Almirez 2023

2023 / 94 puntos

The 2023 Almirez comes from 41.7 hectares of ungrafted vines in Valdefinjas and Toro, ranging between 15 and 65 years of age. The grapes fermented for 16 days in open-top vats, followed by malolactic fermentation in barrel and 14 months in French oak barrels, 30% of them new. I tasted it next to some wines from Rioja, and being Tempranillo, they are very different. This is very clean and modern, with a focused expression of fruit. It is young and clean, precise and perfumed, without the rusticity some attribute to the wines from Toro. But Toro can also be elegant, even with the heat wave at the end of the summer. It has 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.75, five grams of acidity and abundant, elegant, round tannins. 70,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2025.