PINTIA Tempos Vega Sicilia 2018/19 Bottle (Tinta de Toro)

Description

The Vintage
In 2019, temperatures were above average, coupled with low rainfall, particularly in the spring, creating a warm year. Favourabe conditions towards the end of the ripening period, along with a slight rain just before harvest, facilitated grape maturation. The harvest period remained rain-free with warm days, ensuring excellent sanitary conditions.

Description
Pintia lies on the banks of the Douro River, within the Toro D.O. region. The extremely cold winters and hot summers influence its complex soils, which are mainly known for their significant pebble content. This means that finding the perfect harvest period is key to ensure the wine conserves both its fresh aromas and acidity.

The vintage was hot and dry, with rain before harvest helping to tame the powerful skins. 15% of the wine aged in large containers to preserve its fruitiness. It was a vintage of great concentration, so the influence of toasted oak was limited in favour of freshness.

THE WINE ADVOCATE 94 points
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
Drink Date: 2025 - 2031
The wine released in 2024 is the 2019 Pintia, from a very dry year when they did a softer vinification and used some 15% stainless steel for the élevage to keep the fruit and freshness. It fermented in stainless steel and oak vats with indigenous yeasts. It's a powerful year; the wine has 15% alcohol and is round and full-bodied. It's a heady and ripe Pintia. They had to be careful with the harvest date, and they harvested early and quite quickly. Even though the wine is ripe and heady, with notes of grenadine and small ripe berries, it's also exotic and spicy, quite showy, lush and full-bodied, with 2019 tannins. It's a more powerful wine that is going to require patience. They produced 224,724 bottles, 6,587 magnums and some smaller and larger sizes. It was bottled in May 2021.

At the Toro winery from the Vega Sicilia group, they fermented 100% of the 2021 with native yeasts; they started using some tinajas (amphorae) in 2020; and in 2023, they also introduced élevage in granite!

JAMES SUCKLING 95 Points *****
16 Aug, 2023 – Ripe blackberries, tar, dark cherries and dark spices. Fine cocoa powder, too. Rich and full-bodied on the palate with a saline smack to the middle. Very long and powerful but expressive and refined. A little richer and more powerful than 2018, but elegant and poised at the same time. Vertical, fine-grained tannins. Drink from 2026.