This is one of the projects that has brought greater visibility to the Riojan group Vintae and has contributed greatly to the development of new communication codes for wine, reaching new consumers and appealing to a younger audience.
It all started in the 2006 vintage with a single wine under the Matsu brand, followed shortly afterwards by the trilogy of reds El Pícaro, El Recio and El Viejo. This series relates three stages of wine to three stages of human life in three striking portraits that marked a turning point in wine label design.
The narrative is all the more meaningful as it revolves around Toro, a historic red wine region in the Duero Valley, slightly warmer than Ribera del Duero, with a prized heritage of old vineyards, including a significant number of ungrafted and even pre-phylloxera vines. Vintae wanted to convey the emotional bond between the growers and their old plots, handed down over several generations of the same family, which were nevertheless in danger of being uprooted. Matsu, the name chosen for the winery, which means waiting in Japanese, refers to this timeline.
With over a million bottles produced, Matsu is Vintae's larger operation. The winery does not own any vineyards in the area, but buys its grapes from around a hundred local growers, helping to preserve the heritage of old vines. The primary source areas are the villages of Toro itself, Villabuena, El Pego and Morales de Toro. The focus is on sandy soils with fine granitic gravel and vines between 80 and 100 years old. Production takes place in the Toro cooperative (Covitoro), where Matsu accounts for a significant share of the production.
The winery's three reds are made from Tinta de Toro, Tempranillo's natural adaptation to the area, and fermented in concrete vats. The range starts with the young red El Pícaro (€8), followed by El Recio (€16), made from vines up to 90 years old and aged for 15 months in French and Eastern European oak barrels. El Viejo (€40) is exclusively made from 100-year-old vines and aged for 16 months in new French oak casks.
The 2019 vintage saw the launch of La Jefa (€21), Vintae's first white wine in the region, made mainly from Malvasía Blanca (also known as Dona Blanca in Galicia) and other minor white varieties scattered among the dominant red varieties. The wine is fermented and aged for 14 months in 600-litre oak barrels.
The wines can be bought at the winery’s online store.
