerybottled
Winery · Albariño & Tempranillo, Limited Release Calistoga Tempranillo
- Graveyard Vineyardsbottled
Winery · SCREAM, Tempranillo
- Jarvisbottled
Winery · Tempranillo
- JUSTIN Vineyards & Winerybottled
Winery · Reserve Tempranillo
- Krupp Brothersbottled
Winery · The Doctor, The Water Witch
- Miramonte Winerybottled
Winery · Tempranillo
- Native Bloom Winerybottled
Winery · Tempranillo
- Chiselledlisted
Brand · Tempranillo
- Fortune Favorslisted
Brand · TEMPRANILLO
- Groundwork Wine Companylisted
Brand · Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Petite Sirah, Tempranillo, Touriga Nacional
- Pope Valley Winerylisted
Brand · Tempranillo
and 2 more in the roster, each listing it without a named wine in the atlas.
14 of this atlas’s 2772 curated producers, 8 of them with a named wine in the atlas made from it. A roster is not a census — this is who the atlas has entered, not who grows the grape in California.