San Román, Toro (Castilla y León, Spain) 2016

 I believe I’ve tasted every vintage of this wine that’s been imported into the USA, and think that this may be the best of them all.  It is still quite young, but obviously very beautiful in character and virtually perfect in ripeness, structure and proportionality.  Quite deeply pigmented, with exceptional flavor impact but no heaviness, it is marvelous Tempranillo with many years of improvement ahead of it.  Rather tight when first opened, with notable but definitely not excessive oak, it unfolds gradually over the course of its first hours after opening to display ever more layers of fruit and minerality, and ever better integrated toast and spice from oak.  Tasted again 24 hours later, it is better still.  Fresh with acidity, it is beautifully bright, with gorgeous purity of fruit.  It really needs time to unwind, and will no doubt not hit its peak until it is at least a decade from the vintage, and quite possibly not until a decade from now.  I’ve seen the reviews from other critics, including Luis Gutiérrez from The Wine Advocate (whom I greatly respect), and all of them underscored this wine, no doubt because they tasted it while it was still too young and tight.  Odds are I’ve underscored it too.