The Toro D.O. is located within Castilla and Leon in the Northwest of Spain. The quality of wines in the region is truly spectacular and the quality to price ratio seems to be exploding vintage after vintage!
The Eguren family of Teso la Monja is one of the most important families in the Toro D.O., they played a crucial role in the resurgence of premium wines in the region. When the winery was founded, the Eguren brothers sought out northern-facing sites with slightly more clay in the soils to help mediate the diurnal shifts so typical in these high-altitude vineyards, resulting in faster ripening grapes and remarkable fruit in the wines.
Vintage after vintage 'Almirez' blows us away but the 2020 is truly sensational and reminds us of more expensive Toro wines like Vega Sicilia Pintia and San Roman! Check out the plethora of rave reviews below and grab this by the case!
"The 2021 Almirez, sourced from La Jara, Villabuena del Puente and Valdefinjas vineyards in Toro, was aged up to 14 months in oak barrels. Garnet in hue. Its ripe aromas feature plums, dried flowers, undergrowth, licorice and garrigue against a cedar backdrop. Dry and rich on the palate, the mild and balanced flow leads to a lasting, juicy, cherry-like finish. The 2021 is a nuanced Toro wine." - 95 Points Joaquín Hidalgo, Vinous Media
"Bright garnet-colored in the glass, this wine has aromas of anise, cassis and black raspberry with a touch of smoked charcuterie. In the mouth there are rich ripe fruit flavors and subtle floral tastes of dried lavender and crushed violet. It has a nicely round tannic structure and some pleasant grip in the midpalate. The satisfying finish offers soft notes of cherry and spice." - 94 Points Wine Enthusiast
"The 2020 Almirez comes from 41.7 hectares of vines ranging between 15 and 65 years of age. It fermented for 20 days, followed by malolactic in barrel and 14 months in French oak barrels, 30% of them new. The wine is quite approachable and has finesse; it's fine-boned, more fluid and refined than other years. The rains in August resulted in larger grapes with more juice, and the wine is quite approachable even at this young age. It's expressive, clean and powerful (the place is like that) and with 14.81% alcohol that goes unnoticed. It has abundant, fine-grained tannins and some creaminess and spiciness from the time in barrel, developing some mintiness with time in the glass; later, there's more licorice and even aniseed and fennel aromas. 88,800 bottles produced. It was bottled in April 2022." - 93 Points Luis Gutierrez, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
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