TNs: Numanthia Seminar

WINE TALK
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NUMANTHIA SEMINAR - Binny’s South Loop, chicago IL (7/13/2009)

Binny’s put together this Seminar at a great price of $10. The new wine maker did the presentation to talk about Numanthia, its history, and of course, the wines. The attendance was restricted so as we could get good pours and have room to sit. I certainly looked forward to this as the 03 Numanthia was a wine that made a real impression on me and was one of those wines that woke me up to fine wine and my wallet has hated me ever since

  • 2006 Bodega Numanthia Termes Toro Termes - Spain, Castilla y León, Toro
    nose: real rich and bold black fruited based nose with smoke, black fruits, black cherries, dark roast coffee, and oak tones. Very pungent with nice depth, but almost a bit too amped up on the fruit to where it takes on an almost australian character

taste: very plush medium/full feel with plush tannins and tones of black fruits, black cherries, dark roast coffee and oak tones. Comes across as very new world on the palate

overall: very accessible right now, not sure how it will age as the fruit is fairly forward. While pretty enjoyable there isn’t much of a sense of place with the wine as it does seem like it could be made from anywhere (90 pts.)

  • 2005 Bodega Numanthia Termes Toro Numanthia - Spain, Castilla y León, Toro
    nose: fairly tight, but what is there is very pretty with bits of violets, black cherries, black currants, dark berries, cedar, raspberries and some whisps of smoke. There is a real elegance to the nose, but there is also a robustness at the same time

taste: good firm tannins with medium/high acidity and a excellent full bodied feel. Rather classy with great tones of cedar, black cherries, black currants, raspberries and some hints of smoke

overall: needs time for sure as it is rather tight right now. I love the contrast that it presents between elegance and robustness, this really seems to have a great future and should be a very interesting wine when its mature (92 pts.)

  • 2006 Bodega Numanthia Termes Toro Numanthia - Spain, Castilla y León, Toro
    nose: more forward on the nose then the 05 was with tart tones of black fruits, dark tones of raspberries, dark red cherries, sweet cassis, dark berries, and liqueur tones. A nice array of fruit on the nose, but lacking a bit in depth and elegance that was a hallmark of the 05

taste: a massive attack with a real good finish, this is lacking a bit on the mid palate with tones of black fruits, dark raspberries, sweet cassis, and some dark chocolate tones with a bit of heat on the back end form on the palate. Good medium/full feel with medium+ acidity

overall: a bit of a slut wine in a way. It doesn’t have the elegance of the 05 and is more forward then the 05 was. A bit of time sideways should hopefully flesh out the mid-palate and have this become a much better wine (91 pts.)

  • 1999 Bodega Numanthia Termes Toro Numanthia - Spain, Castilla y León, Toro
    nose: balanced, lovely, and elegant nose with tones of dark red cherries, black currants, leather, dried florals, bits of smokey tones and even some dried berry tones. Real good depth that really draws you in

taste: has a nice nuanced character to it backed up by a elegant medium/full feel with medium+ acidity and tones of dark red cherries, leather, dried florals, dried berries and some smokey tones. There are some real sneaky tannins that creep up on the back end and make themselves known more on each taste

overall: A real lovely wine right now in a good place. Seems like this would go great with food and is a wine that I would like to spend time with, this came from a magnum so it was very fresh and lively (92 pts.)

  • 2005 Bodega Numanthia Termes Toro Termanthia - Spain, Castilla y León, Toro
    nose: an absolute massive and brooding beast of a nose with massive tones of black cherries, raspberries, black currant jam, black fruits, dark red fruits, dark spices and tones of oak. this certainly toes the line on being over the top and is chock full of fruit and intensity and extremely deep

taste: extremely massive on the palate with big tannins and tones of black cherries, raspberries, black currant jam, dark red fruits and a good helping of oak. Big and rich, its a mass of fruit at this point, not necessarily pure on the tones but decently defined with some heat too on the back end

overall: massive is the theme with this wine. Big, bold, and intense, its extremely well made and there is an appreciation for the style, but it really seems like it could come from anywhere in a way. I have no clue how this will age and have a hard time figuring out what this wine is about other then being, well, massive (93 pts.)

