San Roman
Summary
Founded by legendary winemaker Mariano García in 1997, San Román is a family-owned estate in Spain's Toro region producing powerful yet elegant Tinta de Toro wines from 30-100 year old vines planted in sandy-clay soils across four municipalities. The García family maintains traditional methods with technical precision, harvesting meticulously by hand from low-yielding vineyards and employing extended oak aging to create structured wines that honor the region's heritage while elevating its reputation.
Heritage & Leadership
Bodegas y Viñedos Maurodos, producer of San Román wines, was established in 1997 by Mariano García in the Toro Denominación de Origen (DO) of Castilla y León, Spain. García brought significant expertise to this venture, having served as the winemaker at Vega Sicilia for 30 years (1968-1998). The winery represents a family enterprise, with Mariano now working alongside his sons Eduardo and Alberto García, who have taken active roles in winemaking and management. Eduardo serves as the technical director, overseeing vineyard management and winemaking processes, while Alberto contributes to the commercial aspects of the business. The García family has maintained complete ownership of the winery since its founding, allowing them to pursue their winemaking vision with consistency and independence. Their first commercial vintage of San Román was released in 1999, marking the beginning of their contribution to elevating the reputation of the Toro region.
Vineyards & Wines
San Román's vineyards span across four municipalities within the Toro DO: Villaester de Arriba, San Román de Hornija, Morales de Toro, and Pedrosa del Rey. The vineyards benefit from the region's continental climate with Atlantic influences, characterized by hot summers, cold winters, and significant diurnal temperature variations. The estate's plots feature predominantly sandy-clay soils mixed with stones and gravel, providing good drainage and heat retention. A distinguishing feature of San Román is its old vine heritage, with vineyard parcels ranging from 30 to 100 years in age, primarily planted with Tinta de Toro, the local clone of Tempranillo adapted to the region's conditions. These low-yielding vines produce concentrated fruit that forms the backbone of the winery's production. The winery produces two principal wines: the flagship San Román, made from their oldest vines and aged extensively in oak, and Prima, a more approachable wine from younger vineyards with shorter oak aging. Both wines showcase the structured, powerful character typical of Toro, while maintaining balance and expressing the unique terroir of their vineyard sites.
Philosophy & Practice
The García family adheres to a winemaking philosophy that balances respect for tradition with technical precision. In the vineyard, they practice low-intervention viticulture, focusing on maintaining low yields (typically 1.5-2 kg per vine) to ensure concentration and quality. Harvest is conducted manually in small crates, with careful selection of grapes both in the vineyard and at the sorting table. Fermentation occurs in stainless steel tanks with temperature control, allowing for gentle extraction of color and tannins from the naturally robust Tinta de Toro grapes. For their flagship San Román wine, aging takes place over approximately 24 months in a combination of French and American oak barrels, with a portion of new oak that varies by vintage. The Prima wine sees a shorter aging period of around 12 months. The García family's approach emphasizes achieving phenolic ripeness while maintaining freshness, a particular challenge in the warm Toro climate. This balance between power and elegance has become a hallmark of their winemaking style, demonstrating that Toro wines can offer both structure and refinement. Their consistent focus on quality over quantity has helped establish San Román as a reference point for the potential of the Toro denomination.