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Andrew J. Linn
Friday, 19 December 2025, 10:43
Among Spain's great red wine regions, Andalucía rates lowest. Sherry has long dominated, leaving little space for earthier traditions. Yet one red once travelled beyond the sunburnt vineyards of Cadiz: Tintilla de Rota, a wine made from Garnacha Tintilla, a local biotype of Graciano uniquely adapted to the sandy albariza soils around Rota (home to one of three US military bases in Spain).
Wine of the week
Nude 2023 Modern unfortified Tintilla table wines are produced by Bodegas Luis Pérez, Barbadillo, Bodega Forlong, Ramiro Ibáñez, Bodegas El Gato, Vinos del Atlántico (Atlántida and Vara y pulgar) and a few others in the sherry region.An acquired taste but an educational experience. Around 15 euros
Tintilla was never a grand wine. Deep in colour, high in alcohol, it was valued more for strength than finesse. In Shakespeare's England, it was known as tent - a corruption of tinto. Imported via Cadiz and Seville, tent was cheap and dark, favoured by soldiers, sailors and the urban poor. Falstaff is thought to have drunk it. Not a wine for courtiers, rather for the lower classes, sold by the jug rather than the bottle.
As tastes changed and fortified wines came to dominate export markets, Tintilla slipped into obscurity. Phylloxera and the decline of local consumption contributed. By the late 20th century, the wine had virtually disappeared, its name surviving mainly in historical records and Shakespearean footnotes.
Yet it is not ready to be completely written off. A handful of growers and winemakers have attempted to reclaim the grape and its identity, producing small quantities that hint at what it once was. These modern Tintillas, though unfiltered and unaged, are more polished, marked by dark fruit and an unmistakable southern character.
Tintilla de Rota may never return to London taverns, but its revival restores a chapter in Andalucía's wine history-one rooted in history, trade and tastes of ordinary people.