Numanthia is the most emblematic wine of Bodega Numanthia and is considered one of the great wines of DO Toro. It is named after Numantia, the city famous for withstanding an epic siege by the Roman army: its citizens defended it to the end, choosing death over surrender. In a parallel with history, Numanthia’s vines have withstood an extreme climate for almost 100 years and survived episodes as “bloody” as the 19th-century phylloxera epidemic. Numanthia is made entirely from Tinta de Toro, the queen variety of DO Toro, from old vineyards around 100 years old in several plots along the Duero at about 700 metres above sea level. These low-yielding vines give very concentrated grapes. They endure an extreme climate with big temperature differences between day and night and between winter and summer, resulting in wines of great power and intensity. The harvest is done by hand when the grapes are perfectly ripe. After a strict selection in the vineyard, the grapes are taken to the winery in small crates to keep them in perfect condition and are then crushed in the traditional way – the whole winemaking process is artisanal. Fermentation lasts 9 days at a controlled temperature of 26–28°C, with two pump-overs a day, followed by 25 days of maceration on the skins with gentle pump-overs. Numanthia is aged for 18 months in new French oak barriques, which give it great structure and balance, with racking every four months. Numanthia is an intense, complex wine, yet very balanced, with a soft, silky and elegant texture: a pursuit of excellence that takes shape in every bottle.
