Toro Almirez 2007 – Bodega Tesa la Monja, Eguren family – Alc.14.5% - (€15), made mainly from Tinta de Toro, a local variety of Tempranillo, and matured for 12 months in French oak barrels, of which 30% new.
This was the first Toro which I have opened at home and I am quite impressed. I was fearing a blockbuster but, although the wine was quite full bodied, I found a certain elegance and it went very well with a traditional Belgian preparation of chicken in a sauce of dark beer and spicy “pain d’épices”. Colour was deep and the nose exuded dark fruit (with a lot of cherry) with a certain coffee and woody firmness. The somewhat up-front palate displayed depth and tannic structure which still showed some asperities, probably from the barrels, but this did not detract much from the attractive and quite complex fruit laced with wet leather and tobacco. This wine is still young so such asperities are quite normal and I would expect further improvement potential with ageing; 16/20 now with ++ potential.
Toro, located in North Western Spain not far from the cities of Salamanca and Valladollid is acquiring quite a reputation as a wine region. Some of its wines are acquiring a cult status with the pointy people with bottles going for very high prices. In fact the Eguren family sold its former famous Toro winery, Bodega Numanthia Termes, which produced cult status Termanthia and Numanthia, to LVMH and started this new winery from scratch.