Winemaker Notes
Pintia 2018 is probably the most vertical Pintia, the most fruitful, but at the same time with a lot of plot. It came with a very silky texture that makes it easy to enjoy, but with an incredible journey.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Brooding but fresh nose, with tarry blackberries and fresh blue fruit. Iron, wet stones, violets and a hint of mocha, too. Full-bodied, mineral and broad on the palate with a stony feel, though not heavy at all. A really elegant, nuanced and extremely poised Pintia that you can enjoy now and for the next decade. A really eclectic Pintia showing more elegance and calculation.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Pintia comes from a cooler and wetter vintage when the grapes were picked between September 20th and October 7th, and it fermented in their new fermentation room where they feel they can be more precise. The wine still has 15% alcohol, with a pH of 3.82 and 4.6 grams of acidity. It had a shorter élevage this year and matured for 10 months in French and 18% American oak barrels, 81% of them new. The nose is very expressive, with bright cherry fruit, and the wine is fresher than the norm in the region, with integrated alcohol and oak, reflecting a very cool year, floral and perfumed. The palate is medium-bodied and reveals very fine and elegant tannins. This has to be one of the finest vintages of Pintia.
Rating: 95+ -
Wine & Spirits
Tempos Vega-Sicilia farms 270 acres of vines in Toro, where they grew a remarkably fresh tempranillo in 2018. The vines benefited from plenty of rain in spring and, unusually, again in July, the mild season taking the region’s often rustic tannins toward an elegant weight, keeping the wine crisp, bright and constrained. All the power of Toro without the bluster, this wine takes a stand and does not retreat.
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Wine Spectator
A smooth, creamy red, medium- to full-bodied, though understated at first. Features flavors of mulled cherry, black plum reduction, cocoa powder and tar-tinged smoke that are seamlessly knit with fine-grained tannins, expanding slowly on a palate carried by balsamico acidity. Long, fragrant finish.
Notoriously food-friendly, long-lasting and Spain’s most widely planted grape, Tempranillo is the star variety of red wines from Rioja and Ribera del Duero. The Rioja terms Joven, Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva indicate both barrel and bottle time before release. Traditionally blended in Rioja with Garnacha, plus a bit of Mazuelo (Carignan) and Graciano, the Tempranillo in Ribera del Duero typically stands alone. Somm Secret—Tempranillo claims many different names depending on location. In Penedès, it is called Ull de Llebre and in Valdepeñas, goes by Cencibel. Known as Tinta Roriz in Portugal, Tempranillo plays an important role in Port wine.
Spain's remote, high elevation Spanish wine zone between the regions of Bierzo and Ribera del Duero produces intense, full-bodied reds made from Tempranillo, locally called Tinta de Toro. This local variant has adapted to the region’s climatic extremes and recognizing its potential, top producers from Ribera del Duero and Rioja have invested heavily in its vineyards.