Aged Manchego cheese
Crystalline sheep's milk salt amplifies the wine's cedar and tobacco notes.
Our editors write the food pairings for every bottle we review. Grouped by kind of food, the Tempranillo pairings come out like this, most frequent first. Each card names the bottle, so you can read the full tasting note before you cook.
291 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with cheese
Aged Serra cheese
Structure and acidity carry a rich sheep's cheese.
Aged Stilton
Only the greatest blue cheese matches its intensity.
Aged Torta del Casar or Manchego Viejo
Bold, aged Spanish cheeses match the wine's power and minerality.
Aged hard cheese
Crystalline cheese sharpens the long mineral finish.
Aged Idiazabal
Smoked Basque sheep cheese mirrors the wine's cedar and balsamic.
254 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with lamb
Roast lamb
Firm tannins and herbs frame roast lamb.
Slow-braised lamb (lechazo)
Castilian slow-cooked lamb finds a structural equal in the wine's firm tannins and earthy complexity.
Whole roasted lamb (lechazo)
Only the grandest Castilian roasts are a worthy match for this wine's scale.
Cordero asado
Slow-roast lamb's sweet fat is the historic foil for aged Tondonia.
Cordero asado al sarmiento
Vine-roasted lamb for one of Rioja's greatest Gran Reservas.
Lamb with rosemary
Floral expressiveness in the wine sits well with a herb crust.
182 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with beef and red meat
Braised oxtail
Collagen-rich braised beef underscores the wine's plum and licorice complexity.
Chuleton de buey
Aged-beef chop frames the wine's fine tannin and savoury oak.
Chuleton de buey a la brasa
A grand aged-beef chop for Spain's icon single-vineyard red.
Grilled beef
Fine tannins carry red meat.
Grilled ribeye steak
The wine's firm tannins and black fruit are an ideal match for charred beef.
Roast beef
The dry finish handles rare red meat.
154 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with charcuterie and cured meats
Iberico ham (jamon iberico)
Silky cured fat and nutty complexity complement the wine's tobacco and cedar tones.
Jamon iberico de bellota
Acorn-fed ham's nutty fat lifts the wine's walnut and cured-meat savour.
Jamon iberico
Cured Iberian ham echoes the wine's dried-cherry and leather register.
Charcuterie board
Cured meats sit naturally with cedar-laced Cabernet-Tempranillo blends.
Chorizo a la sidra
Spiced sausage in cider matches the wine's herb and spice register.
Cured cheese
The persistent finish keeps up with a strong cheese.
136 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with pork
Roast suckling pig (cochinillo)
Iberian roast pork's caramelised fat and delicate meat are lifted by the wine's dried-fruit depth and mineral backbone.
Slow-roasted Iberian pork
The wine's concentration and dense tannins call for equally rich, fatty pork.
Leitão da Bairrada
The suckling pig's crackling and fat are met by two years of barrel tannin.
Alentejo black pork secretos
Concentration and firm tannin cut through the pork's fat.
Grilled Alentejo black pork
The wine's structure matches the fat and char of porco preto.
Roast pork with herbs
The wine's freshness carries pork fat.
127 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with game
Wild boar braised with juniper
The wine's dark mineral core complements earthy, gamey braises.
Wild boar stew
Gamey richness meets the wine's dark fruit and spice.
Braised wild boar
Game's earthy intensity is a natural match for the wine's mineral and dark fruit character.
Roast partridge
Game and the Reserva's autumn-leaf and dried-cherry notes are a classic register match.
Roast venison
The firm tannins frame gamey meat the way the wine ages around its fruit.
Roast wood pigeon
Mature game and 890's truffle-and-sandalwood depth are a grand match.
94 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with desserts and sweets
Dark 70 percent chocolate torte
Bitter cocoa meets the wine's cassis and liquorice for a rich after-dinner match.
Dark chocolate
Liquorice and cocoa.
Dark chocolate and walnut tart
Cocoa and walnut are literally in the wine's aromatic profile.
Dark chocolate dessert
Mirroring tones of dark chocolate in both wine and dessert.
50 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with chicken and white meat
Roast chicken with garlic
The delicate body and bright acidity suit simpler roasted poultry.
Roast guinea fowl
Lighter game meets Arana's elegant, savoury frame.
Roast poultry
Silky red fruit suits roast chicken or duck.
Roast chicken with herbs
The wine's medium body and herb character pair with simple herb-roasted poultry.
Roast chicken with thyme
Mid-weight red and herb-roasted poultry sit easily together.
Roast chicken
Twelve months on lees give it the body to sit with a whole roast bird.
37 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with vegetables and salads
Grilled red peppers stuffed with meat
The wine's fruit and spice notes resonate with the pimento and meat combination.
Roast beetroot and lentils
The cedar-leaf note and red-fruit core suit earthy vegetables.
Wood-fired vegetable escalivada
Smoky aubergines and peppers find the wine's earth and red-berry core.
Bean stew with vegetables
The lighter style is versatile enough for rustic Castilian legume dishes.
Grilled vegetables
The light, fresh red flatters charred summer veg.
