The Santo Tomás Estate
- Founded: 1888 by Francisco Adonegui and Miguel Olmart
- Region and grape source: The winery owns most of the land in Valle de Santo Tomàs, (including the 150+ year old vines of the Único vineyard) as well as 20 hectares of land in the hamlet of San Antonio de las Minas in Valle de Guadalupe.
- Vineyard elevations and grape origins:
- Valle de Guadalupe - Estate vineyards 900 ft (granite and clay soils)
- Valle de Santo Tomás - Estate vineyards 500 ft (variable. High on the slopes it’s mainly granite composed of large granite stones while down in the valley it's sandy soils high in iron and other minerals.
- Winemaker: Cristina Pino (Spanish born, now a Mexican citizen, lives in Valle de Guadalupe)
- Notes:
- Cristina Pino is one of the most highly respected winemakers in the region and a perfect example of the many strong women that are a primary driving force behind the quality and elegance dominating the wines coming out of the region.
- Santo Tomás is the oldest winery in the Baja region. Jesuit missionaries first established vineyards, (now privately held) in 1791 in this valley, just 5 years after the US signed its Constitution. Over a century later, in 1888 the land was purchased by Francisco Adonegui and Spaniard Miguel Olmart and became Mexico's first large scale commercial winery.
- The largest landowners in the 5 valleys of northern Baja, Santo Tomás has access to some of the best fruit available. The quality and balance of their wines is a signature of the estate.
- Since Christina took over in 2019 she has been covering to lower yields, increased quality, and working towards fully organic farming.
Total production: 22 wines, 130,000 cases
2019 Unico - Santo Tomás
Tasting Notes and Drinking Window:
This is the highly anticipated arrival of the first vintage of Santo Tomas’ fabled Unico from their new winemaker Christina Pino. Under Christina’s leadership since 2019, Santo Tomas has risen to ever greater heights with a complete overhaul of vineyard management practices, a deep reorganization of vinification approach and a potent boost to quality in general. In general, yields went down significantly as pruning approaches oriented towards quality replaced those favoring quantity and this combined with a much tighter berry selection reduced their overall production by 1/3rd. Though Christina has been running the show for 3 years already, this is the first Unico that has been released under her stewardship and it’s everything one would hope it could be. Resembling a top pedigree Bordeaux in structure and finesse, she saved only the perfect fruit for this bottling and the proof is obvious in the glass. Rich and voluptuous with elegant tannins that make it accessible in the moment but indicate it will be capable of many years of development in the bottle, it’s an incredibly lovely showpiece of what Christina can do with the best fruit when the holdings of such a spectacular estate are at her disposal.
Drinking window: Upon release (with a 45 min decant) - 15 years
Vintage:
2019
Blend:
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot
Producer:
Santo Tomás
Winemaker:
Christina Pino - Spanish, lives in Mexico
Vineyards:
Valle de Santo Tomas - Unico comes from the estate's oldest vines, many of which are over 100 years old. The soil is primarily decomposed sandstone and red clay mix.
Winemaking:
Fermented in 1st use French oak barrels and then racked off the skins and aged for an additional 18 months in 1st use French oak.
Farming:
Sustainable
Alcohol:
13.8%