2021 Vega Sicilia Pintia Toro

The current release is the 2021 Pintia, an exceptional vintage for them in Toro, and is one of their finest to date. It was cropped from a cooler year, and the wine has more freshness despite the 15% alcohol. It has a pH of 3.83 and 4.7 grams of acidity. It fermented in stainless steel and oak vats and matured partly in stainless steel (15%), barrels and foudres with 75% new oak, for 11 months. Three episodes of rain in September really made the vintage, something unusual in the zone, putting the icing on the cake of a cooler year. The wine is always more powerful than the wines from Ribera or Rioja, with more oomph, density and abundant tannins but with very good balance and freshness. It's a Pintia for the long haul, like a 2018 with more weight. There were 235,355 bottles, 13,944 half-bottles, 6,535 magnums and some larger formats produced. This was bottled in April 2023.