For those who have never heard of the legendary wines of Bodega San Roman — you are really in for a treat. Bodega San Roman is one of the storied houses in Toro — a tiny region in northern Spain. The region is very mountainous as their noble grape, Tempranillo, has a litany of old vine vineyards sprinkled throughout the region. The wines of Toro were so famous that Christopher Columbus brought them on his journey to America. Toro is an extreme continental climate with very cold winters and very hot summers in which temperatures can eclipse 100 degrees. The wines from Toro are bold and intense. They are also some of the great bargains on the world wine market.
Bodegas San Roman produces what is one of the most famous Toro wines, its ‘San Roman.’ The winery was founded by famed winemaker, Mariano Garcia, in 1998 as Bodegas y Vinedos Maurodos. In the late 1990s his two sons Alberto and Eduardo joined the team, as director of operations and technical director respectively. They own 100 hectares of vineyards in the villages of Villaester, San Roman de Hornija, Morales de Toro and Pedrosa del Rey. The vineyards are primarily planted to Tinta de Toro, a local clone of Tempranillo. Eduardo Garcia presides over the winemaking now as the winemaking style has moved towards combining freshness and richness. I have had many of these wines in my personal cellar and I have always been amazed with how these wines age. Bodega San Roman wines are wines that cellar well for twenty years or more. Typically they also need a lot of air in their youth — sometimes really benefiting from several hours in the decanter.
Their top wine can be found for roughly 80 dollars USD but offers serious value when you consider the overall quality of the wine. I have been amazed what this house has achieved over the past ten years. Regardless of vintage San Roman continues to produce top quality wines and I was blown away with the new 2018 Bodega San Roman Red Wine (OB, 95). This is a Spanish wine lover’s dream with incredible depth and power with its black and blue fruits — yet shows amazing nuance and plenty of earthy soil character. This one is a must-purchase for any lover of Spanish wines. Learn more about these beautiful wines at bodegasanroman.com and here are my reviews of the new San Roman releases.
2019 Bodega San Roman ‘Prima’ Red Wine- The 2019 ‘Prima’ is a gorgeous new wine by San Roman. On the nose this takes on layers of toasty oak alongside ripe blue fruits and serious finesse. Finishing long, this is sturdy and dense Toro wine to consume over the next seven years. Drink 2022-2029- 92
2018 Bodega San Roman Red Wine- The bombastic new San Roman comes from the warm 2018 vintage in Toro. It is a rich and decadent style of Toro that thrills with its baking spice dusted milk chocolate, blueberry pie and dusty soil profile on the palate. Rich and decadent, with a great mineral backbone, this expressive 2018 Toro really needs two hours in the decanter if enjoying in its full-throttle youth. Drink 2024-2040- 95