2002 - Termanthia, Numanthia, Toro

The 2002 Termanthia was born in a growing season marked by a dry summer without high temperatures. It has a lovely, floral bouquet of violets and dried rose petals sprinkled over the ripe red berry fruit. The palate is succulent and ripe on the entry with good acidity. It is certainly fresher than either the 2000 or the 2001 with impressive tension and vitality toward the finish. Drink now-2020. In 2003, there was an early bud break and a dry, very hot summer that provoked hydric stress and retarded ripeness due to vegetative shut down. Tell me, did you automatically skip directly here before perusing the rest of this report? Naughty you. But it would not surprise me, since it was this address that brought Toro global attention, and so a visit to Numanthia Termes was a priority. I only need adumbrate the history of the estate. Named after an ancient Spanish city said to have resisted Roman invasion for 20 years, Numanthia was founded by the Eguren family in 1998 in Valdefinjas. Its wines enjoyed overnight critical acclaim, including in this very publication, and it was the catalyst for other winemakers to exploit Toro and recreate their success. The source of quality was derived from an exceptional parcel that included 120-year-old un-grafted vines that had resisted phylloxera with the resilience of those ancient Spanish soldiers. A new winery was constructed in 2007, but in February 2008 it was announced that the estate had been sold to LVMH. Winemaker Marcos Eguren agreed to stay on for two more vintages before he moved on to establish his own winery close by (see “Teso la Monja”). Taking the winemaking reins, Manuel Lazueda has overseen recent vintages, and he kindly not only showed recent releases from Numanthia, but conducted a complete vertical of Termanthia from the maiden vintage. Naturally, there has been speculation how I would find these wines, which come cloaked in 200% new oak. You would presume they are an anathema to what I believe constitutes a g

Bright ruby-red. Cassis, strawberry and spicy oak on the slightly reduced nose. Broad, rich, thick and fat but with solid underlying backbone. Quite closed in on itself today and in need of either extended aeration or several years in the cellar. Best on the very long, spicy finish, which features molar-dusting tannins. This vineyard was planted with ungrafted vines during the second half of the 19th century. .