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2010 February Wine Club Premiere Selection
We love a good juicy secret, especially when it leads to a juicy new wine. Amongst those in the Spanish wine community, it's been no secret that the established Spanish winery Vega Sicilia had been looking to get their hands on some of the best land in Toro, the appellation many see as "the next big thing" in Spanish wines. Around 1997, they began acquiring some top vineyard sights in the hot, rugged territory along the Portuguese border and experimenting with vinification techniques. The wine they were after: a great expression of Tinta del Toro, the "superior" local clone of Tempranillo. They deemed the 2001 vintage the first worthy of release, and the Pintia name was born. Aged one year in new oak (French and American), it's a spicier, bolder take on the Vega Sicilia style.
The 2006 vintage was a very good one for Pintia, earning scores of 92 points from The Wine Advocate and 93 from International Wine Cellar. The Wine Advocate found a complex bouquet of wood smoke, forest floor, mushroom, incense and blackberry (all forestial goodies that I personally love to find in wines), while Tanzer noted "sexy, expressive aromas of red and dark berries, incense, Asian spices and cola" all followed by flavors of "clove, sassafras, and a building spiciness on the finish." |
