Comparing the 2006 Pintia to the 2004 and 2005, this is the one that has the most exuberance with generous cassis and black currant aromas. Initially, you suspect that it might be a touch over-ripe, but it calms down in the glass and becomes more refined. The palate is full-bodied with ripe, succulent tannins. This is very fleshy, a Pintia with more volume than its predecessors, although I am more taken with the delineation and tension demonstrated by the previous vintage. I made a brief but profitable visit to Bodegas Pintia with Pablo Alvarez and winemaker Xavier Ausas. He told me that they started to buy vineyards in 1997 without a clear idea of what style of Toro wine they would make. “We heard that Toro was a very good region,” he told me, “a region of perhaps rustic wines. We wanted to produce a different style of Tempranillo. We wanted to make a more elegant wine. In Toro the Tempranillo is wilder and rustic while in Ribera del Duero it is more elegant. The Tempranillo is more like a bull in Toro. If you don’t control it, you make wines that are over-ripe.” They ended up acquiring 100 hectares of vineyard, 50% of purchased vineyard and the remainder subsequently planted over ten years. “We like short names for the wines as they are easier to remember,” Pablo answered when I asked where the name originates. I then inquired about the vinification: “During the entire process, it is necessary to keep the fresh fruit aromas, which is the reason we have cool rooms before fermentation. The maximum degree of temperature during fermentation is 28 degrees to protect the aromas instead of 31-33 degrees in Ribera del Duero. After fermentation, we put the wine immediately in new oak barrel without maceration. We use 70% French and 30% American oak and the new oak protects the fresh fruit aroma. We make the malolactic (fermentation) in barrel and after 12 months we mix the lots, and any that are unsatisfactory are distilled. We don’t mature more than 12 months in barrel since the fresh fruit aromas come down and appear as a liqueur (volatile) aroma.” Importer: Christopher Cannan, Europvin; www.europvin.com

The purple-colored 2006 Pintia offers up a complex bouquet of wood smoke, forest floor, mushroom, incense, and blackberry. On the palate it is still tightly wound but well-balanced. There is plenty of savory, spicy black fruit, moderate tannin, and good depth. It should be at its best from 2013 to 2025. It is not at the level of the 2004 and 2005 vintages but it is still a strong effort.Bodegas Pintia, a 96 hectare estate, is owned by Vega Sicilia. Pintia is located further west along the Duero River inside the warmer DO of Toro.Importer: Christopher Cannan, Europvin; www.europvin.com

2 A big, modern-style contender with burly berry, lemon, coconut, dill and blackberry on the bouquet. Lush and cushioned in the mouth, with meaty, dark flavors of roasted blackberry, espresso and fudge. Chewy and dense on the finale, but not overly hard or tannic. Drink now through 2015.——M.S.(12/15/2011)—— 92