2023 Dehesa Gago Tinta de Toro, Telmo Rodriguez

Dark, juicy and full of verve, the 2023 Dehesa Gago is Toro in its purest, most unfiltered form, bold fruit, wild energy, and an irresistible sense of place. Aromas of black cherry, blueberry and violets burst from the glass, joined by notes of cocoa, cracked pepper and a whisper of smoke. The palate is vibrant and muscular, yet strikingly fresh, with bright acidity cutting through ripe, sun-drenched fruit. Silky tannins and a touch of spice carry the finish, leaving you with a sense of power wrapped in poise.

For when: the night’s loud, the grill’s hot, and you want a red that keeps up.
Pairs with: grilled chorizo, charred aubergine, or flame-licked steak.
If this wine were: a band, it’d be The Black Keys, raw, soulful, and impossible to ignore.

Telmo Rodríguez is one of Spain’s great modern winemakers, an explorer, iconoclast and champion of authenticity. Since founding his project in the 1990s, he’s travelled the length of Spain reviving forgotten vineyards and indigenous varieties, crafting wines that express terroir first, ego last.

Dehesa Gago is his interpretation of Toro, a rugged region west of Ribera del Duero known for its old-vine Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo). Telmo works with bush vines up to 60 years old, farmed sustainably on sandy and gravelly soils, and vinifies them simply with wild yeasts, stainless-steel fermentation, no oak, to preserve the fruit’s raw vitality. The 2023 vintage shows everything that makes this wine such a perennial favourite: generous fruit, vivid freshness, and the kind of honest, unpretentious drinkability that reminds you why Spain’s new wave is so exciting.