Vintner Interview - Manuel Louzada of Numanthia

Manuel Louzada describes Numanthia as seven people sharing a dream, to make Spain's greatest red wine. The name Numanthia refers to the name of a city in this part of Spain where everyone burned rather than surrendering to the imposing Muslim rule. Phylloxera hit in 1910 and this is one of the few areas of Europe that resisted this root louse. Last year (2012) there were only 6 inches of rain, the temperature ranges from 110 to 50 and thus the flavors generated in the grapes here are too intense, too much for regular winemaking technique, these are wines to be eaten with fork and knife. The 2009 vintage was a very warm year and before Numanthia, Pintia and Bodegas Maurodos, the vintners here used very old techniques and in big warm years like 2009 in the past the best grapes went into blends from the better known Ribera del Duero and Rioja. One of the new techniques used here in this extreme growing region is cold maceration. Tinto del Toro skins are thicker, so the tannins are denser, so big they can damage your palate! Manuel has to taste the grapes every two days to see if they are ripe enough before they harvest and he says this is imperative but is very hard on his palate. Massive tannins mean you have to be very careful with the tannin extraction, big tannins usually better for the palate, the small tannins are more astringent, when the fermentation reaches 6% alcohol they get the skins off so they stop extracting the tannins. The wines of Toro are unique and require the work of a passionate wine tamer to unleash the best that this unique beast has to offer. We learned this and many other things from our host Manuel Louzada who has been making the wines here since 2006. These are among the best wines from Spain and it was good to catch up with Manuel on his latest visit to South Florida to preview the newest releases from this landmark winery from Toro.