Prima
"Ripe blue fruit, cola and floral oil scents pick up notes of licorice and allspice as the wine opens up. Fleshy and seamless in the mouth, offering bitter cherry, boysenberry and violet pastille flavors enlivened by a spicy nuance." —
Josh Raynolds, Vinous Media
Grape(s)
85% Tinto de Toro 15% Garnacha, 15-50 year-old vines, trained to wire and bush vines on sandy and clay soil
Altitude/Soil
700-800 meters / predominantly sandy clay with some stonier soils
Farming Methods
Certified organic viticulture incorporating some biodynamic principles
Harvest
Hand harvested into small boxes
Production
Fermented with native microbes, short 3 day maceration with skins
Aging
Aged 14 months in 75% French and 25% American oak barrels and vats
Suggested Retail Price
$27
Prima
2019
92 (WRO) 92 (OB) 92 (WE) 91+ (VfC)
| 92 |
Wine Review Online |
Like everything else in an environment where inflation is running at 9%, this wine is a bit more expensive than it may have been when you last purchased it, but it seems more pure and polished in almost every successive vintage, and the value of “Prima” is increasing — not decreasing. The blend now includes 15% Garnacha, which seems unlikely in Toro, but this house’s varietal Garnacha is wonderful, as it its effect on this wine. More supple and succulent than most previous vintages, this still shows admirable concentration and flavor impact, with dark cherry and berry fruit notes tinged with some red and blue tones as well — not to mention some alluring savory accents that are already emerging and lending real complexity at this early stage. Sheesh — for 25 bucks, this should shame almost all of its competitors into hiding.
Michael Franz - July 26, 2022 |
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| 92 |
OwenBargreen.com |
The 2019 ‘Prima’ is a gorgeous new wine by San Roman. On the nose this takes on layers of toasty oak alongside ripe blue fruits and serious finesse. Finishing long, this is sturdy and dense Toro wine to consume over the next seven years. Drink 2022-2029
Owen Bargreen - August 18, 2022 |
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| 92 |
Wine Enthusiast |
Fruit of the wood, toffee and clove aromas prepare the taste buds for fruit of the wood, cara- mel, cocoa powder and anisette flavors wrapped in a layer of polished tannins. A nice note of espresso appears on the lingering finish.
Mike DeSimone - Issue October 2023 |
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| 91+ |
View from the Cellar |
The 2019 Prima’ bottling from Bodegas San Román is their “young vine” cuvée, as these organically-farmed vines range from fifteen to fifty years of age! The cépages includes fifteen percent Garnacha to go along with the Tempranillo, and the wine is fermented with indigenous
yeasts and raised in a combination of seventy-five percent French and twenty-five percent American oak vessels for fourteen months prior to bottling. The wine offers up a bit of smoked meat tones from the inclusion of the Garnacha, with scents of dark berries, black cherries, a
touch of leather, meaty elements, cigar smoke and spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, ripe and complex, with a fine core of fruit, ripe, well-integrated tannins and a long, balanced finish that shows a bit of backend heat on the close. This is a very well-made bottle of Toro, but it strikes me as perhaps a touch higher in octane than its stated 14.5 percent. 2030-2075.
John Gilman - Issue #98 March/April 2022 |
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Prima
2020
93 (Decanter) 92+ (RP) 92 (VM) 91 (OB) 90+ (VfC)
| 93 |
Decanter Magazine |
14 months in oak lend this blend of Tinta de
Toro and Garnacha a poised frame and
complexity. Alluring nose of violet,
blackberry and red apple, with a beautiful
balsamic nuance. Elegant palate, showing
freshness and well-crafted tannins very well
crafted - firm, assertive but round. Spicy
nuances of cardamom, nutmeg and pink
pepper.
