There are 80,000 bottles of this wine, a project of Vega Sicilia’s owners. The spectacular 2001 boasts an inky/purple color in addition to wonderful aromas of creme de cassis, melted licorice, truffles, and smoky, toasty oak. Intensely concentrated but not overdone, this voluptuously thick, rich red possesses fine acidity as well as well-integrated, sweet tannin. It will offer a sumptuous mouthful of wine over the next 7-8 years.(not yet released)Christopher Cannan Selection, various American importers including Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300 and Diamond Wine Merchants, Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 567-9897

Approaching the wines chronologically, the debut 2001 Pintia has a pretty bouquet with raspberry and wild strawberry aromas up front, followed by secondary scents of fennel and Provencal herbs underneath. The palate is medium-bodied with a spicy opening. The tannins remain quite firm and are just a little disconnected with the degraded fruit, while the finish is beginning to exhibit some oxidation. The palate has not aged quite as well as the aromatics, so I would drink up in the next couple of years. Interestingly, the production of the 2001 was just over 80,000 bottles compared to almost quarter of a million nowadays. I made a brief but profitable visit to Bodegas Pintia with Pablo Alvarez and winemaker Xavier Ausas. He told me that they started to buy vineyards in 1997 without a clear idea of what style of Toro wine they would make. “We heard that Toro was a very good region,” he told me, “a region of perhaps rustic wines. We wanted to produce a different style of Tempranillo. We wanted to make a more elegant wine. In Toro the Tempranillo is wilder and rustic while in Ribera del Duero it is more elegant. The Tempranillo is more like a bull in Toro. If you don’t control it, you make wines that are over-ripe.” They ended up acquiring 100 hectares of vineyard, 50% of purchased vineyard and the remainder subsequently planted over ten years. “We like short names for the wines as they are easier to remember,” Pablo answered when I asked where the name originates. I then inquired about the vinification: “During the entire process, it is necessary to keep the fresh fruit aromas, which is the reason we have cool rooms before fermentation. The maximum degree of temperature during fermentation is 28 degrees to protect the aromas instead of 31-33 degrees in Ribera del Duero. After fermentation, we put the wine immediately in new oak barrel without maceration. We use 70% French and 30% American oak and the new oak protects the fresh fruit aroma. We make the malolactic (fermentation) in barrel and after 12 months we mix the lots, and any that are unsatisfactory are distilled. We don’t mature more than 12 months in barrel since the fresh fruit aromas come down and appear as a liqueur (volatile) aroma.” Importer: Christopher Cannan, Europvin; www.europvin.com

Rich flavors of blackberry and espresso run through this thick, muscular red. Though very ripe, it retains enough acidity for balance, once the chewy tannins let go of your palate. Big and bold, if not exactly elegant. Best after 2005. 6,700 cases made.??–TM??Region: Spain / Toro Select to Add