Numanthia Toro (Spain) 2004

Saturated purple/red.

In complete contrast to earlier vintages ('98/'99), very sophisticated, pure nose of high-quality oak with deep blackberry jam and clay/earth tucked under.

Quite packed in the mouth, with a confectionary element confronted by a massive wall of grainy tannin that nevertheless comes off as finely rendered. More importantly, flavors ride through this structure as if they are on two different tracks. I have little doubt this will age extremely well.

Another example of a producer with incredibly intense raw materials backing off on extraction (even though this is still wildly structured). My guess is better de-stemmer (lots of whole berries) and lower fermentation temps. Better (finer) barrels too.
Change started in 2000.

Day 2 - The visual clarity and relative fineness of the wines (since 2000) also makes me wonder about (probably light) filtration. This would be another tool to add finesse to wildly concentrated fruit. Forget what the back label says.

Day 4 - Quite confectionary on the nose now, and completely packed in the mouth. Interestingly, this really has little flavor complexity, "just" great depth and purity for a wine this loaded. More of (basically) one thing.

I wonder what what this would be like with some Malvasia for lift and spice?


$50