San Roman, Garnacha, Toro 2019
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94
Wine Advocate
The second vintage of the pure Garnacha, the 2019 Garnacha comes from the same grapes as the initial 2018, and it fermented with full clusters and natural yeasts and matured in 500-liter French oak barrels until bottling. The two years feel very different. They picked the grapes a little earlier in 2019, and the wine is more floral and elegant. The color is bright, and the wine is rounder and the tannins are more polished. They tell me a big difference was that this 2019 underwent malolactic (like the 2020), but the 2018 did not do it because it has a very low pH and they respected it and bottled it with a little more acidity. 2,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2021.
The 2019 Garnacha from Bodegas San Román arrived just before I finished up this article and I am very happy it made it in ahead of the deadline. The wine is produced from sixty yearold bush vines, which are farmed organically and situated at just over seven hundred meters above sea level. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts, entirely whole cluster in 2019 and aged for just over a year and a half in five hundred liter, French oak casks. This is only the second vintage of pure Garnacha released by the winery, as it was only approved for the Toro DO in 2018. The 2019 is a big boy, coming in at a full fifteen percent octane and delivering a superb bouquet of red and black raspberries, smoked meats, beautifully refined spice tones, a fine base of soil, woodsmoke and a lovely framing of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, ripe and full-bodied, with very good balance for its octane level, a lovely core of fruit, good mineral drive and grip, ripe tannins and a long, complex and gently warm finish. This is a very, very well-made wine, which is a bit high in octane for my palate, but which is really quite impressively balanced for this level and I am sure that most modern-day Châteauneuf du Pape drinkers will not even notice that it is fifteen percent! It needs some cellaring time to soften up, but it should drink beautifully for many decades. 2029-2065.
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San Roman, Garnacha, Toro 2020
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94
Wine Advocate
The one red in the portfolio that has a very different profile from the rest is the 2020 Garnacha, a bright ruby-colored varietal wine with a perfumed, floral and decadent nose a little à la Rayas with cherries in liqueur. It has a medium body, fine tannins and a juicy texture, but it’s obviously young and undeveloped with primary notes and baby fat. It has 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.6, very integrated, with almost unperceivable oak after 19 months in 500-liter French oak barrels. 2,754 bottles were filled in May 2022.
To the degree that the region of Toro has been fa- mous at all (which it has been, to the degree possible for it based on the circulation of its wines, since at least 1500 BCE), it has been famous for big, assertive red wines deserving of an appel- lation meaning, simply, Bull. Spain cares about bulls, as you may know, and not just anyplace could claim that name and get it to stick for more than half a millennium. The thing is, that reputation was built on a local strain of Tempranillo that evolved in relation to local growing conditions so distinctly that it came to be called, “Tinta de Toro,” further cementing an associ- ation with a wine style that is quite distinct from what we would usually think about Garnacha (also known as Grenache in France and basically everywhere else, also). On account of all this, almost nothing could prepare you for this wine, which is wonderfully lithe and fresh and bright and even delicate — though it has a sneaky power that shows itself only after multiple sips and especially after tasting the wine with food. It really is a medium-bodied wine — though at the lighter end of that category — but one that offers much more flavor impact than one would expect. These are based on beautiful aromas and flavors recalling red cherries and raspberries, with intricacies that could also be likened to strawberries or cranberries, but this is its own thing, prompting me to remind the reader that all of these descriptors are mere analogies. San Román is one of Spain’s best bodegas, and though you could get the idea that this is just a flirtation with a variety that is “fun” for them to make, they’ve made terrific but small releases of this (as well as Malvasia) for years now. The wines are terrific, and they warrant the search that will be necessary to find them.
2020 San Roman Garnacha- The astonishingly good 2020 San Roman Garnacha is soft and voluptuous on the mouth with a smooth texture. A beautiful purity of red fruits greets you, alongside salty soils, orange peel and suggestions of cardamom. Sexy, salty and very fresh, this is a gorgeous, highly novel Garnacha that will satisfy Grenache-lovers across the globe. Drink 2023-2035.
The 2020 Garnacha from San Román is another truly exceptional example of old vine grenache and this has to be one of the very best wines made out of this varietal in the world these days. These organically farmed vines are more than sixty years of age and sit at an elevation of over seven hundred meters above sea level. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts, one hundred percent whole cluster and aged for a year and a half in French oak demi-muids prior to bottling. The wine is a full point lower in octane in 2020 than it was in 2019, coming in at fourteen percent alcohol and offering up a beautifully precise bouquet of raspberries, cherries, smoked meats, pepper, garrigue, woodsmoke, a lovely base of soil, a touch of celery seed and a very discreet framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and nicely soil- driven, with a potentially sappy core of fruit, ripe tannins, tangy acids and excellent balance on the long, complex and very classy finish. This is a properly structured young wine and will need plenty of time in the cellar to soften up its tannins, but it is going to be a stunning wine once it is ready to drink. 2033-2080.
A polished red, offering a generous range of creamed black cherry, blackberry paste, mocha and mountain herb flavors set in a graceful, medium- to full-bodied frame. Features fine tannins that provide sculpted definition, though this is bright and silky on the palate and long through the mineral- and spice-laced finish. Drink now through 2033. 9,500 cases made, 750 cases imported.
Vibrant Garnacha, fermented in stainless steel and aged in French barrique. Expressive nose with transparent cranberry and red cherry aromas. Elegant, balanced and very approachable, with firm yet smooth tannins. The generous red fruit has a zesty refreshing twist of blood orange and a spicy lining of black and white pepper.Beautiful finish with lingering garrigue and apleasant grip in the tip of the tongue.
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