Pago la Jara 2011

2011 was a very good year in Toro, and the powerful 2011 G Pago la Jara is pure Tempranillo from five small plots of old vines totaling four hectares. It fermented in 3,000-liter oak vats with indigenous yeasts, though needed an élevage of 18 months in a combination of French barriques and 1,500-liter oak foudres to come into balance. The 2011 is very powerful, balanced, mineral, earthy and ripe -- but not overripe; it is spicy, telluric, a little mysterious and not showing the heat of the vintage. The medium-bodied palate is not as concentrated as you would expect, and the power is not provided by sheer concentration but by a strong minerality, making it very earthy. It has good balance, good acidity and fine, sophisticated tannins without the rusticity so often found in Toro. It slowly opens up in the glass with certain elegance, good depth and complexity, and it feels fresher with time in the glass. This should age with style. An elegant bull! Olé! 4,400 bottles were filled in July 2013. - Luis Gutiérrez.