Winemaker Notes
The Eguren family fell in love with this land more than 15 years ago, seduced by its pre-phylloxera vines and deep rooted vineyards, meticulously chosen to translate the minerality of the soils in powerful and elegant reds. And their love for Toro remains unchanged.
This wine has character, identity and expression of Tinta de Torro with elegance, freshness and complexity.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Strong oak influence. Really modern, spicy and cedary. Ripe black plum aromas and flavors. Long with glossy, fine tannins. Great wine. Try from 2020.
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Jeb Dunnuck
More expensive than the Almirez, the 2015 Victorino offers more graphite and chocolate notes as well as terrific black fruits and mulled spices, full-bodied richness, fine tannin, and an elegant, yet also structured style. Give it a few years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Victorino is produced with Tinta de Toro, the Tempranillo strain from the zone, from vines that are 45 to 100 years of age, planted ungrafted and dry farmed. It fermented destemmed and crushed for nine days, followed by 21 days of maceration. Malolactic was in new French barriques, and the élevage was also in new French oak barrels and lasted 20 months. This is always a powerful, concentrated and generously oaked red, with plenty of spices and smoke, a touch of wild herbs and ripe berries, keeping its poise even in a warm year like 2015. With concentration and power as well as abundant, fine-grained tannins, it is showing quite young and is in need of a little more time in bottle. 40,000 bottles produced.
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Wine & Spirits
The Eguren brothers, from Bodegas Sierra Cantabria in Rioja, were among the pioneers who revitalized Toro at Numanthia. Now they have returned to the region to work with pre-phylloxera vines, producing this ruggedly powerful Toro red. It’s smoky, with voluptuous black fruit and plenty of tannins to hold all that weight. This needs at least five years to show its complexity.
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.