Decanted due to the cork being damaged by an amateur waiter, but a good thing anyway due to the heavy sediment in the bottle.
The nose was like nothing I've ever smelled before (on wine): phenolic and tarry, like something between a road-resurfacing asphalt truck and Islay whisky. After 30 minutes, things settled down a bit; but throughout the experience, the aroma was still disconnected from the taste.
Hitting the palate, I got strong anise, cassis, garrigue, and dark stone fruit and dark berry notes. The second wave of flavor was similar to a Gran Reserva: tobacco, raisin, prune, with cedar whiffs after swallowing. At certain moments, I felt like someone had added old tawny port to my glass in small amounts with a pipette.
I really don't know how to characterize this wine, as it is one of those uncommon Parkerized wines that actually lasts for two decades. It could hold up for 5 more years, or it could be already on the decline.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
A single-vineyard Toro made with fruit sourced from the ungrafted 4,8-hectare Teso de los Carriles cru, where even the youngest vines are planted over 120 years ago. Cold-soaked for five days prior to the fermentation, fermented and macerated with the skins in 2000-liter oak vats for three to four weeks, then moved into new French oak barrels for MLF. After MLF the wine is racked (again) into new French oak barrels and aged for 20 months on the lees. After this 200% new oak treatment, the wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered. 14,5% alcohol. Total production 4350 bottles.
Dense, rather opaque and very deep black cherry color with a somewhat youthful garnet hue. The nose feels relatively restrained and fine-tuned for a Numanthia wine with layered, somewhat evolved aromas of dried cherries and wizened dark plums, some raisiny tones, a little bit of earth, light autumnal notes of damp leaves, a hint of fragrant floral character and a toasty touch of sweet oak spice. The wine feels massive, super-concentrated and voluptuous on the palate with a very full body and bold flavors of dried figs and sweet dark plums, some woody notes of savory oak spice, a little bit of raisiny dark fruit, light coffee liqueur tones, a sweeter hint of toasty mocha oak and a touch of evolved earthy character. Although the wine sports surprisingly good acidity and quite grippy and firm yet not aggressive tannins, the overall feel is still pretty fat and monolithic, all thanks to the sheer size and concentration of the wine. The finish is clean, juicy and quite grippy with a very long and powerful aftertaste of ripe dark plums and sweet dried figs, some peppery tones, a little bit of cherry marmalade, light woody notes of savory oak spice, a hint of extracted woody bitterness and a touch of milk chocolate.
A huge blockbuster of a wine by any standards. Of the three Termanthias (2005, 2004 and 2001) we tasted, this showed the most sense of balance, harmony and complexity - but one has to understand that the term "balanced" is quite questionable for a wine this huge. I mean even though the wine sports quite a bit of firmness and structure, it still comes across as pretty fat, clumsy and voluptuous. I guess this is a stunning wine if you like huge, concentrated and super-ripe oak bombs, but for me, this is interesting and impressive pretty much only because I'm amazed how one is capable of crafting Tempranillo into something as huge and heavy as this. Age-wise I feel this wine is pretty much at its peak: there are some evolved tertiary qualities, but there's also enough youthful vibrancy to keep the wine from coming across as tired and ponderous. Although the wine can keep for many years more, I really don't see benefit in any additional aging - these Numanthia wines seem to fall apart quite suddenly once they've been on their plateau of maturity for some time, so keeping them for too long is always a gamble...
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Definitely not my type of wine. Apretado no, lo siguiente, concentrando, licoroso, joven pero ¿irá a mejor? Cargado de balsámicos y madera, muy alchólico, mentolados, muy extraido. Todo muy, muy muy.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
3 uur vooraf geopend en 1 uur vooraf gedecanteerd , dit is zeker nodig voor deze wijn . Mooi geurenpallet van zwart fruit leder en terroir. Krachtige wijn die zeker nog enkele jaren mag blijven liggen (5jaar) , lange aangename afdronk .
