Románico 2019

The entry-level red is the 2019 Románico, produced with Tinta de Toro (a.k.a. Tempranillo) from younger vines (10 to 25 or 30 years old, some of them grafted) in the villages of Valdefinjas and Toro. It fermented in a traditional way, foot trodden and with soft pumping overs, with indigenous yeasts selected from their own vineyards and matured in used French oak barrels for an average of six to eight months, as some wine is kept in stainless steel and other lots are aged in barrel for longer. This is primary and fruit-driven (black fruit), with purity and something floral; it's juicy and tender, with ripe, round tannins and a soft, caressing mouthfeel. It's clean and balanced with neatly integrated oak. This is a fresher style of 2015, perhaps more like 2011, which was dry in the region but not very warm, like 2019. 150,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in February 2021.