Grapes of Spain

Gran Elias Mora La Senda De Los Lobos

"Gran Elias Mora is my personal wine. It comes from a single plot that the retired people from the village showed me in 2000. We bottle Gran Elias Mora only the best vintages and after my selection of the best barrels." —

Victoria Benavides, winemaker

Appellation

Toro D.O.

Grape(s)

100% Tinta de Toro, from the single, 80-year-old Senda del Lobo "Wolf's Path" vineyard

Altitude/Soil

750 meters / clay over limestone with sand and large stones on the surface

Farming Methods

Practicing Organic

Harvest

Hand harvested, by an estate employed team of pickers at the end of September with very low yields of 15hl/ha

Production

Whole berries undergo a 3 day cold soak, 12 fermentation with skins. This wine is only produced in exceptional vintages.

Aging

Aged for 17 months in French oak barrels, 100% new, this is a selection of the most concentrated and balanced lots

Wine Name

Scores

Downloads

Reviews

Gran Elias Mora La Senda De Los Lobos 2012

95 (WE) 95 (WRO) 93 (VM) 92 (W&S) 92 (I-WR) 91 (RP)

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
95	Wine Enthusiast	Tightly wound, layered, moderately tannic and oozing excellence, this is a fantastic high-end Toro from the superb 2012 vintage. The minerally, toasty aroma of blackberry is stylish and shows a balsamic note. Flavors of licorice, sweet balsamic vinegar, chocolate and toasty blackberry continue on a long, deep, complex finish. Drink this ace-level red from 2017–2028. Editor's Choice; April 2016
95	Wine Review Online	This is an astonishing wine, but not for the faint of heart. It is hugely impressive, with “huge” being the most important element in that clause. Still nearly black in color and opaque in pigmentation at 6 years of age, it is phenomenally rich and concentrated. Aromas of baking spices and subtle woodsmoke are quite appealing, but then the sheer intensity and power of the wine just kick down the door and the wild ride begins. Those who think Tempranillo (or Tinta de Toro, as it is called in this region) just makes light- or medium-bodied wines will be set straight permanently by this bottling, which as actually “thick” in texture, as in milkshake thick. Flavors of blackberries, cassis and black cherry are very intense but not remotely obvious or over-ripe, and though there’s a lot of bracing from oak, the wood accents definitely overwhelmed by the fruit’s sheer strength. You could enjoy this now with decanting and a grilled steak, but it will be better in another 5 years and undoubtedly can hang on or even improve for a full decade from now. What a wine! Michael Franz - October 30, 2018
93	Vinous Media	Brilliant ruby. Complex, intensely perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red fruits, incense, mocha and exotic spices, with a bright mineral overtone. Sweet and incisive on the palate, offering sappy, vivacious raspberry and lavender pastille flavors. In a seamless, graceful style, with a pliant, gently tannic finish emphatically echoing the floral quality. Made from fruit grown in a 70+-year-old vineyard, this wine was aged in new French for 17 months. 2020 – 2026. Central Spain: Tempranillo and Beyond December 2015
92	Wine & Spirits Magazine	For her most ambitious red, Victoria Benavides selects fruit from 70-year-old vines at the Senda del Lobo vineyards, right next to the winery in San Roman de Hornija. This is Toro at its most robust and concentrated, as tense as an animal about to pounce on its prey. Defined by strength and ripeness, as well as the power of its tannins, this is a red that needs a decade in the cellar. June 2016
92	International Wine Review	This is a rich and densely flavored wine sourced from the 70-year old Senda del Lobo vineyard. Fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged in oak, it offers fragrant aromas of red and black berry fruit with toasted oak on the nose. On the palate it is soft and elegant revealing dark berry, perfect balance and a lingering finish.
91	The Wine Advocate	The 2012 Gran Elias Mora is pure Tempranillo from a single vineyard planted in the 1970s -- a vineyard called Senda del Lobo, which provides very low yields. The wine matured in oak barrels for 17 months, despite which the oak aromas are nicely integrated and folded into the fruit, revealing themselves in the shape of spices and hints of toasted bread. The wine is quite aromatic and expressive, and the palate is medium to full-bodied with some chewy tannins. This is a powerful Toro. 6,000 bottles.