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Slow ox decanted for 6 hours and then double decanted 3 more. This is a must to remove the impressive amount of both fine and large sediments. The wines concentration of texture and extraction of flavors improved each hour. The ptch black core exploded with aromas of anise, molten milk chocolate, and plenty of river rock mineralality. On the palate irony blackberry, cassis, spicy cloves, vanilla bean, and a finish that reminds me of cake batter. This wine is hedonistic and needs a few more bottle years for all elements to fully integrate.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
plums, dark berries, high concentration, pencil, leather, present acidity, strong tannins, but fine, high level of alcohol, fullbodied, but goog integration, minerality, sour cherries, blue berries, some barriquenotes as vanilla, pure concentartion and power, still too young, I think it is in a closed phase, length through strcture and body, tannins feel a little bit rough, potential to 98
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
lost against the clos erasmus 2004 (99). maybe it is in a little bit closed phase. Not that decent fruit of the clos. missing the sweetness through the extract. Blackberry, espresso pulver, cacao beans, dark dried fruits, long aftertaste (50+5+13+18+8)
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Numanthia Dinner with winemaker, Manuel Louzada (Ken's): Lifted big, modern nose of black fruit, chocolate and oak notes. A wow palate that boasts round, polished raspberry fruit but delivers the fruit with poise and elegance. Well-balanced.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Amazing juice. Great balance for such an ooze monster. Redolent of black truffle, black pepper and black fruits. The tannins are still easily preceptable and provide welcome structure like a concrete base of a house.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
It's an oak bomb as much as a fruit bomb. No hint of losing its grip at age seven. It's delicious with the right food, like the grilled chicken with barbecue sauce.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
The nose of this wine had aromas of cherries, blackberries, and peppercorns. There was also a fair amount of volatility that I didn't enjoy. The palate had flavors of dark fruits with notes of meat, spice, dark chocolate and a hint of bitter coffee. Good mouthfeel and a long finish that seemed to bring out the bitter notes even more.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This is a monster. The bouquet is still locked, but there are black fruits, herbs and spices. On the palate it has a lot of sweetness, but also a lot of tannin and acidity. A mouth full of wine with a lot of everything. If you don't like blockbusters this is not your wine. But in fact all seems to be in harmony. In my previous note I wrote that I would like to drink this wine again around 2014, but considering the slow development 2020 might be a better suggestion. I score it 94 now, but I think there is potential for a few more points.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
nose of cherry, cassis, licorice combined with a hint of pepper. on the palate both: sweet cherry/blackberry flavors and zesty minerality + bitter chocolate. Fine-grained tannins add structure and focus on the long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Super Spaniards (Top Deck, Jumbo Floating Restaurant, Aberdeen Marina, Hong Kong): Huge fleshy, deep and totally opaque purple colour. Nose of toffee, caramel, nail polish remover, deep rich milky chocolate, violets come out at the back. Gorgeous rich hugely deep dark fruited palate with a surprisingly velvety mouthfeel. Just a touch dry and new boxwood on the back end. Very intense but not over-extracted. Fleshy, lush and volupturous. A bit too tannic still. Good resonance in the head. Totally toothcoating. The team members who like younger super-Californians thought I was under-pointing this wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Dinner for Angela (Chez Patrick, Sun Street, Hong Kong): Decanted for 6 hours. Black/purple totally opaque colour. Gummy, sweet, attractive wallpaper paste nose. Absolutely drop dead gorgeous on the palate: unctuous, fruit filled, mouthcoating, vanilla pods all in incredible concentration. Huge length and some resonance but needs another 5-10 years for its full beauty to unfold. Almost as good as the L'Ermita 1998 and could surpass it with time.