  • 2006 Bodega Numanthia Termes Toro Termanthia - Spain, Castilla y León, Toro
    nose: where the 05 was a big massive beast, this had that, but the fruit was more on the sweet side and in a way, more forward. Very deep and with a lot of polish on the nose with loads of fruit tones of black cherries, black currants, liqueurs, and dark tones of raspberries

taste: sweet and massive with big rich tannins and a full body feel with rich tones of black cherries, liqueurs, dark raspberries, bits of caramel, oak, and all sorts of red and black currants with some heat on the back end

overall: not really my style in the slightest. A big fruit bomb that is on the sweet side with very rich aromas and tones that almost overwhelms. Comes off with sweeter and hi-toned fruit tones then the big darker profile that the 05 possesed (92 pts.)

A very worthwhile experience. I hadn’t had a termanthia before, and I appreciated drinking them, though they really aren’t my style. What I found most interesting was how stressed the vines are as they are barely above the ground and look more like bushes then the trained vines we are used to seeing. The rootstalks are also all pre-phylloxera, so it provides a very rare taste for us to try.

Overall, while the Termanthias were impressive on their own, to me they didn’t provide the character that the Numanthia bottling provides, so that’s money that I can pretty much save and be quite happy with
Posted from CellarTracker

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Thanks for the notes. A local chain is putting together a tasting/seminar like this.

1 Like
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Thanks for your notes, Keith. I have a couple of these laying down … always nice to get fresh data points! I know you said the ‘99 Numanthia seemed “fresh and lively,” as it was from mag., but did it seem “aged” at all? Any tertiary aspects coming forward, or did it seem very young still?

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Your description almost exactly matches my experience a few months ago, though I’d give it nowhere near 90. The first few sips were satisfying – all that fruit – but then it just become a big, mushy wine. I’ve had a number of Toro’s that I liked, and I’m a fan of Ribero del Duero, but this just seems like it was spufified according to some winemaker’s recipe book for points.

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definitely seemed aged. I’m not that experienced with relatively older spainish wines, so for me its hard to say whether its mature or not. It certainly though had tertiary characteristics when sitting against the 05 and 06. It can certainly still go a ways, but I don’t think there would be any problem popping one now and putting it into the decanter for about an hour or so



I’m pretty sure that I had only 1.5-2 oz in my glass probably helped the score on it for me. I enjoyed it at first, but after taking a third small sip I had already downgraded it two points, I have little doubt that if I had had a bottle in front of me, there’d be a much more terse note. It was good for what it was going for, and there was a bit more depth and polish on it then one gets from wines with similar profiles at lower price points, but considering that I can get a fournier spiga for the same price and get a wine that speaks of Ribera Del Duero, I will take that in a heart beat over this

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Cool. Thanks. [thankyou.gif]

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Can someone please explain why they have the most confusing naming method in the world? These are worse than Germans.

I have a 2001 Bodega Numanthia Termes Toro Numanthia – I think. Cost about $45 bucks 3 or 4 years ago.

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This is a bad sign. Most cheap wines taste better as you drink more. :slight_smile:

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It is interesting to read your notes on the three wines.
My personal experience has been very limited with 2 higher end bottlings.
The Termes when priced right has been a consistent value in my book and I agree with your “seems like it could be made anywhere” statement.

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Keith:

Thanks for the notes.

Not sure why are they doing this events with the new winemaker and the 2005 and 2006 vintages. The 2005 vintage was released before the sale to LVMH and the 2006 was still distributed by Jorge Ordóñez shortly after the sale. Maybe they still have inventories of those wines to sell.

The Eguren brothers, previous owners, were supposed to work as consultants for the Numanthia project for the 2008 and 2009 vintages. The last vintage they worked before the sale was the 2007.

The Eguren brothers have just released their entry level (Almirez) Toro wine from their new project Teso de La Monja. The other two are called Victorino and Alabaster. Victorino would compete in the Numanthia market while Alabaster would compete in the Termanthia market.

SALUDos,
José

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I saw Marcos Eguren last week. The message: get ready for a big increase in production at Numanthia-Termes…

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[quote=“Victor de la Serna”]I saw Marcos Eguren last week. The message: get ready for a big increase in production at Numanthia-Termes…[/q]

daisy-chained to a big decrease in quality, i suppose?

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Numanthia was already a very big production. I cannot say I am surprised that it will grow further, but those barrel rooms in 2006, when I visited the winery, were holding lots and lots and lots of wine. Toro is a pretty amazing place. Tree trunks known as vines there.

Termanthia is one of the biggest ripoffs in the wine industry. Gimme Aquilon, La Nieta, El Nido, Benjamin Romeo, or just about any other $100-200 Spanish wine in its place. Never been a fan.