Flor de Vetus 2022

Flor de Vetus is a red from D.O. Toro, southeast of Zamora, a region that has held on to the same vines and varieties that made it famous in Roman and medieval times. It is built on Tinta de Toro, the local strain of Tempranillo, with a measure of Garnacha. Toro sits on a high, dry plateau with poor sandy and stony soils and a harsh continental climate of hot days and cold nights, which gives small, thick skinned berries with deep colour, ripe tannin and high alcohol. The wine ages around nine months in a mix of French and American oak. The two woods work differently, the French lending finer spice and tannin, the American adding sweeter vanilla and coconut, while malolactic conversion and slow oxygen exchange through the staves soften and round the structure. The colour is dense, dark cherry. The nose shows ripe red and black fruit with liquorice, warm spice and a vanilla note from the oak. The palate is robust and full bodied, powerful in the Toro manner, with firm tannins and a long, dark fruited finish. Serve at 17 to 18 degrees, decanted ahead. It calls for grilled and roast red meats, lamb and mature cheese.