Category: Toro

Red wine, Spain, Toro

Termes 2008

Vera C.

Produced: Bodegas Numanthia – Termes
Grape: Tinta de Toro (local clone of Tempranillo)
Region: Toro, Spain

Founded by Rioja’s family Eguren back in 1998 – this estate is situated in a small village in the Zamora province. My favorite Spanish winemaker Marcos Eguren knew the potential of Toro’s distinctive viticultural area. His goal was to produce the best possible wine of the Toro appellation.

Few years later, Numanthia and Thermanthia became a phenomenon and some of the highest rated Spanish wines in the history of Parker’s rating system. Numanthia was called “perhaps the most perfectionist wine of the appellation”. Numanthia quickly became an iconic wine and Toro established as a new star of Spanish appellations.

Few years ago was Numanthia, one of the most successful wine projects in the last several decades, purchased by Moët & Hennessy. The high standards for the quality of wine, set up in Numanthia, stayed firmly in place. Unlike their signature and award winning wines Numanthia and Termanthia, produced from very old vines and the best fruit of the appellation, Termes (could be called a baby Numanthia) doesn’t cost hundreds of dollars. It is also not defined for the top 2% of the most powerful wine collectors only.

Enjoying the same excellent quality of fruit, soil and winemaker’s skills, Termes is an affordable, great bottle of red, that reflects the Toro’s outstanding fruit. Still, this wine continuously receives high ratings (I don’t believe it ever scored bellow 90). That’s also one of the reasons, why there isn’t plenty of Termes sitting around. Low yields of its 30-year-old ungrafted vines are one of the most important attributes to high quality of this wine.

Tasting notes:
Dark ruby red color. Very aromatic wine, with a lot of ripe dark fruit on the nose. On the palate this is a powerful wine that makes a statement. Impressive but not overpowering, fruity up front with soft tannins and well balanced acidity.Concentrated flavors of dark berries, notes of dark chocolate, spice and dust of cocoa, so typical for Toro, and the never ending finish. Lovely wine, that deserves a steak to go with it. This wine always over-delivers and I believe it is an exceptional value for the quality in the bottle.Dry – Off dry – Medium sweet – Sweet
Light – Medium – Full body
No oak – Aged in oak

Retail price: under $ 24.00

Ideal food pairing:

Flank steak fajitas,  Beef Bourguignon, Beef Chorizo, aged cheeses, rich sausage, barbecue and more…


Red wine, Spain, Tempranillo, Toro

Alabaster 2007

Vera C.

Winemaker: Marcos Eguren
Grape: 100% Tinta de Toro
Region: D.O.Toro, Spain

Recently reviewed:
Wine Enthusiast 94 points
Wine Advocate 94 points
Wine Spectator 91 points

See other wines from this winemaker:
Bodegas Teso la Monja Almirez, Toro
Bodegas Teso la Monja Victorino, Toro
Senorio San Vicente, Rioja

When one of my most admired Rioja’s winemakers Marcos Eguren sold his successful project Numanthia-Termes S.L. in Toro (some of the highest rated Spanish wine in history), I knew he wasn’t done with Toro just yet. It had way too much potential and so unique terroir, perfect for growing Tinta de Toro (a local clone of Tempranillo) not to challenge somebody like Marcos.And sure enough, just a few years later, he releases his first 2007 vintage of his new Toro project – Bodegas Teso la Monja. I had the pleasure to taste their wines (Almirez, Victorino and Alabaster) for the first time with Marcos’s son, Eduardo.

The vineyards that family Eguren purchased for Teso la Monja project are located at average altitude of 2,296ft above the sea level, in the small village of Valdefinjas, in Zamora province. So close to his previous Numanthia – Termes vineyards, that it must make new owners of Numanthia very nervous.

Thanks to sandy soils of Toro, the growth of phylloxera that devastated so many wine-growing regions throughout the world, didn’t stand much chance here. Therefore Marcos is able to cultivate 30-45 years old, ungrafted Tinta de Toro vines. The harvest of grapes determined for Alabaster in 2007 yielded low 10hl per hectare.

The fact that everything is done by hand and Marcos’s very strict and attentive approach is a norm for his trademark. Grapes were harvested by hand (only perfectly mature and clean clusters were picked), brought to the winery to sorting tables where an additional selection was made. Another excessive selection was done when the grapes were de-stemmed by hand, one by one. Grapes chosen for this top of the line Alabaster wine were cold macerated for 5 days, traditionally foot pressed and left for 10 days fermentation in open tanks.

The must than stayed for an extended maceration of additional 14 days. Malolactic fermentation took place in new French oak Bordelaise barriques. Another set of 100% new French oak barrels was prepared for aging Alabaster for 18 months. 2007 is the first vintage of this wine. There was only 1,500 bottles made for U.S.A.