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Ultra-dark purple/black color to the rim. Those seeking finesse/elegance in their wine needn't apply. This is a big boy, fruit-bomb, monster of a wine. Bottle decanted for 2 hours before tasting. The 2004 Termanthia is still very tight. The wine has an array of flavors - blueberry, blackberry, cherry cough drop, graphite, asphalt, eucalyptus, menthol, mint and plums. This is one of those teeth-staining types of wine that hangs on the tongue for quite a while. Probably too young to be drinking at this point, as the oak and tannins are still very formidable. Tasting 6 hours after opening, the wine is actually closing down a little. Probably could use another 5 years in the cellar. This would be interesting to try against the 1999 Chris Ringland Shiraz.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Great Wine Dinner (Rheingau Gourmet & Wine Festival Hattenheim, Germany): From 100 year old Tinta de Toro. Lots of oak but the immense weight of fruit carries it off effortlessly; very rich, deep and inky, wonderful sweet fruit, bacon, rich and velvety tannins, minerals, mouthcoating; long and rich finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Occasional tasting group: Wines with 100 Parker Points. (@ L in Z): Dark purple. Ripe black forest fruits in the bouquet. In the mouth like a fruit bomb with white pepper and soft, sticky tannin. Very full bodied and a very long aftertaste. A beauty of a wine, but not showing real complexity (yet!) This is much too young and, although double decanted 4 hours before drinking, not showing what it really has in store. My score is for the moment and this wine might gain several points with ageing. If I had a few I would try my next bottle around 2014.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
11/5/2023 - mick978@gmail.com Likes this wine: 95 Points
Superb
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/3/2023 - jazzop wrote: 95 Points
Decanted due to the cork being damaged by an amateur waiter, but a good thing anyway due to the heavy sediment in the bottle.
The nose was like nothing I've ever smelled before (on wine): phenolic and tarry, like something between a road-resurfacing asphalt truck and Islay whisky. After 30 minutes, things settled down a bit; but throughout the experience, the aroma was still disconnected from the taste.
Hitting the palate, I got strong anise, cassis, garrigue, and dark stone fruit and dark berry notes. The second wave of flavor was similar to a Gran Reserva: tobacco, raisin, prune, with cedar whiffs after swallowing. At certain moments, I felt like someone had added old tawny port to my glass in small amounts with a pipette.
I really don't know how to characterize this wine, as it is one of those uncommon Parkerized wines that actually lasts for two decades. It could hold up for 5 more years, or it could be already on the decline.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/27/2023 - forceberry wrote: 92 Points
A single-vineyard Toro made with fruit sourced from the ungrafted 4,8-hectare Teso de los Carriles cru, where even the youngest vines are planted over 120 years ago. Cold-soaked for five days prior to the fermentation, fermented and macerated with the skins in 2000-liter oak vats for three to four weeks, then moved into new French oak barrels for MLF. After MLF the wine is racked (again) into new French oak barrels and aged for 20 months on the lees. After this 200% new oak treatment, the wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered. 14,5% alcohol. Total production 4350 bottles.
Dense, rather opaque and very deep black cherry color with a somewhat youthful garnet hue. The nose feels relatively restrained and fine-tuned for a Numanthia wine with layered, somewhat evolved aromas of dried cherries and wizened dark plums, some raisiny tones, a little bit of earth, light autumnal notes of damp leaves, a hint of fragrant floral character and a toasty touch of sweet oak spice. The wine feels massive, super-concentrated and voluptuous on the palate with a very full body and bold flavors of dried figs and sweet dark plums, some woody notes of savory oak spice, a little bit of raisiny dark fruit, light coffee liqueur tones, a sweeter hint of toasty mocha oak and a touch of evolved earthy character. Although the wine sports surprisingly good acidity and quite grippy and firm yet not aggressive tannins, the overall feel is still pretty fat and monolithic, all thanks to the sheer size and concentration of the wine. The finish is clean, juicy and quite grippy with a very long and powerful aftertaste of ripe dark plums and sweet dried figs, some peppery tones, a little bit of cherry marmalade, light woody notes of savory oak spice, a hint of extracted woody bitterness and a touch of milk chocolate.
