Tinta de Toro

It is the main variety of the Denomination of Origin of Toro, the wine region in which it is grown (it occupies more than half of its vineyard) and from which it has taken its name. It produces ‘macho’ red wines, with great personality, quite close to the flavour of a Ribera del Duero and the colour of a Bordeaux.

In addition to their high alcohol content (they can reach up to 14 degrees) and great body, they have a frank aroma, intense colour and a broad, balanced expression on the palate. Perhaps their main characteristic is the astringency provided by their tannins. They are, in short, well-structured wines, with freshness and intensity. The alliance between Tinta de Toro and Garnacha gives rise to rosés with a lively colour, great aromatic intensity, fresh, smooth and light on the palate.

The variety is found in the region of Tierra del Vino and the banks of the rivers Duero, Guareña and Talanda, in the south-eastern quadrant of Zamora, extending towards the neighbouring province of Valladolid and bordering on Rueda. It is cultivated in a landscape of gentle, undulating relief, with small elevations and gentle slopes, characterised by stony, sandy-textured soils, in which there is acceptable water retention and easy penetration of air and plant roots. The climate is continental, with extreme temperatures and low rainfall.

The origin of this variety, which has been part of the region's vineyards for centuries, is not very clear. Although it has been proven that it descends from Tempranillo, it has adapted to the climate and soil of the area in such a way that it has developed distinct characteristics. According to the ampelographer Luis Hidalgo, the two varieties are distinguished, among other things, by the veins that Tinta de Toro has under the skin and which do not appear in Tempranillo, in addition to the fact that tests carried out with both vines in identical conditions and soils have given rise to wines with different properties and characteristics.

There are already references to Toro wines in medieval documents that testify to how much they were appreciated on the route of the Camino de Santiago, and in the works of such illustrious authors as the Archpriest of Hita, Góngora and Quevedo. Thanks to their high alcohol content, which ensured good preservation, they travelled on the caravels bound for the discovery of America and continued to be exported to the Spanish colonies on the other side of the Atlantic until the mid-18th century. Alain Huetz de Lemps, in his work Vignobles et vins d'Espagne, recalls Vayrac's praise in 1719 for Toro, a place that had the good fortune to possess both ‘good wine and the most beautiful women in Spain’.

Described at the time as ‘a very red wine, very slightly sweet and very smooth’, it was the first red wine to be drunk at court in the 16th century, at the height of the white wine boom. Juan Marcilla Arrázola still maintained something similar, many years later, when he spoke of ‘very red wines, robust, rich in extract, harmonious on the palate and on analysis and probably those with the highest alcoholic content among the regional wines’.