- 96 points -

This dark-garnet-colored wine has aromas of black cherry, black currant, sage and black-olive paste. It is smooth on impact, with flavors of blackberry, cassis, coffee bean, dark chocolate and clove. Forceful tannins slowly peel away to reveal a lingering pomegranate and chocolate finish. Drink through 2042.

- 95 points -

Lots of spices and bright fruit for such a ripe, hot vintage. Some orange-peel undertones. Full-bodied and layered with beautiful fruit and length. Really nicely done. Another two or three years will soften it.

- 95 points -

The 2016 Pintia comes from a cooler but drier vintage, and the wine has a little less alcohol and more freshness. It fermented in oak vats and matured in mostly new and mostly French oak, but this year they used a little more American oak with the idea to increase density. 2016 was an atypical year in Toro; they had plenty of time to pick the grapes with lower alcohol and wines with more elegance. This is clearly a more elegant vintage than 2015. The wine has some notes that took me to the Northern Rhône, and the oak is neatly integrated—it seems to get better integrated in cooler years. There is a mix of black and red fruit that denotes good freshness. The palate is medium-bodied, with a distinct lack of rusticity and density, and it's more fluid. It has abundant, chalky and fine-grained tannins and a supple, long and dry finish. 230,032 bottles, 6,517 magnums and some larger formats were produced. It was bottled in May 2018.

- 95 points -

Saturated ruby. Expansive cherry, black raspberry, potpourri and exotic spice aromas are complemented by subtle licorice and woodsmoke flourishes. Vibrant and sharply focused in the mouth, with a spine of juicy acidity adding focus to palate-staining black and blue fruit liqueur, violet pastille, mocha and spicecake flavors. The floral quality resonates emphatically on the clinging finish, which features lingering cherry and smoky mineral notes. There's noteworthy elegance here, a trait that's not exactly common for Toro.

- 94 points -

Vega Sicilia has 110ha in Toro; 72% of the vines on their own rootstocks (a feature of Toro’s phylloxera-resistant soils). Inky colour, with exuberant aromas of blackberries, cranberries and cedar. The palate is all about power, balanced by fine freshness. The dark fruits are overload by black pepper and cumin spices. They are easing back the oak: 35% of the malolactic is in barrel. Only 20% of the ageing is in American oak, the rest French.

- 94 points -

Blueberry, lavender and some vanilla and cedar character. It’s medium-bodied with round tannins and a flavorful finish. Nice, creamy texture. It finishes reserved, polished and complex. So drinkable now, but one of the cellar as well.

- 94 points -

Strong character here. Attractive violets and wet-earth notes with very dark, glossy and rich dark plums and cherries. The richness of the blood-plum flavor is impressive, the palate very plush and very smoothly rendered. Power with freshness and terrific tannin depth. 

- 93 points -

A powerful nose is initially closed and gaseous, but in due time it opens and delivers brambly, leathery black fruit aromas and smoky oak. A grabby palate is chalky and tight, while this Toro tastes dark and toasty, with spicy berry and cassis flavors that push up against desiccated and raisiny. This is probably more flashy and ripe than deeply structured. Drink now through 2028.

- 92 points -

Plush red berry fruits, smoky tobacco and thyme on the nose, followed by velvety texture and balanced tannins on the palate.

Drinking Window 2019 - 2028.

- 18 points -

Jammy but superbly complex with fireside smoke, fresh cherry and sweet vanilla spice. Beautifully done, with fruit that combines candy and stewed character with a lovely freshness. Super-fine tannins, full body but no excess baggage. So much more subtle and elegant than the Toro archetype. Reminds me of great Australian Shiraz in many ways.

- 17 points -

100% Tinta de Toro. 75% of the vineyards are in the surroundings of San Román de Hornija, with its outstanding clay soils and boulders. 25% on sandy soils. The vintage was one of the warmest and driest on record during the beginning of the cycle. However, September was quite cool, so it ended up being a somewhat unusual vintage, with less alcohol than normal. Manual harvest, cold-soaking and 25% American oak.
Although it is a vintage that finished more leisurely and fresh, this Pintia does not lose its forcefulness. Black nose showing cocoa, plum, coffee, charcoal, roasted notes. On the palate, it is a dense, concentrated black-fruit bomb with a touch of tar. So extraordinary with this level of concentration. It is the most forceful face of the Tempos Vega Sicilia group. (FC)