Numanthia Tasting with winemaker Manuel Louzada at Jose Andres's Bazaar at the SLS

Sweetness belongs in the Mosel wine like the bubbles belong in the Champagne. - Nik Weiss

Just like meat goes with big reds like Numanthia so this dinner should be interesting because there is a lot of fish on the menu.  So it will be interesting and I’d rather be interesting that correct anyway.

The line-up of events just keeps getting better and it will be hard to match the very first tasting of the year as the 1893 Chateau Lafite Rothschild was incredible but we have to move on to the next one.

Tonight we are drinking one of Chile's greatest wines tonight with 4 vintages of the Don Melcor on the table. 

Tomorrow night we have some of the oldest wines on the planet with our vintage Madeira tasting going back to 1827, including one of the rarest Madeiras on earth the 1862 Terrantez HMB.  These wines have been opened for close to two months now and this is the only wine on earth that is better after being opened for a few months- you can keep them open for a year or more!!

Nest week we are already SOLD OUT for our Markham winemaker dinner at Cafe Maxx with Kimberlee Nicholls but we still have room for both the Chateau Climens and Brane Cantenac event at Cafe Maxx and this Numanthia dinner at the SLS on South Beach.

Numanthia is one of the landmark wineries of Toro and tonight we have one of Spain's top winemakers Manual Louzada here to introduce these epic wines from one of the hottest regions of the Iberian penninsula.

Numanthia Dinner with winemaker Manuel Louzada at Jose Andres's Bazaar at the SLS
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
7:00 PM

Jose's Ultimate Menu

To Start:

Caviar Cone Ossetra caviar, crème fraiche, capers, onions, eggs

Kueh Pai Ti Singapore’s favorite street food - shrimp, peanuts, chili sauce

Krug Grand Cuvee Champagne
Price: $191.25 Sale $159.00

200-250 different wines go into this cuvee with great vineyards like the Clos du Mesnil going into the blends. Very complex bouquet of hazelnuts, marzipan and exotic spices like ginger and candied dried fruits. The true art of this cuvee being the consistency of the taste as Olivier pointed out he worked for the firm which carries his namesake for 15 years to discover the key to making this wine the same way it has been produced since 1845! Finish 50+ Most Excellent

Up Next :

King Crab raspberries

Jamón Iberico with Catalan style bread

And Ten:

Sautéed Shrimp garlic, parsley, lemon, guindilla pepper

Smoked Oysters compressed apples and apple mignonette

With the Big Wines:

Tortilla De Patatas "New Way"

Not Your Everyday Caprese cherry tomatoes, liquid mozzarella

Bao con lechón Chinese bun, pork belly

2007 Numanthia Numanthia Toro

 The wine is a deep ruby red with an aroma both intense and complex with several layers of aromatics in this lively nose: first some extremely intense notes of red and black fruits (black cherries, raspberries, redcurrants and cassis), perfectly integrated with some sweet spices (cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper), vanilla and toasted characters.

On the palate, impressive and beautiful expressions of dark fruits with concentrated and velvety tannins. This full bodied wine shows exceptional acidity revealing some chocolate, toasted and spicy notes. Extremely long finish highlighting the complexity and handcraft character of this wine.

2008 Numanthia Numanthia Toro

Dark blakberry and blueberry like fruit on the nose with black licorice, dark coco and soy exotic spice, vanilla toasty oak. Dark rich dark cherry fruit liqueur like on the tongue with licorice with nice freshness despite its size this wine still has some elegance. Finish 50+ Most Excellent

2010 Numanthia Numanthia Toro

Vibrant and fruity, Termes stands out for its lively character. This wine perfectly expresses the Toro region. Bright cherry-red in color with light purple tones. The aroma is very elegant and lively aromas, rich and complex. Fresh, fruity notes (black fruits, raspberry, dark sherry), nicely integrated with spices, tobacco & toasted aromas (vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon). The palate has a silky texture, concentrated, well structured and very elegant. The finish is long and complex, with spices, tobacco, raspberries and blackberries notes.

Next course:

Market Fish en Papillote sauce alcaparrado, crispy quinoa

Cuban Coffee Rubbed Churrasco passion fruit

Brussels Sprouts lemon purée, apricots, grapes, lemon air, banana

2006 Numanthia Termanthia

The award winning Termanthia is the ultimate expression of the best of vineyard plots in Toro with vines that over 120 years old and at an altitude of 800 meters. The hyper-concentrated fruit produces considerable aromatic complexity and shows tremendous power on the palate with plenty of fleshy roundness and as much elegance and precision as it does intensity. This is a wine that will keep very well, gaining even more complexity in bottle.

