GAGO 2019 Telmo Rodriguez

The grapes for the Toro red 2019 Gago were picked from mid-September in an early harvest when the wine ripened to 14.4% alcohol and a pH of 3.8. The grapes come from the villages of Argujillo, Villabuena del Puente and Morales de Toro and were fermented in oak and stainless steel vats and matured for 14 months in oak foudres, with 20% of the volume in barriques. There is finesse within the power and the ripe and concentrated vintage. It's juicy and lush, with abundant, grainy tannins. It needs powerful food. 40,695 bottles produced. It was bottled in May and June 2020. I tasted the whole portfolio of Telmo Rodríguez a few months ago, and as usual, I'm including here his wines from the Duero for context and completeness of this article. As I wrote at the time, their Ribera del Duero project is moving very slowly. They still want to restore the old stone house they bought and build the winery, but the permits seem almost impossible. But they revamped the wine from there a few vintages ago, and it’s a great success. Matallana is a regional blend of the different villages where they have vineyards, but the vineyard names have been crossed out on the label, as the appellation does not allow them to be mentioned! The 2018 is stunning. Telmo Rodríguez and Pablo Eguzkiza have fermented their 2021s from Galicia in the new winery in Valdeorras, Ribera del Duero. It is still a work in progress, and there will be new stuff from Rioja in a few more years. The main wines across the portfolio feel very consolidated now. (by Luis Gutiérrez)

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