- Reviewed by:
- Luis Gutiérrez
- Drink Date:
- 2022 - 2027
The 2020 Termes, the entry-level red, has 15.65% alcohol and a pH of 3.9 with 4.2 grams of acidity. The grapes from their younger vines, which have higher yields and keep more acidity, fermented with selected yeasts and 20 days of maceration and matured in 225- and 400-liter French oak barrels, 20% of them new, for 14 months with rackings every four months. It's creamy and spicy, round and soft, with fine-grained tannins and integrated oak (nearly 50% of the élevage was in 400-liter oak barrels), and it's rich but with the alcohol nicely integrated. This has a more commercial profile, more approachable than its siblings. 130,000 bottles produced.
Numanthia, bought by LVMH in 2008, started the transformation of their wines eight years ago, harvesting earlier, doing less extraction and using less new oak and larger barrels and vats. At the same time, they decided to release the wines with more time in bottle—Numanthia five years after the harvest and Termanthia seven. They have obtained organic certification for their over 100 hectares of vineyards and are in the process of certifying their main external suppliers. They produce 220,000 bottles. The wines are still powerful, ripe and concentrated but with better-integrated oak and more harmony than in the past.
Published: Jan 31, 2023