Toro is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) for

wines Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

in the province of Zamora, which is in the northwest of Castile and Léon (

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

). The area covered by the DOP is in the southeastern corner of Zamora province and includes the lands known as

Tierra del Vino Tierra del Vino (literally, "the Land of Wine") is a Denominación de Origen of wine, designating wines from the provinces of Zamora and Salamanca. "Tierra del Vino" has held a Denomination of Origin since 28 April 2007, when Order AYG/782/07, dat ...

Valle del Guareña Valle may refer to: * Valle (surname) Geography *"Valle", the cultural and climatic zone of the dry subtropical Interandean Valles of the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina *University of Valle, a public university in Cali, Colombia ...

and

Tierra de Toro Tierra may refer to: Astronomy *Earth in the Spanish and Asturian language Computing and games * Tierra (computer simulation), a computer simulation of life by the ecologist Thomas S. Ray * Tierra Entertainment, now known as AGD Interactive, a ...

. It borders on the lands known as Tierra del Pan and

Tierra de Campos Tierra de Campos ("Land of Fields") is a large historical and natural region or greater comarca that straddles the provinces of León, Zamora, Valladolid and Palencia, in Castile and León, Spain. It is a vast, desolate plain with practically ...

. There are 8,000 ha under vines, of which 5,500 are registered with the DOP Regulatory Council (''Consejo Regulador'').

History

Uva tinta de Toro - 2013-Aug-20 - by Stromare

Wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

has been made in Toro since the end of the 1st century BC, when the

ancient Greeks Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically re ...

taught the local

Celt The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

ic tribes. In the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

, the wines from Toro were the first to be traded in the region of the River

Duero The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern part of the Meseta ...

. King

Alfonso IX Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. I ...

granted lands to several religious orders with the understanding that they would plant vines, and many of the 40 churches that exist in the town of Toro today were built thanks to the wealth generated by the wine trade. The reputation of the wines from Toro grew and it began to be sold in other cities further afield such as

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

and

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half of ...

. At this time the wine producers built underground wineries (''bodegas'') in order to obtain better quality wines and to have more effective temperature control. At the end of the 19th century great quantities of wine were exported to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

during the

phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); orig ...

crisis, which did not affect the local vines as they were protected by the sandy soil. For this reason, the vines of other regions of

were replaced by vines from Toro. For this reason, Toro still has a number of very old vineyards with pre-phylloxera '' Tinta de Toro'', which in recent years have been used to source grapes for special cuvées. The Toro DOP was created in 1987, and today is one of Spain's leading wine DOPs.

Climate

The DOP has an extreme continental climate (long, hot summers, cold winters) with Atlantic influences. Temperatures vary greatly, ranging from -11°C in winter to 37°C in summer. Rainfall is light, around 350-400 mm per annum. Hours of sunlight received are about 2,600 per annum with a maximum of 3,000.

Soil

The soil is formed by sediments of sand, clays and lime-bearing puddingstone, which produce a dark lime-bearing

topsoil Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs. Description Topsoil is composed of mineral particles and organic mat ...

, with fine and coarse sands. The vineyards are at heights of between 620 m and 750 m above sea level.

Authorised grape varieties

* Red grapes: Tinta de Toro, Garnacha * White grapes:

Verdejo Verdejo is a variety of wine grape that has long been grown in the Rueda region of Spain. The grape originated in North Africa, and was spread to Rueda in about the 11th Century, possibly by Mozarabs. Verdejo was generally used to make a stron ...

, Malvasía Castellana, Albillo Real, Moscatel de Grano Menudo

Wines produced

* The red wines are predominantly made with 100% Tinta de Toro grapes. there are several types of reds: :* Young red: best drunk within the year of production :* ''Roble'': a young red aged between three and six months (can contain some Garnacha) :* ''

Crianza Spanish wine ( or ) includes red, white, and sparkling wines produced throughout the country. Located on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain has over planted in wine grapes, making it the most widely planted wine-producing nation,K. MacNeil. ''The Wi ...

'': aged for at least two years, of which at least six months in oak barrel :* ''Reserva'': aged for at least three years, of which one year in oak barrel :* ''Gran Reserva'': aged for at least five years, of which two years in oak barrel * The rosé wines are made from 50% Tinta de Toro and 50% Garnacha * The white wines are made from 100%

or 100%

Malvasía Malvasia (), also known as Malvazia, is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region and Macaronesia, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the world. In the past, the names Malvasia, Malvazia, ...

References

External links

D.O. Toro official website
{{Spanish wine regions Wine regions of Spain Province of Valladolid Province of Zamora