2019 Teso la Monja 'Almirez' Toro

Varietal: 100% Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo)

Vineyards: Proprietary vineyards located in Valdefinjas and Toro.

Year(s) Planted: Between 1951 and 2000.

Viticulture: Head trained goblet vines. Environmentally integrated agriculture. Employing viticulture that respects the biorhythms of the plant and vineyard. Organic soil amendments. Exclusively manual harvest with a rigorous selection of hand harvested grapes in the vineyard.

Soils: Predominantly sandy clay soils with a limestone subsoil. The surface is intermixed with rounded stones that retain heat and radiate during the cool nights, helping the grapes achieve full ripeness.

Climate: Continental steppe climate, with drastic temperature swings between day and night. The climate is also very dry – annual rainfall levels reach 350 liters/m2, less than half of Rioja and much less than Ribera del Duero.

Winemaking: Traditional method. 100% destemmed. Temperature controlled fermentation with selected indigenous yeast in stainless steel. Total maceration is 24 days. The wine is transferred to barrel for malolactic fermentation. 30% new French oak.

Ageing: 14 months in Bordelaise French oak barrels. 30% new, 70% one wine barrels.

Comments: Almirez represents the fruit forward expression of Tinta de Toro combined with elegant structure, delicate tannin, and excellent length.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM


Jeb Dunnuck - "The 2019 Almirez has more depth, with ripe red and black fruits as well as spice, chocolate, and graphite aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated, and textured, it's a smoking red that will dish out tons of pleasure. Best After 2022"


Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - "The 2019 Almirez was produced with grapes from their 41.7 hectares of vines that are 15 to 65 years old. The destemmed grapes were foot trodden and fermented with yeasts selected from their own vineyards for 18 days. Malolactic was in barrel, and the wine matured for 14 months in French oak barrels, 30% of them new and the rest second use. Despite the new oak, the wine is very fruit-driven and does not come through as oaky. It's floral, spicy and juicy, ripe without excess and with a velvety mouthfeel. This is approachable from early on, and even now, it has the silky tannins from 2019. It's less tannic than other vintages and has very good balance. There is more depth here, provided by the older vines, and there's more nuance too."