PINTIA Tempos Vega Sicilia - Toro (Tinta de Toro) 2020 Bottle

Description

Pintia 2020 is an extraordinary vintage that embodies the bold character of Toro, showcasing 100% Tinta de Toro grapes. This wine is awarded high praise, with Wine Enthusiast rating it 93 points, noting its layered blackberry and cherry flavours with a firm structure. The Wine Advocate scores it 94 points, highlighting the wine's freshness and balance, with rich aromas of black fruit, cocoa, and spice. James Suckling also rates it 95 points, appreciating the elegant texture and vibrant acidity that enhance its complexity. With its impressive depth and finely integrated tannins, this age-worthy Armagnac allows for immediate enjoyment while promising further development with time in the bottle. Perfect for connoisseurs seeking a distinguished tasting experience.

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Overlooking the Duero River as it nears its transformation into the Douro, Pintia epitomises the essence of Toro: bold, expressive wines crafted from stony soils and shaped by a rugged climate. The timing of the harvest was particularly critical in 2020, a vintage known for its power and concentration.

Extraction was carefully reduced during fermentation, while the introduction of clay amphorae into the ageing process helped to soften the impact of toast and preserve the wine’s freshness. Aged for 11 months in barrels and amphorae, followed by 30 months in bottle, Pintia 2020 exemplifies balance, power, and refinement.

In 2020, the weather was ideal, with sufficient rainfall, a mild spring, and steady ripening throughout the summer. These ideal conditions supported healthy vine growth and balanced fruit development. The vineyards, averaging 35 years of age, are spread across 110 hectares in San Román de Hornija, Pedrosa del Rey, Toro, and Morales de Toro, located at 700 metres above sea level. Low yields of 3,000 kg/ha (21 hl/ha) ensured concentration and quality. The grapes were harvested manually in small 12kg boxes from 9th to 23rd September, allowing for meticulous selection at the optimal moment. The result is a wine with remarkable balance, where the generous 15.5% ABV is carried effortlesslly.

THE WINE ADVOCATE 94 points
Drink Date: 2026 - 2032
The 2020 Pintia is from a powerful year of concentration, so they were very careful with the harvest date, did a softer vinification trying to extract less and included amphorae and less toast in the élevage. It's opulent and juicy but gentle. The wine reached 15.5% alcohol and has a pH of 3.9 with 4.4 grams of acidity. It fermented in stainless steel and oak vats with indigenous yeasts. It was a very warm and dry vintage in Toro, with a heat wave before the harvest, so they had to rush to pick the grapes; and still the wine is richer and more powerful, even though the amphorae helped them contain the sensation of ripeness in the wine. It has a heady and ripe profile, very aromatic and showy, with notes of very ripe berries, prunes and decayed violets with a faint volatile twist. It matured 70% in new barrels, 10% in used barrels, 10% in stainless steel and 5% in clay pots. It's full bodied and lush, with abundant, slightly dusty tannins. It was a ripe and powerful vintage for Pintia, but it evolved nicely in the glass, showing less of its ripe side with time, which to me is a good sign. Some 14,304 half bottles, 209,009 bottles, 6,645 magnums and some larger formats were produced. It was bottled in August 2022.

JAMES SUCKLING 95 Points
Another combination of freshness and profoundness from Toro. Blackberries, graphite, ashtray, sandalwood, cocoa powder and dark olives on the nose. Fresh-veined, chalky tannins tighten the palate, with a nervy backbone. The tannins extend to a lengthy finish. Ripe but fresh. Drink from 2026.

DECANTER 94 points
Tasted by: Ines Salpico (at Mandarin Oriental, London, 20 Jan 2025) Part of Vega Sicilia’s 2025 releases: Singularity beyond Unico
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2040
Another accomplished vintage of Vega Sicilia's Toro project. Technical director Gonzalo Iturriaga says it was a challenging vintage, with illusive freshness. But ideal harvest timing and maceration management allowed him to deliver a balanced wine, with superbly integrated alcohol. Intense, expressive aromas of dark chocolate, dried black olive, prune and liquorice root mingle with Assam tea (for an elegant smoky allure) and crunchy blueberries. A pleasant rusticity, lined with dried sage, defines the grippy, savoury tannins. Long finish, spicy and earthy.

VINOUS 94 points
The 2020 Pintia is Tempranillo from Toro. It opens with fine plum, delicate spice, cherry, barrel notes and a hint of orange peel. A touch of jam adds to the warmth. Rich and intense, the palate is broad and textured with firm tannins. For a Toro, the mouthfeel is unusually smooth, with a core of red fruit. Nicely balanced. - Joaquín Hidalgo

WINE ENTHUSIAST 93 points
Gritty, charred aromas rest on top of core blackberry and cassis scents. This is a blocky, stout number with firm tannins and serious structure. Charred blackberry and dark chocolate are the lead flavors, while this big-boned Toro tastes of toast and mocha on the finish, which is drying and tannic. Drink through 2027. — Michael Schachner

JANCIS ROBINSON 17 points
100% Tinta de Toro. 35-year-old vineyards in San Román de Hornija, at about 700 m above sea level. The whole vineyard is covered with large pebbles. It is an impressive sight, and it seems impossible they can work this soil. It rains very little, only 330 mm, and although the subsoil is very clayey, this stony layer helps to slow the evaporation rate. The grapes were harvested early in the first week of September because there were heat shocks that caused some dehydration. As this was such a powerful vintage, less extraction was done and more was made in large-format fermentation vessels such as 700- and 1,600-litre clay vasijas (6%) and stainless-steel tank (14%). The rest was made in wood, reducing the percentage of American oak barrels and the degree of toasting to try to reduce the heaviness. In total, 11 months of ageing followed by a further 30 months of resting in the bottle. Production: 14,304 half-bottles, 209,009 bottles, 6,645 magnums, 500 double magnums, 40 Imperials and 5 Salmanazars.
Very dark ruby colour. Very concentrated plum and black-fruit flavours. The tannin is impressive, voluminous and very sweet. Sweet black fruit on the palate with a very high level of ripeness. It is a compact wine, with high alcohol and warmth, something characteristic of the region. One of the most voluminous and powerful Pintia wines ever made. However, there is a hint of bitterness and a hint of herbs at the end of the palate. Dense and very concentrated, it reflects what has been the most opulent year. (FC)