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Gran Elias Mora La Senda De Los Lobos 2015

95 (OB) 94 (WE) 94 (WRO) 93 (Decanter) 93 (VfC)

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
95	OwenBargreen.com	This single vineyard bottling comes from 80 year old Tinta de Toro vines. Stored for 17 months in French oak barrels, this shows off an inky color once in the glass. Layers of boysenberry cordial, dark chocolate shavings and mocha all come together seamlessly in the glass. Rich and decadent, yet showing beautiful finesse, this is an astonishingly good bottling that has many years to go. Drink 2022-2037 Owen Bargreen - August 18, 2022
94	Wine Enthusiast	Inky violet-red in the glass, this wine carries aromas of dark berry preserves, lavender and black pepper. It is spicy at first sip, offering notes of clove and anisette that are joined by flavors of cherry, strawberry and mocha. Rich tannins abound right through the lingering berry finish. *Mike DeSimone – Editors’ Choice* - April 2022**
94	Wine Review Online	Pardon my French — especially in relation to a Spanish wine — but this is kick-ass juice from a big, ripe vintage, and you will not soon forget it almost regardless of when you taste it, whether that’s now or 20 years from now. The aromas are assertively spicy and toasty, which makes sense given that the wine was aged in 100% new French oak for 17 months. On the palate, the fruit is imposingly concentrated and deep in flavor, and the physical weight of the wine is again quite formidable. In most cases, these characteristics show up in what I call, “Statement Wines,” in which a winemaker or proprietor is trying to impress or “make a statement” rather than craft something beautiful and enjoyable. But in this case, what you get is…precisely something beautiful and enjoyable. Beware that this is a wine that will benefit greatly from time in the cellar, but with that caveat stated, it is so proportional and so skillfully made that you could certainly enjoy it now with some very serious meat or fine aged cheese. I found this hard to score because it is so big but yet so well behaved, rather like a polite bull, and how does one understand a polite bull? But the point is, if my score is off, I made sure it was off on the low side, so buy this with confidence for a special occasion. Michael Franz – July 20, 2021
93	Decanter Magazine	This single-vineyard Tinta de Toro is a benchmark example of the variety’s ageing potential and capacity to preserve freshness and juicy fruit while developing intriguing earthy nuances. Classical yet modern, with ripe black fruit supported by an underlying freshness, prickly liquorice and spicy black pepper. Beautiful herbal lining of wild oregano and balsamico. Decanter Magazine February 2023
93	View from the Cellar	The Gran bottling from Bodega Elias Mora is made entirely from eighty-five year-old, organically-farmed tempranillo vines, from the vineyard of Senda del Lobo, which has a soil foundation of clay and limestone, with plenty of surface stones. The yields here are miniscule, with the 2015 cropped at fifteen hectoliters per hectare. The wine is one hundred percent whole clusters and aged in one hundred percent new French oak for eighteen months prior to bottling. The 2015 Gran delivers a deep bouquet of black cherries, dark berries, cigar wrapper, new leather, a quite refined framing of toasty oak and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a superb core of fruit, firm, ripe tannins and impressive length and grip on the nascently complex finish. This comes in listed at a full fifteen percent octane, but seems a bit lower than that on the palate, as there is only a wisp of backend heat and the wine is fresh as can be on the nose and palate. This is a big, powerful and chewy wine of admirable balance and it should age long and gracefully- though it will demand a full decade in the cellar to start to soften. 2031-2075. John Gilman - Issue #91 / February 2021

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Gran Elias Mora La Senda De Los Lobos 2017

96 (OB) 95 (WRO) 94 (WE) 92+ (VfC)

