2016 Pintia
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Tasting notes
The 2016 Pintia comes from a cooler but drier vintage, and the wine has a little less alcohol and more freshness. It fermented in oak vats and matured in mostly new and mostly French oak, but this year they used a little more American oak with the idea to increase density. 2016 was an atypical year in Toro; they had plenty of time to pick the grapes with lower alcohol and wines with more elegance. This is clearly a more elegant vintage than 2015. The wine has some notes that took me to the Northern Rhône, and the oak is neatly integrated—it seems to get better integrated in cooler years. There is a mix of black and red fruit that denotes good freshness. The palate is medium-bodied, with a distinct lack of rusticity and density, and it's more fluid. It has abundant, chalky and fine-grained tannins and a supple, long and dry finish. 230,032 bottles, 6,517 magnums and some larger formats were produced. It was bottled in May 2018.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Saturated ruby. Expansive cherry, black raspberry, potpourri and exotic spice aromas are complemented by subtle licorice and woodsmoke flourishes. Vibrant and sharply focused in the mouth, with a spine of juicy acidity adding focus to palate-staining black and blue fruit liqueur, violet pastille, mocha and spicecake flavors. The floral quality resonates emphatically on the clinging finish, which features lingering cherry and smoky mineral notes. There's noteworthy elegance here, a trait that's not exactly common for Toro.
100% Tinta de Toro. 75% of the vineyards are in the surroundings of San Román de Hornija, with its outstanding clay soils and boulders. 25% on sandy soils. The vintage was one of the warmest and driest on record during the beginning of the cycle. However, September was quite cool, so it ended up being a somewhat unusual vintage, with less alcohol than normal. Manual harvest, cold-soaking and 25% American oak. Although it is a vintage that finished more leisurely and fresh, this Pintia does not lose its forcefulness. Black nose showing cocoa, plum, coffee, charcoal, roasted notes. On the palate, it is a dense, concentrated black-fruit bomb with a touch of tar. So extraordinary with this level of concentration. It is the most forceful face of the Tempos Vega Sicilia group. (FC)
About the producer
Vega Sicilia is undoubtably Spain’s most famous winery; a true icon in fine wine with a history dating back to 1864.