Inky purple. Pungent cherry, cassis, licorice, violet and graphite on the nose, with a peppery undercurrent. Concentrated dark fruit flavors offer outstanding clarity and thrust, with sweet cherry and blackberry flavors joined by candied licorice, zesty minerality and bitter chocolate. Fine-grained tannins add structure and focus on the strikingly long, youthfully bitter finish. With air the fruit turned darker and gained power, but at no expense to vivacity. Needs time.

Any aspiring collectors should add a case of this to their stash. The 2004 Numanthia comes from a different terroir with a different clone of Tinta de Toro. The vines for this cuvee range from 70-100 years of age with tiny yields of 1 ton of fruit per acre. The wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in barrel followed by 19 months in new French oak before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. The wine is a glass-coating opaque purple with a killer nose of mineral, pencil lead, wild blueberry, and blackberry liqueur that roars from the glass. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, dense, and already beginning to show complexity within its layers of spicy black fruits. There is immense power, well-concealed ripe tannin, and the well-delineated finish lasts for over one minute. This is a sensational effort which in a perfect world should be cellared for a decade and enjoyed over the following 25+ years. However, the elderly among us should not feel guilty about opening a bottle now.

Powerful yet graceful, this red shows concentration, intensity and elegance. Oak is dominant now, with luscious mocha, dark chocolate and toasty flavors, but there's plenty of ripe black fruit underneath. Massive tannins are so well-integrated the wine feels plush, and lively acidity keeps this balanced. Best from 2010 through 2020.

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