2016 Bodegas Ordonez Vatan Toro DO 750 ml

In Toro, centenarian Tempranillo vines yield towering reds that deliver the power and richness of their counterparts in Bordeaux and Napa, but appear to miss whole digits in the price column. This is no mistake—it’s the magic of Toro. 

Outmuscling all who would test it, the “opulent, and powerful” 95-point Bodegas Ordoñez Vatan delivers a full-throttle ride that would make Dave Phinney buckle his seatbelt—all while staying “light on its feet, balanced, and lively.” At $37, it’s an easy choice. 

But it wasn’t easy to get. Each year, the lion’s share of the US imports go to restaurants. Winery owner Jorge Ordoñez, one of Robert Parker’s Top 20 Wine Personalities, is well known as the man who put Toro on the map, and his “blockbuster” Tempranillos are highly sought after by sommeliers—picture this next to a two-inch-thick grilled porterhouse or a bone-in ribeye. 

Only because the restaurant industry is largely on pause were we able to finally pry an allocation loose. We have been waiting and waiting for this superstar red, but you shouldn’t. 25 cases of pure extravagance won’t last long. 

While the price alone makes stocking up by the case an obvious choice, there’s more incentive still. Despite unctuous layers of black and blue fruit and swirling undertones of earth, Modena balsamic, and ground pepper, the 2016 is still very much in the shallow waters of its development. The 120-year-old vines that eked out this inky showstopper produce stunningly long-lived wines, and the 2016 promises decades of evolution in bottle. It’s a wine to come back to again and again.

Old-vine brilliance is exactly what Jorge Ordoñez was looking for when he came to Toro back in the early ‘90s. At the time he was well aware of the region’s rich history—two hours northwest of Madrid, winemaking here dates to the middle ages, and Toro reds were once hailed as the finest wines in Spain. But Ordoñez also knew that Toro’s modern offerings weren’t living up to their full potential. 

Everything changed in 1997, when Ordoñez founded Bodega Numanthia with the Eguren family, shocking the world not only with the power of his Toro wines, but also with their refinement. When luxury group LVMH bought Numanthia in 2008 it was a clear statement that Toro had arrived. 

After the sale, Ordoñez doubled down on Toro, this time by himself, intent on artisanal production that would match Numanthia’s pedigree but not its price tag. The result is today’s $37 masterpiece. 

Grown from Tempranillo’s oldest clone, planted in sandy soils under hot Spanish skies, the 2016 was aged for almost two years in barrel, imparting fine polish and spice to black-fruited depths. Following Jeb Dunnuck’s 95-point rave, Wine Spectator added praise, calling the Vatan “harmonious and complete.” It’s a rare catch and a must-have for any cellar, here for the first time ever on Wine Access.