2012 Compania Vinedos Iberian Yaso Toro is sold out.

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  • 93 pts Wine Advocate
    93 pts RPWA
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2012 Compania Vinedos Iberian Yaso Toro 750 ml

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  • Curated by unrivaled experts
  • Choose your delivery date
  • Temperature controlled shipping options
  • Get credited back if a wine fails to impress

Parker 93pts — Tempranillo as it should be … but rarely is

Just over three years ago, Robert Parker shocked the world when he sold a majority interest of The Wine Advocate to a group of Asian investors.  Some saw this as the end of the critic’s influence on the world’s wine markets.  Others went so far as to suggest that the former attorney from Monkton, Maryland, would soon be spending his afternoons on the Chesapeake, knocking back glasses of Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne and Screaming Eagle.

We saw things differently.

Having dined and tasted with Bob on multiple occasions in the mid-1990s, we never found him to be particularly focused on financial gain.  To us, Parker was more of an activist than an entrepreneur, hell-bent on improving the quality of wine around the world.  That said, he wasn’t always “right.”  By our scorecards, Parker was often off the mark when evaluating the subtle complexities of cool-vintage Burgundy.  But when tasting with Parker in Bordeaux, we were humbled.  The more concentrated the red wine, we realized, the more accurate Bob seemed to be — nowhere more so than on the parched hillsides of Spain’s Ribera del Duero and Toro.  

One more time, Parker reminded skeptics why he remains the most powerful critical voice in the wine world.  The Wine Advocate published a captivating story highlighting a number of powerfully structured reds crafted by Spanish bodegas that have managed to raise the qualitative bar in the face of a crippling recession. A handful of wines earned 91 points from Parker.  A few earned 92.  But Toro’s superstar Viñedos Iberian Yaso was just one of the prized few bodegas to garner 93 points.

Drawn from stony clay soils planted on the cooler northeast-facing slope, this massively concentrated 2012 Tempranillo brought Parker to his knees.  Deep, dark purple/black in color, infused with intensely concentrated aromas of mountain blueberry, licorice, and graphite.  Rich, dense, and compact on the attack, filled with black-fruit compote, finishing with firm, dusty tannins.  Drink this powerhouse Toro now — or lay it down for another 5-7 years.  

$25 on release.  $18 this morning.  Shipping included on 6.