Salada de atum e feijão frade
The tuna and black-eyed pea salad is light enough for a rosé built on elegance not weight.
30 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with mushrooms and truffle
Black truffle with aged Idiazabal
Truffle earthiness and aged sheep's milk cheese echo the wine's mineral and dark-fruit register.
Dark chocolate truffle
Cocoa against profound black fruit.
Aged Manchego Viejo with truffle
Concentrated cheese and truffle earthiness match the wine's mineral concentration.
Dark chocolate truffles
Cocoa on the wine's liquorice and dark fruit.
Mushroom risotto
Length rather than weight makes it work with an earthy vegetarian dish.
Wild mushroom risotto
Savoury depth pairs with earthy mushroom dishes.
29 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with pasta, pizza and grains
Paella de marisco
Saffron seafood rice finds a serious partner in this gastronomic rosado.
Alentejo bread soup (açorda)
A traditional pairing for a traditional method.
Manchego with bread
Easy, rustic Spanish pairing with the wine's cherry and vanilla notes.
Vegetable paella
Bright fruit and medium tannins make a fine partner for saffron-scented rice.
Pizza
Fresh wild-berry fruit and low tannin suit tomato and cheese.
Rice with vegetables
The concrete vinification keeps the wine light enough for a vegetable-forward plate.
23 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with fish
Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa
Fresh acidity lifts the salt cod and potato.
Grilled octopus
The wine's freshness and light tannin work with charred seafood.
Grilled sea bass
The wine's saline mineral and light body are a natural partner for white fish.
Fried fish (peixinhos da horta)
Bubbles and acidity suit fried food.
Salt cod fritters
The bead cuts fried batter, the structure handles the salt.
Grilled sardines
Aromatic clarity and altitude acidity handle an oily fish.
20 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with aperitifs and small plates
Pintxos de autor
A glass of old Tondonia turns a Donostia pintxo crawl into an occasion.
Tapas and pintxos
Fresh, light acidity pairs well with a range of casual Spanish bar snacks.
Pintxos and tapas
The fresh, fruity style is ideal for a range of light snacks.
Meat croquettes
Medium tannin and freshness cut fried food without overwhelming it.
8 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with oysters and shellfish
Lobster rice
A barrel-fermented rosé has the creamy texture that arroz de lavagante wants.
Oysters
Zero-dosage sparkling is a classic match for briny shellfish.
Oysters and lemon
Direct-pressed red grapes give a sparkling wine with the acidity raw shellfish needs.
6 Tempranillo pairings
Tempranillo with duck and goose
Duck confit with braised cabbage
Savoury spice in the wine and the salt of the confit meet halfway.
Duck magret with berry sauce
Wild raspberry in the wine picks up a fruit-based sauce without clashing.
Roast duck with berry sauce
Rich meat and berries suit the fruit-forward style.
Taste it with the food in Rioja
Food and wine tastings you can book in Rioja, the region with the most Tempranillo bottles on our pages that sells them.
Private La Rioja Day: Visit 2 Premium Wineries with lunch.
Explore La Rioja wine region, where we'll visit two wineries. Indulge in tastings of 8 selected wines and savor lunch in a medieval village with a wine connoisseur. Li...
Logroño: guided visit + tasting of 3 wines at Viña Ijalba
Discover Viña Ijalba, a pioneer in organic viticulture in Rioja. Just five minutes from the center, enjoy a tour with a tasting of three premium wines, accompanied by ...
La Rioja Biosphere Organic Pig Farm and Ham and Wine Tasting
Discover the heart of La Rioja! Visit our certified organic farm in the Biosphere Reserve, meet our free-range Duroc pigs, and end with a guided gourmet tasting of org...
Food and wine tastings in Rioja (5) · Wine tastings and winery visits in Rioja (14) · Wine tours and day trips in Rioja (13) · All wine and food experiences
Where the bottles come from
Tempranillo pairings by region
- Ribera del Duero (158 bottles), Ribera del Duero food pairing
- Rioja (104 bottles), Rioja food pairing
- Douro Valley (87 bottles), Douro Valley food pairing
- Alentejo (79 bottles), Alentejo food pairing
- Dão (48 bottles), Dão food pairing
- Penedes (4 bottles), Penedes food pairing
- Priorat (1 bottle), Priorat food pairing
Tempranillo food pairing, FAQ
What food goes with Tempranillo?
Across the 481 Tempranillo bottles on Cork & Curve, the dishes our editors pair most often are cheese, lamb and beef. For example, our page for Vega Sicilia Unico from Ribera del Duero suggests "Aged Manchego cheese": Crystalline sheep's milk salt amplifies the wine's cedar and tobacco notes.
What cheese goes with Tempranillo?
Cheeses our editors pair with Tempranillo bottles include Aged Manchego cheese, Aged Serra cheese and Aged Stilton.
What meat goes with Tempranillo?
Lamb is the pairing that comes up most among meats for Tempranillo: Roast lamb, Slow-braised lamb (lechazo) and Whole roasted lamb (lechazo) are among the dishes on our Tempranillo bottle pages.