Alabaster, Toro, Teso la Monja, 2007
A 100% Tinta de Toro from pre-phylloxera vines that yielded a mere 10 hl/ha that is aged in new french oak barrels for 16 months. The result of the late 2007 harvest, this has clearly benefited from the 2007 summer's cool nights, this is aromatic, pwerful yet elegant exhibiting ripe lush flavours, brimming with crushed victoria plum and violet character, notes of mineral and morello cherry, bolstered by svelte, alluring tannins.
critic reviews
Vivid ruby. Wild, explosive aromas of strawberry, raspberry, minerals and candied flowers. Silky, focused and sappy, with brisk minerality lifting pure red berry, cherry and rose pastille flavors. A dense, penetrating but almost weightless wine that offers terrific clarity and finishing energy. I couldn't get this wine off my palate. All the tinta de toro vines at this estate are planted on ungrafted rootstock because phylloxera has never taken hold in these sandy soils.
The 2007 Alabaster came from pre-phylloxera vines yielding a miniscule half ton of fruit per acre. It went through ML in new French oak before being transferred to a different set of new French oak barrels for 18 months of aging. Glycerin oozes down the glass of this remarkably rich effort. Purple/black colored, it offers up a brooding nose of licorice, fresh tar, black cherry, and blackberry. On the palate it is full-bodied, dense, and chewy, but in balance. This behemoth demands 8-10 years of cellaring but should ultimately reward patient cellaring in a big way. Bodegas Teso La Monja is the Eguren family’s new project in Toro featuring a state of the art winery and old vines of Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo). The sandy soils here meant that phylloxera never took hold so that most of the vines are ungrafted. Importer: Jorge Ordonez, Fine Estates from Spain, Dedham, MA: Tel: (781) 461-5767