A huge blockbuster of a wine by any standards. Of the three Termanthias (2005, 2004 and 2001) we tasted, this showed the most sense of balance, harmony and complexity - but one has to understand that the term "balanced" is quite questionable for a wine this huge. I mean even though the wine sports quite a bit of firmness and structure, it still comes across as pretty fat, clumsy and voluptuous. I guess this is a stunning wine if you like huge, concentrated and super-ripe oak bombs, but for me, this is interesting and impressive pretty much only because I'm amazed how one is capable of crafting Tempranillo into something as huge and heavy as this. Age-wise I feel this wine is pretty much at its peak: there are some evolved tertiary qualities, but there's also enough youthful vibrancy to keep the wine from coming across as tired and ponderous. Although the wine can keep for many years more, I really don't see benefit in any additional aging - these Numanthia wines seem to fall apart quite suddenly once they've been on their plateau of maturity for some time, so keeping them for too long is always a gamble...
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
4/24/2022 - GonzaloManzaneda wrote: 89 Points
Definitely not my type of wine. Apretado no, lo siguiente, concentrando, licoroso, joven pero ¿irá a mejor? Cargado de balsámicos y madera, muy alchólico, mentolados, muy extraido. Todo muy, muy muy.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/14/2021 - SlimShaney Likes this wine: 96 Points
Rich and layered and distinctly the top of Spanish tempranillo. Magnificent and totally full of energy at 17 years old.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/7/2017 - burgcamel wrote: 94 Points
Big style wine with lots of life ahead. It needed a longer decant.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/22/2016 - benxjc6 Likes this wine: 94 Points
3 uur vooraf geopend en 1 uur vooraf gedecanteerd , dit is zeker nodig voor deze wijn . Mooi geurenpallet van zwart fruit leder en terroir.
Krachtige wijn die zeker nog enkele jaren mag blijven liggen (5jaar) , lange aangename afdronk .
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/28/2014 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 99 Points
Slow ox decanted for 6 hours and then double decanted 3 more. This is a must to remove the impressive amount of both fine and large sediments. The wines concentration of texture and extraction of flavors improved each hour. The ptch black core exploded with aromas of anise, molten milk chocolate, and plenty of river rock mineralality. On the palate irony blackberry, cassis, spicy cloves, vanilla bean, and a finish that reminds me of cake batter. This wine is hedonistic and needs a few more bottle years for all elements to fully integrate.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
8/2/2014 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 96 Points
plums, dark berries, high concentration, pencil, leather, present acidity, strong tannins, but fine, high level of alcohol, fullbodied, but goog integration, minerality, sour cherries, blue berries, some barriquenotes as vanilla, pure concentartion and power, still too young, I think it is in a closed phase, length through strcture and body, tannins feel a little bit rough, potential to 98
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
5/31/2014 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 94 Points
lost against the clos erasmus 2004 (99). maybe it is in a little bit closed phase. Not that decent fruit of the clos. missing the sweetness through the extract. Blackberry, espresso pulver, cacao beans, dark dried fruits, long aftertaste (50+5+13+18+8)
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/24/2014 - Mtaylor305 wrote:
Removing dummy entry
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/18/2014 - Nanda wrote:
Numanthia Dinner with winemaker, Manuel Louzada (Ken's): Lifted big, modern nose of black fruit, chocolate and oak notes. A wow palate that boasts round, polished raspberry fruit but delivers the fruit with poise and elegance. Well-balanced.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/6/2013 - sdr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Amazing juice. Great balance for such an ooze monster. Redolent of black truffle, black pepper and black fruits. The tannins are still easily preceptable and provide welcome structure like a concrete base of a house.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/12/2012 - RussK wrote: 92 Points
RussK WW holiday party at Morton's. Manny Brought. Good, but still too young. 91+
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/25/2012 - A&C wrote: 94 Points
Enjoyed with great friends at a new Tapas restaurant. Perfect summer red. Feminine, but with great fruit, and an open profile. Delicious.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/24/2012 - RussK wrote: 91 Points
RussK WW@Seville Manny's Tasting. This flight seemed too young to me.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/11/2011 - sdr Likes this wine: 92 Points
