Editor’s Note: Janelle Norman from Tapas Talk, graces our presence again with her recommendation of a popular wine bar right in the heart of Madrid.

Nestled in the maze of streets within the neighborhood of La Latina is your destination for delicious Tapas, good wine and great atmosphere, the street of Cava Baja. Since the 16th century, this street, which had been the moat outside the medieval city walls, has been a place to meet friends and taste food, both local and from the outer reaches of Spain. During Madrid’s first boom of growth, thanks to Philip II’s establishing Madrid as capital in 1561, the city saw its population triple in a short amount of time. Cava Baja became a street lined with restaurants and posadas, or inns. It is said that this was a popular meeting point for newcomers who wanted to hear the news and gossip from their home towns. Today the street is home to some popular castizos, typical madrileño, restaurants such as the (more expensive) Posada de la Villa and Casa Lucio and is also home to Galician, Navarran and Basque oriented establishments.

However, we are going to explore a taberna called Tempranillo. Appropriately named after Spain’s famous noble grape variety, Tempranillo, this bar is focused exclusively on wine. They serve over a hundred different wines, and as their wine list written in chalk on the wall proudly states, “solo vinos españoles”, only Spanish wines. It’s the perfect stop if you would like to experience a wide variety of indigenous Spanish grape varietals and Spanish wine regions other than Rioja and Ribera del Duero, which can be found just about anywhere. At Tempranillo, you can explore wines from Madrid, Toro, Priorat, Bierzo, …