Fariña Primero 2018

The first wine at the vinopremier.com wine tasting with Bodegas Fariña hosting. As we mentioned in the previous post about the bodega (click here) they were instrumental during the 1970s of shifting D.O. Toro away from its traditional heavy, high tannin and alcohol reds to more balanced version designed for the modern palette. One of the ways to do this is to use Carbonic Maceration instead of traditional yeast led fermentation.

This is the Toro equivalent of a Beaujolais wine. Carbonic Maceration is a method that ferments whole grapes in a carbon dioxide rich environment (See tomorrow’s blog for more information). This method of fermentation produces young fruity wines low in tannins and acidity, but they can also lack structure. A good description in the case of this wine.

The wines are designed to be drunk quickly. They do not age. It’s all rush, rush, rush. In the case of the Fariña Primero wine the grapes were harvested in September and the wine is ready to drink in November. We were trying it in April the following year.

This wine is a very pale purple colour. Almost looks like it’s been watered down.
It has a medium scent of red fruit and a slight earthy hint. As promised this is a very light wine with low tannins but some acidity. It has quite a sharp berry flavour with a bitter finish.

Not my favourite wine, I have to say, but then again I’m not that keen on Beaujolais either.