Label

Fact Sheet

Bottle Image

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
96	OwenBargreen.com	The simply stunning 2017 Elias Mora ‘La senda de Los Lobos’ Toro comes from 80 year old vines, as this wine is only made in top vintages. This 2017 edition was stored in all new French oak for 17 months before bottling and quite frankly this wine screams pure class Toro. Immediately captivating on the nose with its hedonistic Turkish coffee, bulls blood Asian spice notes, the wine deftly walks the tightrope between bright underlying acidity and hearty concentration. Finishing very long with black and blue fruits, as well as salty and damp earthy notes, this total stunner will live on for another two decade or more. Drink 2023-2043- Owen Bargreen - October, 2023
95	Wine Review Online	This is a very big and powerful wine in most vintages — certainly in this one as well. Physically quite dense, it counterbalances its oak load very effectively, making the initial impression one of purity and balance. This is a singular characteristic that makes this wine worth its asking price when judged against ultra-premium wines that also ring up for $90 or so. Its window of enjoyability is just phenomenal, and though I think it would be a mistake to open this for another five years, it will likely improve for two decades after that and hold for another decade after that. Holding it for that long will require either a bit of optimism or deep affection for your children or grandchildren, but the wine really does seem up to the challenge. Tasted again 24 hours after opening, it still showed the same need for time in bottle to absorb tannins, so either keep your mitts off this for a good while or buy the 2018 Reserva instead. Michael Franz - Issue: June 6, 2023
94	Wine Enthusiast	Gran Elias Mora 2017 La Senda de los Lobos Single Vineyard (Toro). The scent of blackberry, cassis and mocha rises from the glass. Black- currant, Mission fig, cocoa-powder, anise and lavender flavors are enfolded in a skein of solid tannins that slowly give way. Grapes of Spain. Mike Desimone, Best of the year 2023
92+	View from the Cellar	The 2017 Gran Elías Mora “La Senda Los Lobos” is a single vineyard wine made from organically-farmed, eighty year-old tempranillo vines. The wine sees eighteen months of elevage in French oak barrels prior to bottling and the 2017 version tips the scales at a full fifteen percent alcohol. The wine’s aromatic constellation is deep and old viney, offering up scents of cassis, sweet dark berries, hung game, cigar box, dark soil tones, coffee bean and spicy oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nicely balanced, with a superb core of black fruit, good soil signature, firm, well-integrated tannins and fine length and grip on the focused and promising finish. This too comes in at fifteen percent octane, but carries its alcohol quite well and does not seem warm on the backend. Good juice in the making here. 2033-2080. John Gilman - Issue #103 January/February 2023.

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Gran Elias Mora La Senda De Los Lobos 2018

96 (OB) 95 (WRO) 94 (WS) 91+ (VfC)

Label

Fact Sheet

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
96	OwenBargreen.com	2018 Elias Mora ‘La Senda de Los Lobos’ Toro- A world-class wine, the 2018 Elias Mora ‘La senda de Los Lobos’ Toro was sourced from 80 year old Tinta de Toro vines and was stored in 100% new French oak for 17 months prior to bottling. This edition is every bit as good as the scintillating 2017. Mocha, tar, damp earth and bulls blood parade with exotic spices on the palate. Full-bodied, with a brilliant core of pure black fruits, this is heady, concentrated and beautifully structured wine that has a long way to go in the cellar. Drink 2024-2044- Owen Bargreen - November 18, 2024
95	Wine Review Online	Made entirely from the Tinta de Toro strain of Tempranillo grown in a single, high-elevation vineyard with 80-year-old vines, this is an extraordinary wine. The yields are miniscule whereas the concentration of the resulting wine is impressive, yet it doesn’t come across as “thick” or physically heavy. Despite being aged entirely in new oak barrels, the fruit has largely soaked up the overt wood notes already, with almost nothing but the wood-induced accents of toast and spices showing from the cooperage. Dark berry fruit is beautifully ripened, and though the back label shows a stated 15% alcohol, the wine neither smells nor finishes hot. On the contrary, there’s still a lot of bright, primary fruit running the sensory show in this, with savory undertones of cocoa powder showing in the very long, symmetrical finish. This will improve over a long span, but if decanted or aerated and served with robust food, it is eminently enjoyable now. Michael Franz, November 20th, 2024.
94	Wine Spectator	This enticing red's notes of leather, tar and dried flowers draw you into the glass, with a lively, generous range of blackberry paste, raspberry ganache, red licorice and oolong tea flavors. Rich and expressive but well-structured, this is focused by sinewy tannins and tangy tangerine peel acidity. Chewy on the finish, which echoes hints of loamy earth, cocoa powder and milled white pepper. Drink now through 2035. 750 cases made, 150 cases imported. Alison Napjus – Issue July 31, 2024.
91+	View from the Cellar	The 2018 Gran Elías Mora “La Senda Los Lobos” is a single vineyard wine made from very old, eighty year-old tempranillo vines. The vineyard is organically-farmed and the wine is given eighteen months of élevage in French oak barrels prior to bottling. The wine tips the scales at a full fifteen percent octane in this vintage. The wine is ripe and voluptuous on the nose, wafting from the glass in a mix of plums, black cherries, chocolate, cigar ash, dark soil tones, coffee grounds and smoky new oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, closed and shows tremendous depth at the core, with firm, chewy tannins, a rather primary personality and a long, fairly well- balanced and powerful finish. Despite its fifteen percent octane, this wine only shows a wisp of backend heat and is really pretty well balanced for such a big wine. It will need many years in the cellar to soften up its chassis of tannin, but will be a good drink in due course. 2036-2070. John Gilman; Issue 109, January – February 2024

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