A trip to Toro wine region, Northwest Spain

"I have a bull that gives me wine, and a lion that drinks it"
Alfonso IX of Leon 1171-1230

River Duero. Toro. Zamora. Spain

                            

With this phrase attributed to the king of Leon Alfonso IX the importance of the wine of Toro throughout the History becomes evident.
In the middle of the Castilian plateau, in a succession of hills and undulating plains, and with the river Duero as a vertebral element, appears the medieval population of Toro, that gives name to the wine region that occupies us. Far from being a monotonous landscape, it appears as a place full of scenarios to discover, and where the wine, has much to say.


The wine region of Toro is located in the Southeast of the province of Zamora, also comprising three Valladolid municipalities. The area dedicated to vineyards is 8,000 hectares. It has a Mediterranean climate of continental variety, with warm summers and cold winters. The thermal variation is also very wide between day and night. Little annual precipitation, between 300 mm and 400 mm. Poor, stony and mostly clayey soils. All these seemingly hostile conditions are excellent for the vineyard.
It is one of the few areas in Europe that managed to have strains free of phylloxera, which allows the existence of some very old vineyards, of more than a hundred years.

Colegiata of Toro. 12th-13th Centuries

Clock Tower. Toro

                                           





             
Let us know three wineries with a common denominator, the interest in wine tourism.One of these wineries is Estancia Piedra. Elías Mora, and Divina Proporción complete the tour.

Estancia Piedra. Mansion and vineyards