Pintia Pintia 2020

The Pintia vineyard stretches along the banks of the Duero, at the heart of the D.O. Toro in Castilla y León. The plots, located notably around San Román de Hornija, Pedrosa del Rey, Toro and Morales de Toro, rise to around 700 metres above sea level. The Tinta de Toro is rooted in poor, stony and sandy soils, under a continental climate with low rainfall and sharp temperature contrasts.

The grapes are harvested by hand into 12 kg crates, then chilled for 12 hours and double-sorted. A five-day cold pre-fermentation maceration precedes fermentation in oak vats, carried out with deliberately moderate extraction. Malolactic fermentation takes place entirely in wood. Ageing lasts 11 months in barriques and amphorae, followed by a further 30 months in bottle.

This wine reveals notes of cherry, blackberry, black fruit jelly, plum skin, prune, dried violet, vanilla, smoke and toasted oak. The palate is broad, dense and generous, carried by juicy fruit and welcome freshness. The abundant yet refined tannins bring a slightly powdery texture; the lingering finish extends the fruity, floral and spicy nuances.

The history of wine in Spain is so old that no one really knows who brought the first vines to the region. When the Phoenicians arrived some 3,000 years ago and founded the present-day cities of Cádiz and Jerez, viticulture was well established and Spanish wines were widely traded throughout the Mediterranean and North Africa. You could say that Spain is a wine miracle. After years on the sidelines of the fine wine world, it is now a major player. Investment and ambition in vineyards and wineries are resulting in increasingly rich, complex (often very high in alcohol) and spicy reds that are ever more popular with international consumers. Proud to have more land under vine than any other country, Spain is only just beginning to capitalise on this resource in a consistent way. Spain is an anarchic tangle of regions and sub-regions, just as its landscape is an anarchic tangle of incredibly rugged scenery. A glance at a map reveals the climatic diversity between Spain's many wine regions, from the green, rain-soaked vineyards of Galicia on the northern Atlantic coast to the sun-baked vineyards of the Mediterranean south-east. Spain's saving grace, as far as viticulture is concerned, is the average altitude of its vineyards, over 600 metres. Many Spanish vineyards therefore manage to produce grapes with good colour and acidity simply because night-time temperatures are relatively low and the grapes do not ripen until the end of a sufficiently long growing season. But there is real treasure to be found for those willing to dig, and now that a class of connoisseurs has developed in Spain, all kinds of ambitious investors have done their bit to change the image of Spanish wine. Today, a new generation of winemakers has quietly begun crafting spectacular wines and experimenting with grape varieties that would have been unthinkable until very recently. Wine remains an important commodity and an integral part of Spanish culture.