2009 Numanthia Termanthia

(95 Points) The 2009 Termanthia has a fragrant bouquet of dark berries, mulberry, juniper and lavender, with vanilla-tinged notes emanating from the oak. The palate is full-bodied with firm but quite fine tannins, plus a fine sense of symmetry. It is very sweet with plenty of candied orange peel and even a hint of molasses towards the succulent, fleshy, slightly spicy finish. This is sleek and sensual and deserves five years, perhaps more, in the cellar. Drink 2017-2030. Wine Advocate #206, Apr 2013

2011 Numanthia Termanthia

Fresh and intense fruity aromas well integrated with a flower touch, gentle spices & lively eucalyptus leaves touch. The aromatic experience continues, the mouth feel is silky and vibrant. After lively and intense attack, an explosion of fruit, the end of mouth is long and persistent, with spices, tobacco, raspberries and blackberries notes.

‘Cubano’ In Honor of Café Versailles

S’mores Chocolate Cake

The Fee for this event is $125 ++ for reservations call 954-523-9463

A bit about Numanthia:

Numanthia is situated in north western Spain's Castilla y León region, close to the Portuguese border. The heart of the region and home to the vineyards is Toro, a region of long standing winemaking tradition going back to ancient Roman times. It is crossed by the Río Duero, which also links such great wine-producing areas as Ribera del Duero, Rueda, and the Porto region of Portugal.

The name of the estate evokes the city of Numancia, renowned in antiquity for its resistance to Roman occupation. Assailed by Scipion's legion in 134 BC, the inhabitants of Numancia resisted heroically and preferred to die rather than surrender.

Numancia thus stands for Tenacity & Resistance, also characteristic of the Toro vineyards, which have survived both extreme climatic conditions and the ravages of phylloxera.

During the Middle Ages, wines from Toro were enjoyed all over Spain, and were even taken on board Spanish fleets to the New World.

The Toro DO (Denominacion de Origen, a set of national laws that outline and regulate delimited regional and site-specific wine-growing appellations) was created in 1987 with just four wineries. Now, in the Toro DO, there are over forty wineries and over 1200 registered wine growers, and 5,500 hectares (14,000 acres) currently under vine – one third of Napa's 43,000 acres.

The Numanthia estate is situated at Valdefinjas, a small village of 100 in the region of Toro. Numanthia was founded in 1998 by the Eguren family, native of Rioja, with the sole aim of producing the best wine from Toro.

Toro is a place of long-standing wine-making traditions, as the vineyards go back to ancient Roman times.

The best soils for viticulture are composed of very sandy loams on the surface, with moisture-retaining clay below. The roots can thus easily work their way down to cooler depths that contain moisture and nutrition that are seriously lacking in such arid conditions on the surface. This type of soil, and the hot summer, produces ideal ripening conditions for grapes. The diversity of local soil composition adds to the wines' complexity: for example, vines whose soils have higher clay content will show greater fruit intensity, whilst those on sandy and gravelly soils will have more body and structure.

The Toro meso-climate is continental with an oceanic influence. With an average rainfall of only nine-to-12 inches (350 to 400 mm) per year, the region is very dry and at the limit of what is possible for non-irrigated vines. These could not survive without the humidity retained in the layers of clay in the sub-soil. The summer months are hot by day and cool by night, with thermal variations that are often greater than 20°C (68°F). Winter months are very cold. These extreme conditions produce grapes of exceptional quality.

Toro wines are made from a single grape variety specific to the region called "Tinta de Toro" - which is part of the Tempranillo family and is a pre-phylloxeran massal selection that is specific to this region. In Toro they believe this grape may be Spain's original variety, with Tempranillo in Rioja having sprung from it. Tinta de Toro is one of the darkest of all red grapes.

In the sandy soils of the region, "Tinta de Toro" is resistant to Phylloxera – one of the only places in Europe to have survived the blight. What is extremely rare in Europe is for these vines to be ungrafted and to have naturally resisted Phylloxera for over 140 years.

Numanthia is a patchwork of over 200 tiny plots (pagos) at average altitude of 2,300 feet. These are low density vineyards that survive without irrigation. The winery owns 121 acres close to the village of Valdefinjas, in Toro (south of Zamora) among which:

- 50 of those acres host vines that are aged 70 -100 years.

- an exceptional plot of 12 acres in Argujillo named Teso los Carriles, with vines over 120 years old; the vineyard’s name in rough translation is "Road on the Hill". This is where the grapes for the Termanthia wine are grown.

