Bodegas y Vinedos San Roman Cartago 2020

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Winery: Bodegas y Vinedos San Román

Country / Region: Spain / DO Toro

Date Winery was established: 1997

Grape Variety: 90% Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo) 10% other grapes varieties

Alcohol Content / Volume: 14,5% / 750ml

First Vintage Released: 2012

Ratings: 96 pts. Robert Parker

Good to know: Cartago is the single vineyard wine of San Roman. A very privileged place located in Villaester, "Paraje de El Pozo", and planted with old vines of Tinta de Toro of over 45 years old. Cartago is made with a selection of grapes from the crest of a small hill at the highest point, starting at 700 meters altitude!!!

"2019 was milder in Toro than in Ribera del Duero, but a lack of rain meant lower yields of ripe grapes, which produced a powerful, deep and prcise 2019 Cartago Paraje del Pozo that is elegant, concentrated and polished, with a intregraed oak after almost two years in bottle. It comes from a tinta de Toro single vineyard that was planted ungrafted on sandy soils at 700 meters above sea level and is worked organically. Yields are 2.500 kilograms per hectare (low), and the grapes were picked on September 19, after which the destemmed grapes fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel for 15 days. It matured in new and used French oak barrels for 30 months. This epitomizes the house style with power, elegance and balance – terrific balance- complexity, depth and, I think, aging potential. 3,500 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2022." - Luis Gutiérrez.

Bodegas y Vinedos San Roman is a family owned winery that was founded by iconic winemaker Mariano Garcia in 1998 as Bodegas y Vinedos Maurodos. Mariano Garcia was the winemaker of Vega Sicilia for 30 years (late 60s to late 90s). His vision was to produce world class wines which balanced freshness and longevity in the bottle against the renown power of the region’s wines.

In the late 1990s his two sons Alberto and Eduardo joined the team, as director of operations and technical director respectively. They own 100 hectares of vineyard in the villages of Villaester, San Roman de Hornija, Morales de Toro and Pedrosa del Rey. The vineyards are planted mainly with Tinta de Toro, a local clone of Tempranillo that has adapted to the local region. In general the vines offer smaller berries and bunches than Tempranillo in other regions, and yields wines that offer deep colors, intense aromas and robust structure.

In recent years the winemaking team, under Eduardo’s direction, has been producing wines in a fresher style, harvested at the optimum moment to balance freshness and richness. This leads off with intense attention to farming exceptional grapes using organic methods and some biodynamic concepts and practices.