Tío Uco

Álvar de Dios

In addition to his single-vineyard and village wines, Álvar makes his Tío Uco cuvée. Fashioned from three plots of vines located in the northwestern part of Toro. Ranging in age from 35–93 years old, these Tinta de Toro vines (as Tempranillo is known in these parts) are grown on various soils. Named Tío Uco, this wine, like those from his single vineyards, is made from biodynamically farmed fruit, is fermented whole cluster with indigenous yeasts, and sees only a gentle maceration. It’s aged primarily in neutral French oak barrels ranging in size from 300-1000 liters. It's the opening salvo of his limited production and delivers a real wine at a really beautiful price point.

"The wines from Toro are remarkably darker than the ones from Arribes, and the 2021 Tío Uco, a blend of 90% Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo) and 10% Garnacha, is even darker than the 2019 Aciano, the other red from Toro. It's juicy, tasty, ripe and fruit-driven, with the bright aromatics from the carbonic maceration (it fermented with 100% full clusters), 14.5% alcohol, a velvety texture, fine and round tannins and mellow acidity. This matured in foudre and barrique for four months, but there's no trace of oak. 20,000 bottles produced." - 91 points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate