By cork
With so few Cabs made in the U.S. under $20 worth writing home about, it’s good to know that other countries make red wines that are a worthy substitute in a price range that is comfortable for the majority of wine consumers. We ought to be grateful, then, for a terrific wine like the 2013 PRIMA Toro. You know the saying?—if it walks like a Cab and quacks like a Cab, then it probably is… well, it’s not exactly how the saying goes, but you get the point. The Prima Toro is a robust, fruit-forward, bold, smooth and supple, very drinkable, crowd-pleasing red—you can check off every box on the list of things most people love in a Cab. This wine, made by Bodegas San Román in the smallish Toro region of Spain, happens to be made predominantly of the Tempranillo grape (which they refer to as “Tinta de Toro” in this part of Spain). Expressions of Tempranillo take on varying forms—it’s a rather chameleon-like grape and, at the same time, arguably Spain’s noblest grape—and this bottling is filled with flavor notes of black and red cherries, dark spices, boysenberry, blackberry and kirsch. The winemaking finds the great medium between the large and the approachable, finishing on striking and provocative tannins. What’s not to love? A Cab by another name. –J.M.
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