The 1998 Numanthia is an explosively rich, super-concentrated wine of riveting intensity. The color is a dense purple, and the wine has soaked up its 18 months in new French oak. It offers a smoky, blackberry and cherry-scented nose of extraordinary purity and precision. Full-bodied, enormously-endowed, and unctuously-textured, this monstrous wine displays tremendous potential. Because of its low acidity, it can be approached now, but it is best aged for another 2-3 years, and drunk over the following two decades. This compelling new offering proves what can be achieved in the appellation of Toro. Bravo! A sensational new offering, this wine will prove to be a breakthrough effort for the Toro appellation. Made from old (70-100 years), ungrafted vines planted at an elevation of 2300 feet, yields were a minuscule 1.5 tons of fruit per acre. The wine was aged 18 months in 100% new French oak, with malolactic in barrel, and was bottled without fining or filtration. This 100% Tinta de Toro (the local name for Tempranillo) comes from a vineyard with sandy, chalky-textured soils overlaying clay. The wine is named after a legendary Spanish city that was destroyed (after twenty years of resistance) by Roman legions 133 years before the birth of Christ. It is to Spain what the hilltop village of Masada is to Israel ... a monument to foreign aggression and national resistance. Importer: Jorge Ordonez, Fine Estates From Spain, Dedham, MA; tel. (781) 461-5767