It's an oak bomb as much as a fruit bomb. No hint of losing its grip at age seven. It's delicious with the right food, like the grilled chicken with barbecue sauce.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/25/2011 - last chance wrote: 91 Points
The nose of this wine had aromas of cherries, blackberries, and peppercorns. There was also a fair amount of volatility that I didn't enjoy. The palate had flavors of dark fruits with notes of meat, spice, dark chocolate and a hint of bitter coffee. Good mouthfeel and a long finish that seemed to bring out the bitter notes even more.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/25/2011 - RussK wrote: 91 Points
RUSSK WW@Cielo great nose but bitter.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/3/2011 - Zweder wrote: 94 Points
This is a monster. The bouquet is still locked, but there are black fruits, herbs and spices. On the palate it has a lot of sweetness, but also a lot of tannin and acidity. A mouth full of wine with a lot of everything. If you don't like blockbusters this is not your wine. But in fact all seems to be in harmony. In my previous note I wrote that I would like to drink this wine again around 2014, but considering the slow development 2020 might be a better suggestion. I score it 94 now, but I think there is potential for a few more points.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/14/2010 - drycab wrote:
Huge wine that's very good with big black fruits, wood and smoke but needs another 5-10 years for the tannins to integrate better.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/16/2010 - FastTrack wrote: 93 Points
nose of cherry, cassis, licorice combined with a hint of pepper. on the palate both: sweet cherry/blackberry flavors and zesty minerality + bitter chocolate. Fine-grained tannins add structure and focus on the long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/18/2009 - RussK wrote: 93 Points
RUSSK Liked much better than the 2000.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/15/2009 - Goldstone wrote: 92 Points
Super Spaniards (Top Deck, Jumbo Floating Restaurant, Aberdeen Marina, Hong Kong): Huge fleshy, deep and totally opaque purple colour. Nose of toffee, caramel, nail polish remover, deep rich milky chocolate, violets come out at the back. Gorgeous rich hugely deep dark fruited palate with a surprisingly velvety mouthfeel. Just a touch dry and new boxwood on the back end. Very intense but not over-extracted. Fleshy, lush and volupturous. A bit too tannic still. Good resonance in the head. Totally toothcoating. The team members who like younger super-Californians thought I was under-pointing this wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/31/2009 - Goldstone wrote: 94 Points
Dinner for Angela (Chez Patrick, Sun Street, Hong Kong): Decanted for 6 hours. Black/purple totally opaque colour. Gummy, sweet, attractive wallpaper paste nose. Absolutely drop dead gorgeous on the palate: unctuous, fruit filled, mouthcoating, vanilla pods all in incredible concentration. Huge length and some resonance but needs another 5-10 years for its full beauty to unfold. Almost as good as the L'Ermita 1998 and could surpass it with time.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/19/2009 - rthun wrote: 96 Points
Ultra-dark purple/black color to the rim. Those seeking finesse/elegance in their wine needn't apply. This is a big boy, fruit-bomb, monster of a wine. Bottle decanted for 2 hours before tasting. The 2004 Termanthia is still very tight. The wine has an array of flavors - blueberry, blackberry, cherry cough drop, graphite, asphalt, eucalyptus, menthol, mint and plums. This is one of those teeth-staining types of wine that hangs on the tongue for quite a while. Probably too young to be drinking at this point, as the oak and tannins are still very formidable. Tasting 6 hours after opening, the wine is actually closing down a little. Probably could use another 5 years in the cellar. This would be interesting to try against the 1999 Chris Ringland Shiraz.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/7/2009 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 95 Points
Great Wine Dinner (Rheingau Gourmet & Wine Festival Hattenheim, Germany): From 100 year old Tinta de Toro. Lots of oak but the immense weight of fruit carries it off effortlessly; very rich, deep and inky, wonderful sweet fruit, bacon, rich and velvety tannins, minerals, mouthcoating; long and rich finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/15/2008 - Zweder wrote: 93 Points
Occasional tasting group: Wines with 100 Parker Points. (@ L in Z): Dark purple. Ripe black forest fruits in the bouquet. In the mouth like a fruit bomb with white pepper and soft, sticky tannin. Very full bodied and a very long aftertaste. A beauty of a wine, but not showing real complexity (yet!) This is much too young and, although double decanted 4 hours before drinking, not showing what it really has in store. My score is for the moment and this wine might gain several points with ageing. If I had a few I would try my next bottle around 2014.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment