Fariña Gran Colegiata Lagrima 2016

Another wine from the Bodegas Fariña stable tried at the vinopremier.com wine tasting. This time the bodega has used the Vino De Lagrima o Flor method to balance the tannin and alcohol levels of the 100% Tinta de Toro red wine.

In English this is known as Free Run wine. Basically when you stick a ton of grapes into a great big vat, the weight of the grapes will cause some of the juice to leak out. This is the Free Run Juice. Later the winemaker will press the grapes to squash out more juice. The juice from pressed grapes will have more contact with the grape skins and pips than the Free Run juice. This is where the tannins are largely produced, so Free Run wine is usually a lighter wine.

The grapes in this wine come from 40 year old vines and has been matured in oak for 4 months.

It is a pale purple colour with an aromatic scent of vanilla and wood, almost butter or caramel, plus some balsamic. There is some fruit underneath as well.

This wine has more body than the last one, medium, and is a smoother wine but more of a finish as well. It achieves the low per tannins, acidity and alcohol levels aimed for.

The flavour is of red fruit with some balsamic and vanilla/wood in the finish. A much more interesting wine than the last one.