2002 Pintia

Saturated dark ruby. Aromas of black fruits, smoked meat, licorice, tar and nutty oak. Smooth and lush in the mouth, with sweet flavors of black raspberry, cassis, cherry cola and dark chocolate. Not as complex or deep as the 2001 version, but this really opens up and expands on the back half. The tannins coat the entire mouth. An impressive performance for the vintage. .

This is the Toro operation owned by Vega Sicilia of Ribera del Duero which was called Alquíriz initially. Unlike the rest of the wines noted here, this was tasted back in 2003 as a baby. Even deeper colour than the Único from the same vintage (Tinto de Toro, another strain of Tempranillo, is famously deep in colouring matter and these vines are ungrafted). Slightly peppery nose. Extremely plump fruit. Round, supple and sweet. Beguiling and round. Not at all austere although there are some, correct tannins on the finish which is really quite dry, showing some ageing potential or at least ambition. This is much more intriguing than any other Toro I have tasted. The wine has a knockout 14.8 per cent alcohol but did not taste unbalanced. (JR)

The 2002 Pintia is raised in 70% new Nevers and 30% in American oak barrels for 13 months. It has a fragrant bouquet of dark cherries, dried rose petals and a touch of cedar that is well-defined and remains fresh. The palate is medium-bodied and exhibits more vigor and succulence than the 2001, with spicy red fruit, a supple mouthfeel and a finish that fans out with white pepper, undergrowth and Provencal herbs. This has matured with style. ||I made a brief but profitable visit to Bodegas Pintia with Pablo Alvarez and winemaker Xavier Ausas. He told me that they started to buy vineyards in 1997 without a clear idea of what style of Toro wine they would make. “We heard that Toro was a very good region,” he told me, “a region of perhaps rustic wines. We wanted to produce a different style of Tempranillo. We wanted to make a more elegant wine. In Toro the Tempranillo is wilder and rustic while in Ribera del Duero it is more elegant. The Tempranillo is more like a bull in Toro. If you don’t control it, you make wines that are over-ripe.” They ended up acquiring 100 hectares of vineyard, 50% of purchased vineyard and the remainder subsequently planted over ten years. “We like short names for the wines as they are easier to remember,” Pablo answered when I asked where the name originates. I then inquired about the vinification: “During the entire process, it is necessary to keep the fresh fruit aromas, which is the reason we have cool rooms before fermentation. The maximum degree of temperature during fermentation is 28 degrees to protect the aromas instead of 31-33 degrees in Ribera del Duero. After fermentation, we put the wine immediately in new oak barrel without maceration. We use 70% French and 30% American oak and the new oak protects the fresh fruit aroma. We make the malolactic (fermentation) in barrel and after 12 months we mix the lots, and any that are unsatisfactory are distilled. We don’t mature more than 12 months in barrel since the fresh fruit aromas come down and appear as a liqueur (volatile) aroma.” Wine Advocate.April, 2013