Vega Sicilia, Pintia, Toro DO 2020

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. The tannins extend to a lengthy finish. Ripe but fresh. Drink from 2026.

Another accomplished vintage of Vega Sicilia's Toro project. Technical director Gonzalo Iturriaga says it was a challenging vintage, with illusive freshness. But ideal harvest timing and maceration management allowed him to deliver a balanced wine, with superbly integrated alcohol. Intense, expressive aromas of dark chocolate, dried black olive, prune and liquorice root mingle with Assam tea (for an elegant smoky allure) and crunchy blueberries. A pleasant rusticity, lined with dried sage, defines the grippy, savoury tannins. Long finish, spicy and earthy.

The 2020 Pintia is Tempranillo from Toro. It opens with fine plum, delicate spice, cherry, barrel notes and a hint of orange peel. A touch of jam adds to the warmth. Rich and intense, the palate is broad and textured with firm tannins. For a Toro, the mouthfeel is unusually smooth, with a core of red fruit. Nicely balanced.

The 2020 Pintia is from a powerful year of concentration, so they were very careful with the harvest date, did a softer vinification trying to extract less and included amphorae and less toast in the élevage. It's opulent and juicy but gentle. The wine reached 15.5% alcohol and has a pH of 3.9 with 4.4 grams of acidity. It fermented in stainless steel and oak vats with indigenous yeasts. It was a very warm and dry vintage in Toro, with a heat wave before the harvest, so they had to rush to pick the grapes; and still, the wine is richer and more powerful, even though the amphorae helped them contain the sensation of ripeness in the wine. It has a heady and ripe profile that's very aromatic and showy, with notes of very ripe berries, prunes and decayed violets, with a faint volatile twist. It matured 70% in new barrels, 10% in used barrels, 10% in stainless steel and 5% in clay pots. It's full-bodied and lush, with abundant, slightly dusty tannins. It's a ripe and powerful vintage for Pintia, but it evolves nicely in the glass, showing less of its ripe side with time, which to me is a good sign. Some 14,304 half bottles, 209,009 bottles, 6,645 magnums and some larger formats were produced. It was bottled in August 2022.