Pintia is the Toro estate of Tempos Vega Sicilia, the celebrated Spanish wine group that also controls Vega Sicilia in the Ribera del Duero, Alión and Tokaj’s Oremus. The Pintia project, established in the late 1990s when Toro was still considered a peripheral and somewhat rustic wine zone, was part of the group’s deliberate strategy of identifying undervalued Spanish terroir and applying the Vega Sicilia philosophy of obsessive quality to regions where the combination of extreme climate, old Tinto de Toro vines and calcareous soils provided outstanding raw material. Pintia has since become one of the most critically and commercially successful wines produced in the Toro appellation, and its reputation has risen alongside the broader critical recognition of Toro’s potential for producing age-worthy Tempranillo of real character and depth.

The 2013 Toro vintage was cool and challenging by the standards of this naturally warm, dry region, producing wines of greater freshness, lower alcohol and more delicate aromatic character than the more powerful expressions of 2016 or 2018. Wines from challenging vintages in Toro often develop differently from the blockbuster years: their natural freshness and structure can produce wines of greater complexity over time, as the fruit develops over years in bottle without the over-ripeness that can limit the finest examples of warm-year Toro. The 2013 Pintia, now more than a decade from harvest, will be entering the most interesting phase of its development in the magnum format, with the primary fruit character beginning to give way to tertiary complexity while the wine’s structure remains entirely intact.

A 2013 Pintia magnum represents an unusual opportunity to acquire a wine from Vega Sicilia’s Toro estate in the larger format from a vintage of distinctive character, now at a meaningful distance from harvest and showing the kind of intermediate development that makes mature Iberian reds of this quality so enjoyable. For collectors who follow the Vega Sicilia group’s full portfolio and for those who value aged Toro from a benchmark producer in the larger format, the 2013 magnum is a compelling acquisition.

Deep ruby with a developed nose of ripe dark cherry, dried plum, tobacco, iron, cedar, dried herbs and the mineral depth of Toro’s calcareous clay soils. Full-bodied with well-resolved tannins after a decade in magnum, vibrant residual acidity and a long, savoury, mineral finish of considerable complexity and persistence. Drinking well now; best through 2033.