Ratings & Tasting Notes:

95 points — James Suckling (August 2024)
Another combination of freshness and profoundness from Toro. Blackberries, graphite, ashtray, sandalwood, cocoa powder and dark olives on the nose. Fresh-veined, chalky tannins tighten the palate, with a nervy backbone, and the tannins extend to a lengthy finish. Ripe but fresh. Drink from 2026. Ranked number 73 in the publication’s Top 100 Wines of Spain, 2024.

94 points — Wine Advocate
The 2020 comes from a powerful year of concentration, so the team was careful with the harvest date, used a softer vinification to extract less, and brought in amphorae and less toast in the élevage. The wine reached 15.5% alcohol, with a pH of 3.9 and 4.4 grams of acidity, fermented in stainless steel and oak vats with indigenous yeasts, and matured 70% in new barrels, 10% in used barrels, 10% in stainless steel and 5% in clay. Full-bodied and lush, opulent and juicy but gentle, with abundant, slightly dusty tannins. The reviewer notes it evolves nicely in the glass, showing less of its ripe side with time — which he reads as a good sign. Bottled in August 2022.

94 points — Vinous (Antonio Galloni)
Opens with fine plum, delicate spice, cherry, barrel notes and a hint of orange peel, with a touch of jam adding to the warmth. Rich and intense, the palate is broad and textured with firm tannins. For a Toro, Galloni finds the mouthfeel unusually smooth, with a core of red fruit. Nicely balanced.

93 points — Wine Spectator
A graceful red, with lovely purity to the core of mulberry and roasted black plum fruit, showing flattering notes of rooibos tea, fennel seed, vanilla, espresso and mineral. Drink now through 2040. 20,354 cases made, 1,519 cases imported.

Cult Wines International Notes:

Vega Sicilia was founded in Ribera del Duero in 1864 and is widely regarded as Spain’s most important wine estate, its flagship Único among the few Spanish wines spoken of alongside the first growths of Bordeaux. Under the Álvarez family, who acquired it in 1982, the house has expanded carefully into other regions. Pintia came from that expansion: the estate began buying vineyards in Toro in 1997 and spent four years perfecting the style privately before releasing the first commercial vintage, the 2001. The grape is Tinta de Toro, the local strain of Tempranillo, grown on old vines at altitude in one of Spain’s hottest and most unforgiving growing regions. The house aim has been to temper Toro’s natural power with the precision the estate is known for.

2020 was a very warm and dry year in Toro, with a heat wave before harvest that forced a rapid pick. The cellar responded by harvesting early, extracting more softly, and ageing with less toast and a portion in clay amphorae — 70% new barrels, 10% used, 10% stainless steel and 5% clay — then bottling in August 2022. The result is blackberry, mulberry, roasted black plum, cherry and dark olive over graphite, sandalwood, cocoa, rooibos tea, fennel seed, vanilla, espresso and a stony mineral thread. Full-bodied, opulent and juicy, yet carried on fresh-veined chalky tannins and a nervy backbone, with a mouthfeel unusually smooth for the appellation. One reviewer noted it shows less of its ripe side as it opens in the glass. Approachable now and built to hold.

Condition:

Bottle Size:

750 mL

Storage History:

Always stored on its side in a climate-controlled cellar.

Condition:

Outstanding condition.

Please note: The condition of the bottle you will receive is accurately reflected by the one shown in the images.