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Garnacha Tintorera (better known globally as Alicante Bouschet) is a unique red grape variety highly valued in Spain and Portugal. It is one of the few grapes with red flesh, which gives the wine an opaque, inky black color. These berries produce incredibly powerful, firmly structured red wines smelling of dark forest fruits.
Read moreDue to its inherent power, for a long time this variety was used only to "fix" other wines by providing them with color and tannins. However, today winemakers in Spain (especially in the Almansa region) and Portugal (Alentejo) have proven that Tintorera can be an excellent solo drink.
When choosing a pure Tintorera wine, look for those that have been aged in old oak barrels. The oak helps to "tame" the naturally very aggressive tannins of the grape and provides the wine with a velvety texture, complemented by notes of vanilla, roasted coffee, and cocoa. Variants aged in steel tanks will retain more of the intense, jammy blackberry fruitiness.
This is a wine for "heavyweight" dishes. Due to its abundance of tannins and intense fruitiness, Tintorera demands particularly bold flavors. It pairs perfectly with grilled pork (especially Iberico), beef ribs with BBQ sauce, smoked meat products, and hearty game stews.
The French word "Teinturier" means "dyer". The flesh and juice of the vast majority of red grapes in the world (including Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir) are white, and the red color is extracted solely from the skins during maceration. Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet) is an exception—the inside of the berry and its juice are naturally red, which is why the wine immediately acquires an incredibly dark hue.
Although Spain (in the Almansa DO appellation) currently has the largest plantings of this grape, historically it is a French hybrid. It was created in the 19th century by the French botanist Henri Bouschet, who crossed the "Petit Bouschet" and "Grenache" (called Garnacha in Spain) varieties, aiming to produce a grape with vibrant color and high yields.
