Back Up the Truck: 2007 Numanthia Termes
Bask in the Spanish Sun at the
LOWEST PRICE IN THE WORLD
Straight from the mouth of an unrepentant Burgundy fanatic: THIS IS GOOD!
I'm talking about the 2007 Numanthia Termes, a wine with enough warm, blanketing richness to comfort you all winter long, yet with enough glide to charm even the Burgundy lover.
I have to say, this wine genuinely shocked me.
Numanthia is most famous for their flagship Termanthia bottling, an epic wine with a "200% new oak treatment" that renders it larger than life and darker than night. The Termanthia soars in the $150+ range with the "perfect" 2004 checking in well above the $300 mark.
Yet Numanthia's Termes bottling shows much less wood and much more finesse, at a minuscule fraction of the price.
For everyone looking to save big on a deep wine with smooth edges, a wine with layers of dark fruit and spice, this is the most elegantly hedonistic sub-$30 red I've had in a long time, regardless of country or region.
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What for me distinguishes the 2007 Termes is the restrained presentation of the rich, sun-baked dark fruit, a detailed spectrum of flavors that glides from cocoa on entry, to leather and tobacco through the mid-palate and finishes with roasted stones, all delivered in a seamless package.
This is the perfect bottle for any night on the couch, yet weighty enough to put down on the table when you need something serious or when the hearty fare demands a wine with some backbone.
This really shows off the depth of concentration that has made the old vines of Spain's Toro so popular. Indeed the Termes is part and parcel of the fame of Toro, coming as it does from the hands of winemaker Marcos Eguren. Eguren's Numanthia winery and especially his old-vine Termanthia bottling have done much to train the eyes of the world on this small region.
There is no denying the quality of the winemaking from Eguren. The foundation is as simple as it is essential: Great vineyards, low yields and careful winemaking.
The 2007 Termes capitalizes on all of this, at a price that is simply incredible. We worked hard to bring you this wine at its lowest possible price - stock away as much as you can for the long winter ahead.
Special case pricing ends Monday, January 25th, 2010. To order, email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Robert Schagrin
Managing Partner
Crush Wine & Spirits
Eguren Termes is in stock!
NET | No further discounts
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Where in the World? Spain's Toro
Toro is a region in Spain's Castilla y Leon, a north western province that rubs up against Rioja on its eastern border and pushes up against Portugal on its western boarder.
While the wines of Toro were quite famous during medieval times, the region was devastated by phylloxera at the end of the 19th century. For much of the last century, the Toro was most famous for its production of bulk wine.
Yet this region retained a rich heritage of winemaking, as well as small scattered plots of old, ungrafted vines - the "lucky ones" that survived phylloxera. The Toro DO was created in 1987, with only four wineries. Today, there are over 40 wineries in the region, including Vega Sicilia's "Pintia" and Mauro's "San Roman.
The local variety, called "Tinta de Toro," is a variety of Tempranillo that has adapted to the climatic extremes of the region. Vineyards sit at the relatively high altitudes of between 600 and 750 meters above sea level - while the summers are long, hot and dry, evenings can be rather crisp. The "terroir of Toro" is for the most part a mix of clay, sand and calcareous soils.