From the NJ Offline at Tre Vigne on 6/28/03

1999 Numanthia Toro
92 points – This needs a lot more time in the bottle as it was still very tannic. I found loads of fruit hiding in all of the tannins though and this will be a stunning wine in a few more years. The only interesting descriptor I wrote down for this was ‘twinge-y’, whatever the heck that means!

Loved it. And, remember that I think this was a $28.00-$30.00 bottle of Wine @ the time.

Someone opened a bottle of the 2000 at the Great Barrington offline and we tasted it soon after opening. No one was told what it was and I had just bought 6 bottles of it. The first words out of my mouth were, "I hope this isn't the Numanthia." In all fairness, I don't think it was open for more than 15 minutes when we tasted it.

The '99 is the one I haven't tried, but from what I read it's behaving very much like the other two. Again another bottle that demands a guardian protecting it against a corner with a whip and a chair...from that wild bunch of thirsty win s!

2001 to be released September here... can't wait!

Gastronauta: if you get to taste it, please post your impression(s). Would love to get a vertical going (if, of course) it is as good as the '99 & the '00.

I think the 99 Num Toro @ one point was going for $80.00+ on auctions.

I'm sure tasting notes will be posted on the WS site on the '01 as soon as it's available.

Only problem is this is a secondhand colony, not Madrid, and I don't travel until December. Otherwise I'll be sure to open one as soon as I see it. Mind you with all the hype the 2001 vintage is getting I don't think I'll ever see any Numanthia at 25E again...

This '99 Toro is a baby... lots of tannins, but super concentraction and great complexity... Needs time. Currently an incredible 93pts for me with room to grow.

Pretty closed. Nose of black fruit, cocoa, smoke and vanilla. Nicely structered and young with hefty tannins. This will be good in the future.*

When first opened there is a CdP earth sense to the nose that the palate does not show. Dark and rich, but a little monolithic with lots of tannins. Decanted for an hour and a half... My nose wasn't in perfect working order for some reason, so I had to really think about what I was drinking. C~ontrary to my expectations, the slight barnyard that I thought was going to get more pronounced with decanting actually dissipated. The wine remained tannic, although they softened a bit to reveal tons of purple and black fruits, but not so much as to allow for a ton of complexity. The wine is very good and certainly satisifies from a hedonistc and mouthfeel perspective, but I think it could still use another few years. 92(+?)