Eduardo Eguren told me that this is a first wine project that he is personally committed to (obviously, with Marcos’s hands on approach and TLC). So, Eguren family could be proud of yet another generation of passionate ‘vino entusiasta’. Very proud!

Tasting notes:
Does this gorgeous label evokes a structure of chocolate cookie, or is it just me? That description would give me the sensation of sweet taste unless you like the darkest, highest cacao content chocolate. The kind that is so rich, so bitter, yet velvety, melts in your mouth slowly and makes your eyes roll. Alabaster is something like that. Just sensational.

When I looked up the name Alabaster, I found out that it describes this wine perfectly. This name belongs to two distinct minerals: gypsum and calcite. One is so soft that you can scratch it with the fingernails. The other hard and resistant. Very muscular, sexy, but tender. Something like fighter Arnold with warm Ralph Fiennes’s eyes.

Alabaster offers intense dark color with aroma of blackberries, dark plums, spices and earthy tones. On the palate you taste super rich, very dense red and dark fruit with dust of cacao – so typical for Toro. A lot of tannins that promises super long aging potential. Espresso tones and spices on the never ending finish. Wow! This is a wine we are going to hear about! Very small production, very high reviews, hard to get = serious collectible.

Dry – Off dry – Medium sweet – Sweet
Light – Medium – Full body
No oak – Aged in oak
Retail price: around $ 235.00

Ideal food pairing:
I wouldn’t pair anything with this wine. O.K., maybe a great little piece of Fillet Mignon with black pepper creamy sauce….. 🙂

Red wine, Spain, Tempranillo, Toro

Victorino 2007

Vera C.

Winemaker: Marcos Eguren
Grape: 100% Tinta de Toro
Region: D.O.Toro, Spain

Recently reviewed:
Wine Enthusiast 94 points
Wine Advocate 92+ points
Wine Spectator 91 points

See other wines from this winemaker:
Bodegas Teso la Monja Almirez, Toro
Bodegas Teso la Monja Alabaster, Toro
Senorio San Vicente, Rioja

 

Founder of successful project Numanthia-Termes in Toro, my favorite Rioja’s winemaker Marcos Eguren came back with yet another promising project in Toro – Bodegas Teso la Monja. He just released his first 2007 vintage of 3 wines: Almirez, Victorino and Alabaster.The grapes for this wine came from Eguren vineyard in Valdefinjas, in Zamora province of Toro and Villabuena del Puente. The vines are planted in 2,300 ft above the sea level and are 45 years old.

Thanks to sandy soils of Toro, the growth of phylloxera that devastated so many wine-growing regions throughout the world, didn’t stand much chance here. Therefore Marcos was able to cultivate ungrafted Tinta de Toro vines with yields about 15 Hl per hectare.

The grapes for Victorino were harvested by hand (only perfectly mature clusters are picked), brought to the winery to sorting tables where an additional careful selection was made. Bunches were de-stemmed by hand where the staff examined berry by berry to eliminate any imperfections. The grape must was macerated for 14 days. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in new French oak barrels.

Victorino aged 18 months in new French oak. 2007 is the first vintage of this wine and there was only 350 cases made. Eduardo Eguren (Marcos’s son) told me that this is a first wine project that he is personally committed to (obviously, with Marcos’s hands on approach and TLC). So, Eguren family could be proud of yet another generation of passionate ‘vino entusiasta’. Very proud!

Tasting notes:

Just like the bull on its beautiful label indicates, this is a serious Toro wine. The best selection of old vines gave it more focus, deep color and beautiful aroma of mature dark fruit and spices. This is one of those do-not-spill-any-on-you-because-it’s-never-gonna-go-away kind of red wines.

Really rich, it coats your glass with almost syrupy structure. Victorino has stronger tannins so it needs some time in the bottle to soften up. Taste this wine against any superstar Cabernet from California with over $ 200.00 bottle price tag and let me know who won. I say the victory belongs to Victorino! This is a bargain collectible for somebody who can appreciate perfectly made wine at the price that is not yet being commercialized. Wine, that’s recognized by significant wine critics right from its first vintage, and it’s going to hold for far more than a decade. I have yet to taste wine made by Eguren family, that wasn’t perfect…

Dry – Off dry – Medium sweet – Sweet
Light – Medium – Full body
No oak – Aged in oak
Retail price: around $ 65.00

Ideal food pairing:
Steaks, grilled dark meats, aged cheeses

Red wine, Spain, Tempranillo, Toro

Almirez 2007

Vera C.

Winemaker: Marcos Eguren
Grape: 100% Tinta de Toro
Region: D.O.Toro, Spain

Recently reviewed: Wine Enthusiast 92 points
Wine Advocate 91 points

See other wines from this winemaker:
Bodegas Teso la Monja Victorino, Toro
Bodegas Teso la Monja Alabaster, Toro
Senorio San Vicente, Rioja

When one of my most admired Rioja’s winemakers Marcos Eguren sold his successful project Numanthia-Termes S.L. in Toro (some of the highest rated Spanish wine in history), I knew he wasn’t done with Toro just yet. It had way too much potential and so unique terroir, perfect for growing Tinta de Toro (a local clone of Tempranillo) not to challenge somebody like Marcos.And sure enough, just a few years later, he releases his first 2007 vintage of his new Toro project – Bodegas Teso la Monja. I was honored to taste their wines (Almirez, Victorino and Alabaster) for the first time with Marcos’s son, Eduardo.

The vineyards that family Eguren purchased for Teso la Monja project are located at average altitude of 2,296ft above the sea level, in the small village of Valdefinjas, in Zamora province. So close to his previous Numanthia – Termes vineyards, that it must make new owners of Numanthia very nervous.

Thanks to sandy soils of Toro, the growth of phylloxera that devastated so many wine-growing regions throughout the world, didn’t stand much chance here. Therefore Marcos is able to cultivate 30 year old, ungrafted Tinta de Toro vines with yields about 200 gallons per acre.

The grapes for Almirez were harvested by hand (only perfectly mature clusters are picked), brought to the winery to sorting tables where an additional selection was made. Wine was than fermented for 8 days (temperature controlled) and underwent malolactic fermentation in barrel.

Almirez aged 12 months in new Bordelaise barrels of French oak. 2007 is the first vintage of this wine. Eduardo Eguren told me that this is a first wine project that he is personally committed to (obviously, with Marcos’s hands on approach and TLC). So, Eguren family could be proud of yet another generation of passionate ‘vino entusiasta’. Very proud!

Tasting notes:
A great aroma of black berries, cocoa, even espresso and dark ruby color. When you take a first sniff, it promises a big, rich, muscular red. And it is exactly that! Rich and spicy dark fruit, dried plum with a slight cocoa dust so typical for Toro. Generous, silky tannins will cover your glass, but the wine is perfectly balanced.

Almirez is a modern, macho wine that is approachable right now, but it will improve with a few years in the bottle. The new oak on the long finish is pleasant and not overpowering the beauty and richness of the Tinta de Toro from this vineyard. Superb quality that definitely over delivers at this price.


Dry – Off dry – Medium sweet – Sweet
Light – Medium – Full body
No oak – Aged in oak
Retail price: around $ 29.00

Ideal food pairing:
Steak, grilled meats, beef stew, aged cheeses

Old vines, Red wine, Spain, Tempranillo, Toro

Triton 2008

Vera C.


Winemaker: Amy Leigh Hopkinson
Grape: 100% Tinta del Toro (a local clone of Tempranillo)
Region: D.O. Vino de la Tierra de Castilla-Leon, Spain

Read my blog Another star is born? about this wine

A brand new wine project is a partnership of Jorge Ordonez, Enrique Busto and the Gil family, directed by Amy Leigh Hopkinson, a talented enologist from New Zealand. The winery is located in historic area of the small village of Villanueva de Campean (near the city of Zamora) which should have been included in D.O. Toro, but didn’t quite make it.

Yet the conditions for growing wine are quite similar to Toro. Highly elevated vineyards have the same type of sandy soils mixed with gravel and substrata of clay (6-9 feet below the surface). Bodegas Triton owns total of 123.5 acres of mainly old vines, planted between 1904 and 1965. The grapes sourced for Triton came from 25 vineyards and 51 separate plots, with about 84 acres located directly within D.O. Toro. (the home of famous Numanthia and Termanthia).

The already extremely low yield helps to produce a very impressive, concentrated flavor of the local Tinta del Toro grape. The harvest is done manually and grapes are carefully sorted at the winery. Each plot is vinified separately. Wine aged 15 months in new French oak high quality barrels, from a boutique coopers.

Tasting notes:
Dark ruby red, rich color and beautiful aroma of dark fruit, cocoa and spice. On the palate it surprised me with a notes of black pepper, nutmeg or cloves, mixed with great expression of fruit. Dusty notes reminded me of dark chocolate or great Italian Amarone.

Concentrated and well balanced. It shouldn’t surprise me that this red had an impressive long finish. Sexy and opulent red that is approachable right now. The quality of Triton and its beautiful packaging makes it a serious steel for the money. Although first vintage, this wine made quite an entrance and it’s definitely going to shine. I can’t wait for the first professional ratings.

Dry – Off dry – Medium sweet – Sweet
Light – Medium – Full body
No oak – Aged in oak
Retail price: around $ 18.00

Ideal food pairing:
Prime rib, Fillet Mignon, Beef Bourguignon, baby ribs, anything off the grill like Lamb burgers with relish mayo,  Beef Chorizo, Flank steak fajitas,