Bodegas Y Vinedos Maurodos "Prima" 2004

I recently had the pleasure of drinking a barrel sample of the 2004 Prima with Mariano Garcia. The premier vintage of this wine, now sometimes known as ";Baby San Roman,"; was 2003. That wine is a bright, mouthfilling, fruit-driven wine with a slightly boisterous personality. The wine could often be found for about $15, which I felt was one of the best bargains in the market. The 2004 will be markedly better. The fruit comes from 10-20 year old vines on sandy soil, and the wine most likely will be bottled after 12-13 months in oak. The barrel sample was dinking beautifully with dinner. My sense is that the 2003 Prima was a somewhat of an opportunistic effort and a bit of an experiment (although an opportunity seized by no less than one of the world’s greatest winemakers). The 2004 is more purposefully built -- from the vineyard up. Where the 2003 was more exuberant, the 2004 is more sophisticated (within limits -- it is a Toro after all). It is more more balanced, and particularly more delineated and focussed.

My previous impression has been that 2004 will be a knockout vintage in Toro overall. With the 2004 Prima, a superstar winemaker offers an opportunity to enjoy the fruits of this exceedingly promising vintage at a price that thankfully will remain at 2003 levels.