Decanter Magazine February 2023 |
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| 92+ |
The Wine Advocate |
The 2020 Prima used to be the lightest and most approachable of the reds from San Román until the birth of the varietal Garnacha. It was produced with Tinta de Toro and 15% Garnacha and other varieties with 14.5% alcohol and mellow acidity, cropped from a cooler year of lighter and fresher wines. This had a soft vinification with short macerations and an élevage in 3,000- and 4,000-liter oak foudres and 500-liter barrels for 14 months, a regimen that seems to work quite well with the already powerful wines from the region, making them more approachable and better balanced. Delicious. 171,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2022. Drink 2023-2027.
Luis Gutierrez – The Wine Advocate January 2023 |
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| 92 |
Vinous Media |
The 2020 Prima from Toro is a deep garnet red wine. Hints of herbs and vanilla accompany strawberry and cherry aromas. It's dry and rich on the palate, with fine-grain tannins and a juicy flow, presenting a modern Toro style. This is a long-lasting and fluid Toro wine.
Joaquin Hidalgo; Reds From Toro: Old Vines and New Knowhow (Dec 2023) |
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| 91 |
OwenBargreen.com |
2020 San Roman ‘Prima’ Toro- The 2020 ‘Prima’ is sourced from estate vineyards up to 50 years of age. It is juicy and concentrated, loaded with rich dark and red fruit flavors, alongside tar and milk chocolate notes. Drink now. Drink 2023-2030-
Owen Bargreen - October, 2023 |
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| 90+ |
View from the Cellar |
The 2020 Prima Tinto from Bodegas San Román is crafted from a blend of eighty-five percent tempranillo and fifteen percent garnacha. The vine age that go into this bottling range from fifteen to fully fifty years of age, with the vineyards farmed organically and just starting to conversion to biodynamics. The wine is aged in a combination of American and French oak barrels for two years, with twenty-five percent of the casks new. The wine offers up a deep and complex aromatic constellation of raspberries, black cherries, smoked meats, cigar wrapper, dark soil tones, a nice touch of spice and a well-done framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full- bodied and rock solid at the core, with good focus and grip, ripe, firm tannins and a long, nascently complex and well-balanced finish. This is going to be a fine bottle once its tannins soften up a bit more. 2031-2065.
John Gilman - Issue #103 January/February 2023. |
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Prima
2021
93 (VM) 92 (RP) 92 (VfC)
| 93 |
Vinous Media |
The 2021 Prima from Toro is garnet in hue. The wild herbal nose features strawberry and sour cherry notes. Dry and juicy on the palate, it has fine-grain, reactive tannins that lead to a taut, long-lasting finish. This is a new red wine that will develop beautifully with age.
Joaquin Hidalgo; Reds From Toro: Old Vines and New Knowhow (Dec 2023) |
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| 92 |
The Wine Advocate |
The juicy, primary and young red 2021 Prima was produced with 85% Tinta de Toro softened with 15% Garnacha and other varieties, resulting in a fresh, floral and aromatic wine that is not shy and hits the scale at 14.5% alcohol, keeping a pH of 3.6. It comes from younger vines whose grapes fermented destemmed with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel with pumping over. It matured in French oak barrels and foudres for 14 months. 160,000 bottles produced. 2024 - 2028.
Luis Gutierrez – The Wine Advocate; June 13, 2024. |
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| 92 |
View from the Cellar |
Bodegas San Román’s 2021 Prima Tinto from Bodegas San Román is nicely balanced this year, coming in listed at 14.5 percent octane. The wine is crafted from its customary cépages of eighty-five percent tempranillo and fifteen percent garnacha, with the oldest vines here being half a century old. The vineyards are farmed organically and just starting to conversion to biodynamics. The wine is aged in a mix of French and American oak for two years, with twenty-five percent of the casks new. The 2021 Prima delivers a deep and complex bouquet of black plums, black cherries, a touch of spiced meats, dark soil tones, woodsmoke and a discreet framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep, young and full-bodied, with a superb core of fruit, good soil signature, ripe, chewy tannins, fine grip and a long, complex and very well balanced finish. This will be an excellent wine in due course, but it is a young Toro, so plan on at least a dozen years of hibernation for the wine before it starts to soften up enough to drink with generosity. Fine juice. 2036-2075+.
John Gilman; Issue 109, January – February 2024 |
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