Not rated that I could find; Winetex 90; $22

With all of the chatting about the big, bad Numanthia it is fitting that we also mention its little brother, Termes.

As stated other posts it is made just like the Numanthia, 100% Tempranillo and French oak. The vines are 30 year old vs. the older vines used for Numanthia. It has good balance and a fruity, full bodied, great aftertaste. The style of the wine is very nice with raspberry in the middle and a bit of a smoky flavor. It has a very good finish with a floral and blackberry note, some spice, oak and a bit of vanilla. It does not have the weight of its big brother "Numanthia" but this is not a problem.

Great value for a very nice wine!

Winetex,

I completely agree with your 90P rating on the Termes. I bought a case of this wine for $17/bottle and gave it out as x-mas gifts to folks I work with. Those who tried it over the holidays have made a point to find me and tell me about how much they loved this wine.

After about 30 minutes of breathing time, this inky dark wine really starts humming. It reminded me of a petite sirah with zinfandel-like fruit. A big-shouldered wine with a soft belly. Great QPR.

Cheers,

Otis

Cool. Noted.

During my quest this week to buy the Numanthia, I bought 2 of the Termes and drank 1 bottle over 3 nights. I agree for the most part with the notes above, although I'm not sure I'd say this wine is full-bodied and entirely balanced. I found it had an up-front spike of good favors that quickly fell away, leaving a finish that was lacking somewhat. I also found the tannins heavy although they'll probably settle down over time. Because of these characteristics, I'd rate the Termes an 88 pointer now with room for improvement in the future.

A quick decant helped with the tannins.

I don't want to sound like I'm arguing or getting defensive, but I did decant and taste the wine over 2-3 hours. I should point out, however, that I find most young Spanish reds tannic.

That's OK Wineaux - I find the same with many young cabs.

I bought a few baby Numanthias from WL, but it doesn't seem to agree with me very much.... Just didn't think this wine made it very far into the "very good" range. Before judging however, I'll open another one in the next month or so and have one of my all night judgings. See how it opens up.

Had this wine last night and was impressed, considering $19 price.
Opened and drank over 2 1/2 hours with dinner. Initially tannic, with a cocoa, espresso, hint of maple syrup nose. Dark fruit, sweet cranberry, chocolate notes. Toasted spiced vanilla oak, chocolate and hint of creme brulee on the finish. Next time will decant prior as this wine developed and got better with each sip during the night. Jazin- 91+. Great QPR wine for us, will definately get some more of this for the price!

Is this still available in the NJ area? I can't find it at all around here. I know Zachy's had it some time ago.

yes, I can bring you some next Sat if you want!

Sent you a PM!

6:15pm
This is my second bottle... I'm going to decant this one for a while, taking a sip periodically.

Just out of the bottle, however, slimy ham all over the palate, with drying tannins but balanced acidity and not too much fruit, though you can tell it's there. Let's see what happens over the next few hours.

10pm
Fruit is coming around big time..... but I'm going to bottle the rest for tomorrow.

Next day
Aaaaawwww yea... this is nice. The sharp edge is gone and has been replaced by nice smooth round tannins..... still mouth drying, but very nice. I think I'll keep these bottles. I was thinking of selling them off.... So I was wrong.. I better not. :-)

If anybody wants some of these and are going to New Orleans let me know via PM. I'll bring 'em along with the rest of the haul.

Update on this wine - it was drinking particularly well tonight with food. It seems to have integrated a bit more but still has a bit of acidity which makes a good match with certain foods.

I'll stick with my 90 rating. The food was homemade ravioli with a tomato vodka cream sauce. Ummmmm....

Has anyone had the 2000 Termes? How does it compare?

TIA

Drinking this as I am writing...I am enjoying this but I think that it needs some time to settle down. I am finding it overly tannic even with 3+ hours of air...I'll save a glass for tomorrow and see what happens. 90pts with room for improvement...

ttepper

Had this over two nights - Took over 4-5 hours for it to smooth out, but will remain tannic.

vtyro

Friends brought this over for our Spanish theme dinner last night. I thought this was a great little bottle of wine showing good concentration of fruit, healthy doses of tannins, and a medium length finish. A bit chunky at the moment things should come together and harmonize in a couple years. 88 points.

Dave, we found the 2000 down here for $18 and had a bottle tonight. Tasted at 3 1/2 hours. No notes taken, but it needs time. About an 89 pointer now and should improve with a few years age.