Grapes of Spain

Vinas Elias Mora

"Immensely enjoyable now, with wonderful purity of fruit, this is still a serious wine with a serious future, during which it will improve for at least five years and maybe longer." —

Michael Franz, Wine Review Online

Appellation

Toro D.O.

Grape(s)

100% Tinta de Toro, from vines averaging 20 years old

Altitude/Soil

650 meters / clay over limestone with sand and pebbles on the surface

Farming Methods

Practicing Organic

Harvest

Hand harvested, into small boxes at the end of September

Production

Whole berries undergo a 3-day cold soak, 7-day fermentation with skins, malo-lactic conversion in stainless steel tanks

Aging

Aged for 6 months in 100% new American oak barrels

Wine Name

Scores

Downloads

Reviews

Vinas Elias Mora 2020

93 (WE) 91 (OB)

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
93	Wine Enthusiast	Deep-ruby to the eye, this wine features aromas of dark plum, cassis and black olive. It is bright at first sip, with flavors of cherry and pomegranate and notes of toffee, milk chocolate and orange blossom. Sleek tannins evaporate into a floral and butterscotch finish. M.D. - Best of the Year 2022
91	OwenBargreen.com	The 2020 ‘Toro’ by Elias Mora offers complex and delicious flavors of espresso grounds, dark currant and milk chocolate flavors alongside a soft texture. Showing a smooth mouthfeel, this over-delivers for the price. Really good now, this will cellar well for another eight plus years. Drink 2023-2031- Owen Bargreen - October, 2023

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Vinas Elias Mora 2021

91 (WRO) 90 (WS) 88 (VfC)

Label

Fact Sheet

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
91	Wine Review Online	I opened this along with several other roughly comparable reds, including one from another producer in Toro that I esteem highly, and this was clearly the most complete and enjoyable wine in the group. It is made from relatively young vines averaging 20 years in age — but only “young” in the context of Toro, and especially for a wine priced at this level. Regarding price, it is amazing that this was aged in 100% new oak barrels, all American ones in this case. That could have been a recipe for a coconut and vanilla disaster (two notes that lesser American cooperage can impart that I cannot abide). However, either the barrels were of high quality or the wine’s limited time in them (only 6 months) prevented those notes from resulting. What did result was a pleasantly spicy, lightly toasty edge on a core of ripe, dark berry fruit that shows excellent integration with the wood and very fine balance of all components, including acidity and tannin. This is remarkably delicious for its age and price. Michael Franz - Issue: June 6, 2023
90	Wine Spectator	This red is lightly reductive at first, opening in the glass, so give it some air to reveal the overtones of fragrant herbs and spices, plus the minerally underpinning layered with flavors of crushed blackberry and toast. The finish is firmed by chalky tannins. Best after 2024. 10,000 cases made, 2,500 cases imported. Alison Napus – October 31, 2023
88	View from the Cellar	The 2021 Viñas Tinto from Elías Mora is made entirely from twenty year-old tempranillo vines that are farmed organically. The wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks and raised for six months in one hundred percent new American oak barrels and bottled unfiltered. The wine comes in listed at 14.5 percent alcohol and offers up a deep, ripe and slightly roasted bouquet of dark berries, cassis, grilled venison, coffee bean, dark soil and spicy oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and powerful in personality, with a good core of fruit, ripe tannins and good length and grip on the slightly roasted and still quite youthful finish. This needs cellaring to allow its tannins to soften up, but it will be a good, solid wine once it is ready to drink. 2031-2060. John Gilman - Issue #103 January/February 2023.

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Vinas Elias Mora 2022

92 (WRO) 92 (OB) 91 (VfC) 90+ (VfC)

Label

Fact Sheet

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
92	Wine Review Online	Bodega Elías Mora, Toro (Castilla y León, Spain) Tinto 2022 ($28, Grapes of Spain / Aurelio Cabestrero): This isn’t priced along the lines of everyone’s idea of an “entry-level” wine, but neither does it taste remotely like a basic offering. The bouquet is complex and alluring at a very high level of expressiveness right after the cork is pulled, showing gorgeous fruit notes that are mostly red in “tone” but also with some black fruit shading, along with light toasty accents and a lovely spiciness. All these notes are echoed on the palate, with medium body but a very high ratio of flavor to weight. It is true — but nevertheless difficult to believe — that this was exposed to 100% new American oak, even if only for 6 months, as the wood notes lend complexity without remotely taking over the wine. Immensely enjoyable now, with wonderful purity of fruit, this is still a serious wine with a serious future, during which it will improve for at least five years and maybe longer. Michael Franz May 21, 2024
92	OwenBargreen.com	2022 Elias Mora ‘Toro’ Toro- The 2022 ‘Toro’ is a great new effort that is drinking marvelously right now. Coffee grounds, black fruits and shades of scorched earth all combine with the wonderful verve on the palate. Delicious and lithe, enjoy over the next eight years. Drink 2024-2032- Owen Bargreen - November 18, 2024
91	View from the Cellar	It has been a year since I last tasted the 2022 Viñas Tinto from Elías Mora. This vintage is also listed at 14.5 percent octane, the same as the 2023 version, but it seems just a tad riper in personality. Perhaps this is a reflection of the drought conditions of the vintage. The bouquet has blossomed nicely over the past year, delivering a deep and complex blend of black cherries, black plums, a bit of chocolate, cigar wrapper, dark soil tones, buried spice tones and a nice framing of American oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and chewy, with a superb core of fruit, fine balance and grip, good soil undertow and a long, complex and youthful finish. This still needs plenty of cellaring time to shed some tannin, but it is aging very nicely and is going to be a fine bottle in due course. 2033-2065. John Gilman, Issue 117, May– June 2025
90+	View from the Cellar	The 2022 Viñas Tinto from Elías Mora comes in listed at 14.5 percent octane in this vintage. This Tempranillo-based wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks and raised for six months in one hundred percent new American oak barrels and bottled unfiltered. The vineyards are farmed organically. The wine delivers a deep, ripe and complex bouquet of cassis, black cherries, a nice touch of tempranillo spices, a bit of meatiness, dark soil tones, cigar smoke and new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, broad-shouldered and full, with fine depth at the core, ripe, buried tannins, fine focus and grip and a long, well balanced and promising finish. Though the 2022 version comes in listed at the same octane as the 2021, the balance here seems superior to my palate and this wine is a step up from last year’s version. This is really an excellent, entry level bottling! 2032-2065. John Gilman; Issue 109, January – February 2024

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Vinas Elias Mora 2023

90 (VfC)

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
90	View from the Cellar	The 2023 Viñas Tinto from Elías Mora is made entirely from tempranillo. The wine undergoes its malo in tank in classic Bordelais fashion and is given six months’ worth of élevage in new American oak barrels. The wine comes in at 14.5 percent alcohol in 2023 and delivers a deep and complex bouquet of red and black cherries, saddle leather, coffee bean, a touch of roasted meats, a fine base of soil, a touch of tempranillo spice tones and a judicious framing of American oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, broad-shouldered and complex, with a fine core of fruit, a good foundation of soil, ripe tannins and very good balance on the long, ripely tannic and youthful finish. This will be quite tasty once it has had a chance to soften up its tannic undercarriage. 2033-2065+. John Gilman, Issue 117, May– June 2025

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