Out of the Toro region of Spain comes Matsu, which means wait in Japanese, paying homage to three generations of viticulturists and winemakers. And that shows on the unique labels, as different faces of each generation are shown by the age of the vineyards and the wine's oak aging, quality, and also personality.
El Pícaro 2016 (pícaro means rogue) represents youth, El Recio 2015 (recio means strong) represents maturity, and El Viejo 2015 (viejo means old) represents wisdom. I'm reviewing all three, and this is the middle of the pack with El Recio 2015.
This is 100% Tinta de Toro (AKA Tempranillo) manually harvested from ninety to one-hundred year old vineyards using biodynamic techniques. It spends three weeks fermenting and macerating in small concrete deposits with natural yeasts and is softly pressed with a pnuematic press. Then it's aged in French oak for 14 months before being bottled without filtration or use of any "aggressive" clarifier. The final ABV is 14.5%.
The color of the wine is ruby red. On the nose a cloud of cocoa powder floats about the glass. Oh man, I've never been a real fan of chocolate but I could smell cocoa powder all day. Past that there's aromas of black cherries, cassis, vanilla, baked cinnamon, and a little touch of prunes. It's medium to full bodied with a high acidity on the midpalate that can be masked by astingent tannin on the finish if you don't let it open up enough. There's flavors of black cherry, blackberry, plum, vanilla, oak, and chalk. Then it finishes with flavors of black cherry, chalk, and oak.
This is exactly what you want from a Toro wine and it's certainly a good one when stacked against its competition in the same price range. And although I do think that the El Pícaro 2016 is a better deal for the money, the El Recio 2015 is clearly superior in quality.
El Pícaro 2016 (pícaro means rogue) represents youth, El Recio 2015 (recio means strong) represents maturity, and El Viejo 2015 (viejo means old) represents wisdom. I'm reviewing all three, and this is the middle of the pack with El Recio 2015.
This is 100% Tinta de Toro (AKA Tempranillo) manually harvested from ninety to one-hundred year old vineyards using biodynamic techniques. It spends three weeks fermenting and macerating in small concrete deposits with natural yeasts and is softly pressed with a pnuematic press. Then it's aged in French oak for 14 months before being bottled without filtration or use of any "aggressive" clarifier. The final ABV is 14.5%.
The color of the wine is ruby red. On the nose a cloud of cocoa powder floats about the glass. Oh man, I've never been a real fan of chocolate but I could smell cocoa powder all day. Past that there's aromas of black cherries, cassis, vanilla, baked cinnamon, and a little touch of prunes. It's medium to full bodied with a high acidity on the midpalate that can be masked by astingent tannin on the finish if you don't let it open up enough. There's flavors of black cherry, blackberry, plum, vanilla, oak, and chalk. Then it finishes with flavors of black cherry, chalk, and oak.
This is exactly what you want from a Toro wine and it's certainly a good one when stacked against its competition in the same price range. And although I do think that the El Pícaro 2016 is a better deal for the money, the El Recio 2015 is clearly superior in quality.
QUALITY VS PRICE RATING
Price: $22
Rating: 4/5 = Recommended (what does that mean?)
The bottle used was supplied free of charge for the purpose of this unpaid review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.
The bottle used was supplied free of charge for the purpose of this unpaid review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.
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