In the 4th century BC, Pintia was a lively and bustling city, which spread out over 125 hectares around what is now known as Peñafiel today. It is a place of cultural and archaeological importance, where traces of Roman and Visigothic cultures are being searched for. The Álvarez family has been supporting the excavation work for more than 22 years, thus expressing its strong attachment to the site.
The wine, made in the Toro wine region, bearing the name of the vanished city, was first launched in 2001. The grapes for it are grown on a hillside that is located on the outskirts of San Román de Hornija, which is famous for its high-quality Tinta de Toro grapes and the most robust, most powerful and most muscular wines in Spain. In the case of Pintia, the aim is to achieve a rounder and more elegant style, so 25% of the grapes come from Los Villasteres, which has more sandy soil and the grapes have more refined, more cosmopolitan aromas. The hand-harvest is followed by fermentation with cool, natural yeasts. Malolactic fermentation already takes place in the barrel to achieve a fuller, oilier texture. The smaller part of the wine is aged in American, the larger in new French oak barrels. In this vintage, most barrels came from the Radoux and Vicard coopers, in order to preserve the wine’s fruitiness and highlight its sweetness. The result is a rich and big wine from a really sunny vintage, with ripe fruits, spices, vanilla, cocoa and oak aromas.