Toro is Taking the Bull by the Horns

           The Toro wine district will be the first Spanish wine region Wine-Knows will visit 

Toro means bull in Spanish.  This tiny wine district lies just across the border from Portugal’s grape growing region for Port grapes, but it’s not just a border these two wine areas share.  The famous Douro River in Portugal flows from Portugal’s most famous viticultural region, to the city of Porto where it empties into the Atlantic.   The Douro becomes the Duero River the minute one crosses into Spain.  The Duero/Douro is actually birthed in Spain between the Rioja and the Ribera del Duero wine regions. 

                            The Duero river exerts a tremendous influence on Toro's terroir

Wine-Knows will follow the Douro to the Duero on our trip from Portugal to Spain on this autumn’s itinerary.  Toro, like Napa, is the name both of the area’s main town, as well as the wine district. While it is unclear exactly how the town’s name originated, the “bull” is nonetheless a fitting symbol for its quite robust red wines have been coveted by royalty since the 13^th Century.  

             Toro town, with a population of  8,000 persons, offers a slice of off-the-beaten-path Spain

The Toro region was among the first to be recognized by the Spanish government as having unique and special wines.  In 1933 it was granted important D.O. status which at the time was the highest quality wine in Spain.  Shortly thereafter the Spanish Civil War broke out and Toro wines were one of the many casualties.  It took 50 years for the area’s winemakers to refocus.  In 1987 a handful of local wineries banded together to reapply for a second D.O. status.   It was granted and this began a renaissance in Toro.             

  D.O. guarantees the consumer a level of quality from grapes grown under certain conditions in Toro

Fast forward to today, there are now 60 wineries in Toro.   Many of the owners of these new wineries are from outside of Toro (most notably the Ribera del Duero and the Rioja), however, some of the most illustrious movers-and-shakers in French wine have invested heavily.    Moreover, Toro is winning awards on the world-wide wine stage.  Britain’s Decanter, (their equivalent of Wine Spectator) is giving 97 point scores to Toro’s muscular reds.

          Wine-Knows will be staying in Zamora, a historic Roman city on the Duero while in Toro

If you’re one of the fortunate Wine-Knows coming with us on the Portugal-Spain tour in September, you’ll have the opportunity to taste this upcoming region’s stellar wines and learn first-hand how Toro’s unique terroir is responsible for shaping a different version of the renowned Tempranillo grape.

Ever heard of Spain's Rueda wine region?   The next blog will cover these coveted white wines made from the Verdejo grape.

The First Wine to Circumnavigate the Globe

Most Sherry in Spain is bone-dry & used as an aperitif or with a 1^st or 2^nd course

The 500^th anniversary of Ferdinand Magellan’s around the world voyage was celebrated in 2019.   In 1519 Magellan set sail in a fleet of five ships from southern Spain.   King Carlos I of Spain financed most of the voyage in an attempt to outmaneuver the Portuguese who had locked in the eastern route to spice-laden Indonesia.   

In the course of preparing for this 500^th year celebration, historians uncovered a 200 page document detailing the supplies loaded on the fleet before it sailed.  This original manuscript lists 250 casks of Sherry (166,500 bottles).  In today’s dollars, the price would be approximately $80,000.  Magellan spent more on Sherry than he did on armaments to protect his men. 

It’s no surprise that the first wine to circumnavigate the globe was Sherry.  One of the world’s oldest wines, Sherry has been part of the world’s greatest empires and civilizations.  Enjoyed by the Phoenicians (who brought the original grapes for Sherry to Spain), and then by the Greeks, Romans, Moors, Spanish and the British.  During the period when Magellan set sail, Sherry was one of the world’s most popular wines.

                                   The town of Jerez is the capital of Sherry production
 

Sherry is also produced in the south of Spain very near the area from which Magellan sailed, so this may have also influenced why it was chosen.   Since then laws were enacted in the 1930’s to prevent Sherry from being made anywhere else but a small area surrounding the city of Jerez (not far from the straits of Gibraltar).  While many Americans associate Sherry with a sweet wine, there is an entire portfolio of bone-dry Sherry.  In fact, in Spain the most popular Sherry is completely dry with no trace of sugar.

Wine-Knows will be visiting the Sherry wine countryside this October on our tour to Seville (55 miles from Jerez), and Granada.  There are only four spaces remaining.  Home to the flamenco and mind-dazzling Moorish architecture, this part of southern Spain is the most fascinating in all of the country.

http://www.wineknowstravel.com/granada-and-seville-itinerary/