Toro Albala Don PX, Amontillado

& Reserva Especial

 1951 - 1931 - 1955 - 1962

 

Up to 98 pts The Wine Advocate

ALL WINES PRE-ARRIVAL

(Late Spring 2021)

 

 

Although the big scores from The Wine Advocate are impressive, our customers who have had the opportunity to drink these superb wines have nothing but great things to say about them. My personal experience is that they have incredible depth and a true kaleidoscope of flavors. The magical wines of Toro Albala are nothing short of stunning in their complexity and aromatics. 

 

"I visited Toro Albala in their winery in Aguilar de la Frontera in Cordoba. They are famous by the extremely old, complex, sweet and concentrated Pedro Ximénez. I tasted a whole range of wines that are available in 2016, including an incredible 1931. The winery is full of old artifacts, roman stones and God knows what; they have a museum with an incredible collection of old wine books containing some 3,000 volumes. I also tasted a very old Amontillado they might bottle in limited quantities and a PX from around 1950 that showed a similar character to the famous 1946." The Wine Advocate-Luiz Gutierrez  

 
1955 Toro Albala - Don PX Convento Seleccion

98 pts The Wine Advocate

$179.89/bottle (Pre-arrival) Buy Now


If someone told you they kept a wine for 84 years in barrel before bottling, you'd think they are nuts, right? Well, that's what the folks at Toro Albala in Aguilar de la Frontera - in the province of Cordoba, part of the Montilla Moriles appellation - did with their 1931 Don PX Convento Seleccion. This is part of what they call 'vinos olvidados,' which means 'forgotten wines.' The border is amber, with green tints that denote very old age. Such old age provides an array of unusual aromas and flavors, including iodine and salt that compensate the sweetness (403 grams) and even the alcohol (18%). It's terribly balsamic, with notes of dry herbs and spices, cigar ash, carob beans (algarrobas), incense and noble woods. The palate is very, very sweet and concentrated, unctuous, dense, with a chewy texture. This goes beyond a glass of wine, a drop of it is like having a piece of cake. I don't think this reaches the complexity and depth of the 1946, which remains the benchmark for these old sweet PX, but it's truly terrific! 9,650 bottles were filled in June 2015. 2015-2028

 

1931 Toro Albala - Don PX Convento Seleccion

98 pts The Wine Advocate

$189.99/bottle (Pre-arrival) Buy Now

 

One more single-harvest, old sweet wine, the 1955 Don PX Convento Selección was bottled in September 2014 and it had been aged slowly in very old American oak barrels and getting thick and concentrated through evaporation. It's 320 grams of sugar are (partially) compensated by 6.5 grams of acidity. It has a nose and palate of chocolate-covered candied orange, spices, molasses. I'd say the dominant aromas in the nose are dark chocolate. It's very dense, developing notes of very concentrated licorice and balsamic, mint, camphor and evolving notes of petrol with time. Complex, rare and unique. 8,400 bottles. 2016-2040

 

1951 Toro Albala Amontillado Seleccion

95 pts The Wine Advocate

$169.89/bottle (Pre-arrival) Buy Now

 

My favorite of the two Amontillados is the 1951 Amontillado Selección a rare, single-vintage Amontillado produced with Pedro Ximénez grapes as is the norm in Montilla-Moriles. It's a bright mahogany color with an amber-green tint that reveals pharmaceutical notes and balsamic, with roasted, charred aromas and a sweetish palate that retains the sharpness expected in this kind of wine. It is lacking a bit in the mid-palate before ending with a slightly bitter, tarry finish. This is completely different to an Amontillado from Jerez. It was bottled in March 2011 into 4,650 bottles. It is unusual and is perhaps not for all palates.  LG - The Wine Advocate

 

1962 Toro Albala Don PX Reserva Especial

95 pts The Wine Advocate

$149.89/bottle (Pre-arrival) Buy Now

 

The 1962 Don PX Reserva Especial is pitch black, dense as (used) motor oil, medicinal and balsamic, with a grassy nose of licorice, black olives, roasted coffee, smoke and ash, very intense and expressive in the palate, spicy (nutmeg) with incredible length, perhaps not as integrated as the 49 and 46. These wines have to be tasted to be believed. It was bottled after 49 years aging in bota. Drink 2013-2040.  LG - The Wine Advocate

 


Sincerely,

Ron van Vlaardingen  
Fine Wine Sales Director

Grand Vin Wine Merchants

1003 4th Avenue E  | Olympia, WA  98506 | Office: 360.350.4896 x 2

www.grandvinwinemerchants.com | ron@grandvinwinemerchants.com 

 
 
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Grand Vin Wine Merchants · 1003 4th Ave East · Olympia, Washington 98506 · United States (360) 350-4896