The foundation of the Numanthia range is the production and selection of the best grapes from the Toro terroir. Grapes from low-yielding old vines - many 50 years and older - are hand-picked at optimal ripeness and concentration.

Winemaking then consists of extracting their full potential, particularly the intense fruit flavors that are typical of the Tinta de Toro grape, as well as structure and elegance.

This approach is common to the all wines produced, each having its own particular style.

The Termanthia comes from one of the only pre-phylloxera vineyards in Europe, and is approximately 120 years old. The grapes are hand de-stemmed, one berry at a time, crushed by foot and fermented in a traditional oak container.

Numanthia - Termes

Termes shows Toro's quintessential fruit: Ripe but fresh, with velvety texture and lively structure, this wine leaves a general impression of balance and elegance.

 2010 Numanthia Termes Toro
Price: $33.75       Sale $29.70          Case $345
Quantity in Stock: 9

The vines here are 30-50 years there is a bit of old a bit of Grenache in Toro but these wines are 100% Tempranillo (Tinto de Toro) and they do make a small amount of Muscat from 30% from their own vineyards and the rest from purchased fruit that they manage the vineyards. This is a big wine with lots of concentration with dark cherry fruit, notes of meaty steak like aromas and fresh flowers, earth , very rich bouquet of aromas. Emanuel noted he remembers the vintages based on what he wore in the Vineyards at harvest, a t shirt or jacket. In 2009 it was a t-shirt and 2010 was a jacket vintage but everything got ripe, 30% new barrique here, a big red but still has lovely balance and freshness this would be better slightly chilled and this wine is 15% alcohol a feature of this region and a necessity to tame the tannins of the wild Tinto de Toro varietal of Tempranillo, so it has a bit of spice and a good amount of ripe succulent berry fruit along with pretty floral notes through the finish, has a zesty refreshing finish despite its size. Finish 45+ Excellent

Numanthia - Numanthia

Numanthia is the estate’s signature wine and uses the best grapes from the appellation. The winemakers aim to reveal and magnify the natural quality of fruit harvested at perfect maturity. The result is glorious fruit flavors and very complex aromas. Solidly built, with tannins that are both clear-cut and well integrated, Numanthia shows both power and precision.

2009 Numanthia Toro
Price: $60.75       Sale $53.46
Quantity in Stock: 3

Toro wines motto should be "Wines to be eaten with a fork and knife", they have a new technique to get the berries in the tank so they are intact and not crushed. This wine is 60-100 year old vines all estate grown and 100% new oak because the wine has enough character to pull this off. Lots of spice and rustic earthy notes, very plumy, jammy fruit, a big wine very big and needs some time to open up, a little monster. A big and chewy wine on the tongue with ripe round tannins lots of spices and that animal like note very intense but still has lovely balance and intensity and a long layered finish. Finish 50+. a light smoky character coming out as the wine opens Most Excellent

2008 Numanthia Toro
Price: $62.00       Sale $54.56
Quantity in Stock: 2

(93 points) The 2008 Numanthia spent 18 months in new French oak. It sports an inviting nose of pain grille, graphite, Asian spices, licorice, lavender, and blackberry. In the glass it reveals its voluptuous proportions, savory flavors, and outstanding volume. Give this lengthy Toro 5-7 years of cellaring and enjoy it from 2017 to 2028.  The new releases of Numanthia-Termes are outstanding. Wine Advocate #195 Jun 2011

Numanthia - Termanthia

The award winning Termanthia is the ultimate expression of the best of vineyard plots in Toro with vines that over 120 years old and at an altitude of 800 meters. The hyper-concentrated fruit produces considerable aromatic complexity and shows tremendous power on the palate with plenty of fleshy roundness and as much elegance and precision as it does intensity. This is a wine that will keep very well, gaining even more complexity in bottle.

2010 Numanthia Termanthia Toro Magnum
Price: $675.00    Sale $594.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

2010 Numanthia Termanthia Toro
Price: $240.75    Sale $211.86      
Quantity in Stock: 8

This is from 100+ year vines and is a bottle that you can probably age for just as long, the bottle is 3 pounds they are looking to make it lighter and this wine is another level of big. An array of cherry liqueur like fruit, exotic spices, raspberry coulis, cinnamon with espresso, complex bouquet of aromas, violet floral notes. Big and chewy with an array of thick juicy fruit zesty spice and a long finish with big round tannins very ripe and balanced.  Finish 55+  KILLER