The soon-to-be-released 1999 Numanthia confirms just how special these wines are. An amazing effort from Toro, it was made from yields of 1.5 tons of fruit per acre, aged 18 months in new French wood, and bottled with neither fining nor filtration. A black/ruby color is followed by an explosive perfume of sweet blackberries, cassis, licorice, minerals, and smoke. With great intensity, fabulously sweet tannin, and high glycerin levels, this wine establishes a new benchmark for the Toro appellation. There are 300 cases of the 1999 for the American marketplace. 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