DO TORO - Tasting a land and its history

In Spain's Castilla y León, DO Toro still offers the serious, powerful Tinta de Toro that established its reputation - as well as elegant, refined expressions and even organic white wines

- 

Toro's early risers know that there are few better sights than the sunrise over the great Meseta Central (the Central Plateau), which dominates the region of Castilla y León. As you look out from the Alcázar de Toro (the town's fortress), the river Duero approaches the city from the south before curving westwards on its journey to Portugal.

To the east of Toro, you can almost see the town of Tordesillas in Rueda, while in the west, Zamora hovers on the horizon. Directly ahead, the plain stretches all the way south to Salamanca. As the dawn breaks, this vast landscape is embraced by the rising sun's warm, amber rays, tentacles that slowly creep across the region's imposing plain.

Perched at an elevation of 740m, Toro surveys the surrounding fields and vineyards.

In the Middle Ages, the town was strategically important in the feuds between warring royal factions. But even then, against the backdrop of court intrigues, Toro wine played an important role: records show that, unusually, they were distributed to other parts of the country. In fact, throughout Toro's past, its wines have been central to its development and identity.

A region steeped in history

Christopher Columbus could be considered the first exporter of Spanish wines to the New World: he stocked his ships with the high-alcohol wines of Toro, since they had the substance to last the journey. The renown of the region's wines endured for centuries - until the upheaval following the Civil War, when cereal crops replaced much of Toro's vineyard area as the country attempted to increase food production.