Vega Sicilia Pintia Toro 2019

Critical Acclaim: 95 pts James Suckling; 94 pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. 92 pts Wine Spectator

Tasting Notes: "Ripe blackberries, tar, dark cherries and dark spices. Fine cocoa powder, too. Rich and full-bodied on the palate with a saline smack to the middle. Very long and powerful but expressive and refined. A little richer and more powerful than 2018, but elegant and poised at the same time. Vertical, fine-grained tannins. Drink from 2026."- James Suckling. 

"The wine released in 2024 is the 2019 Pintia, from a very dry year when they did a softer vinification and used some 15% stainless steel for the élevage to keep the fruit and freshness. It fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel and oak vats. It's a powerful year; the wine has 15% alcohol and is round and full-bodied. It's a heady and ripe Pintia. They had to be careful with the harvest date, and they harvested early and quite quickly. Even though the wine is ripe and heady, with notes of grenadine and small ripe berries, it's also exotic and spicy, quite showy, lush and full-bodied, with the 2019 tannins. It's a more powerful wine that is going to require patience. Drinking Window: 2025-2031."- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. 

"A red with depth and concentration, but also a sense of poise and finesse. Fine-grained tannins and velvety texture carry flavors of creamed black cherry and crème de cassis fruit, with accents of Mediterranean macchia, tar, mocha and licorice. The firm finish is long and well-spiced. Best from 2025 through 2035." -Wine Spectator

About the Wine: Pintia lies on the banks of the Duero River, within the DO Toro. The extremely cold winters and hot summers have an effect on the complex soils, which are rich in pebbles. The vintage was hot and dry. It rained just before the harvest, which helped us to tame the powerful, concentrated and rustic skins. We gave the skins time to polymerise, but the priority was always to pick fresh grapes. This vintage was more about infusion than extraction. 15% of the wine was aged in large containers to preserve its fruitiness and freshness.  It was a vintage of great concentration, so we had to limit the influence of the toasted oak in favor of freshness. Pintia 2019 is energetic, bold and full-bodied, but it is also silky. We had to work really hard to tame it, but we are proud of the result.

Varietal: Tempranillo.