Winemaker Notes
From the 20 hectares of vineyard of Vetus Estate is born Flor de Vetus, a fresh and gentle wine that showcases another form of the Tempranillo’s character.
Deep, black cheery color and a vibrant aroma of fresh fruit. In the mouth we find a well structured and perfectly balanced wine with an exquisite after taste.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Smoked meat, grilled Mediterranean herbs, peppercorns and dark cherries. Fruity and fleshy, with a touch of spices on the flavorful center palate. Tannins are tightly wound and savory. Juicy and pretty long in the finish. A very well-made Toro that still highlights the fruit.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Flor de Vetus has an expressive nose of ripe berries, flowers, herbs and spices from the slow ripening grapes from the vines planted around the winery on sandy and clay soils at 725 meters above sea level. It contains some 4% Garnacha co-fermented with the Tempranillo with indigenous yeasts isolated from their property. The wine matured in 225- and 500-liter French oak barrels, 20% of them new, for 12 months. It has 14.1% alcohol, a pH of 3.68 and 5.03 grams of acidity and comes through as balanced, approachable and easy to understand, with the ripe character from the zone and a juicy palate with fine-grained tannins.
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.