The grapes for Prima are sourced from vines aged 5-25 years old from the villages of San Roman de Hornija, Villaster and Morales. The vineyards tend to be planted in sandy-clay soils as opposed to the stonier soils of fruit sourced for San Roman. Harvested by hand and selection of grapes in the vineyard. The wine is fermented in temperature controlled, conical, stainless steel tanks which allow for caps to naturally be broken very softly during pump overs. The wine was aged for 12 months in second and third fill French and American oak barrels, which had previously been used for the maturation of San Roman. Unfiltered.
91pts Wine Advocate – 2017 vintage
“Orange peel and plum notes make this a rather sweet Toro. The tannins are correspondingly moderate, and the finish is fresh and quite dry. Drink now.”
90 pts Washington Wine Blog – 2017 vintage
The entry-level 2017 Prima has meaty notes, hints of iron and soil. San Román had less influence from the killer frosts of the year, and the wines are not as structured. The grape harvest for this wine started in August, the earliest ever. Surprisingly enough, the wine is more aromatic and floral than ever, perhaps the influence of Garnacha. It has a serious, chalky palate, dry and tasty. A surprise for the vintage. 208,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in February 2019. This matured in 500-liter barrels and foudres, and the oak is very integrated. The García family from Mauro has also started converting their vineyards to biodynamic, a fascinating change, but a normal move after their organic work.
89+pts View from the Cellar – 2017 vintage
The 2017 Prima from Bodegas y Viñedos San Román is not composed entirely from Tempranillo (as most wines are in Toro), but rather from a blend of eighty-five percent Tempranillo and fifteen percent Garnacha. The vineyards here are farmed organically, with some parcels already in conversion to biodynamic methods. The wine offers up a deep and ripe bouquet of black cherries, sweet dark berries, cigar ash, dark soil tones, pretty spice elements and a nice mix of French and American oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and shows nice spice tones from the Garnacha in the blend, with a fine core, ripe, buried tannins and just a bit of heat poking out on the long and nascently complex finish. This is listed at 14.5 percent octane and the bit of backend alcohol is the only element here that keeps the score down a hair, as it is a very well-made wine that just hails from a torrid and drought vintage, but at least the physiological ripeness here is excellent. 2025-2045.
