In 1996 we began a new project in D.O. Toro, acquiring 56 ha that were planted with the typical red variety of the region: Tinta de Toro, following our philosophy of always working with local varieties. We wanted to consolidate our high quality wines with a range of young wines which we could not offer in Ribera del Duero, due to the soil, climate and grape type.

The D.O. Toro consists of 17 municipalities within the provinces of Zamora and Valladolid, to the northeast of Castilla y León. We chose the small village of Valdefinjas, situated in a valley 5km to the south of the town of Toro and the river Duero. This valley captivated us with its mysterious beauty and sinuous landscape, where abundant vegetation, based on pine trees, holm oak and wild herbs, surround our vines. The quality of the grapes grown in this village is traditionally so high that it is recognised by all the surrounding villages.

The province of Zamora is situated to the extreme west of Castilla y León. The area of production of D.O. Toro is found to the southeast of Zamora. It comprises part of the regions of Tierra del Vino, Valle de Guareña and Tierra de Toro and borders Tierra del Pan and Tierra de Campos.

The 15 municipalities which form the D.O. are, in the province of Zamora: Argujillo, Bóveda de Toro, Morales de Toro, El Pego, Peleagonzalo, El Piñero, San Miguel de la Ribera, Sanzoles, Toro, Valdefínjas, Venialbo y Villabuena del Puente. In the province of Valladolid, they are: San Román de Hornija, Villafranca de Duero and los pagos de Villaester de Arriba and Villaester de Abajo, which belongs to the municipality of Pedrosa del Rey. The landscape of the region has been modelled by four rivers, resulting in a gently undulating land with shallow slopes that varies between 650m and 735m and without any problems of orientation for the vineyards that lie on the plateaux. These rivers are:

The river Duero, the most important, flows through the region east to west passing by the municipalities of Villafranca de Duero, San Román de Hornija, Toro and Peleagonzalo.
The river Guareña, a tributary of the Duero, crosses south to north the municipalities of Toro and Villabuena del Puente.
The Talada. Which runs almost parallel to the Guareña, passing through Argujillo, San Miguel de la Ribera, El Piñero, Venialbo y Santoles.
The river Hornija, in the northeast, also runs into the Duero, crossing Villaester and San Román de Hornija. The area of production of D.O. Toro is practically all contained within the agrarian region known as “Bajo Duero”.

The quality of the grapes in this region is based on soil of medium depth, poor and sandy, which can only be found in Valdefinjas. The landscape is hilly with high points in a land of broad horizons, the result of the erosion of the river network that flows into the Duero.

The location of the region has a continental touch to a climate which, in general terms is basically Mediterranean.  With an altitude of 650-730m and annual rainfall of 350-400mm, the traces of this continental climate are seen in the extremely low temperatures in winter, the long period of frosts and the heavy and persistent fogs. Autumn and Spring are mild and summers are short and not very hot.

Average annual temperature varies between 12ºc and 13ºc with a maximum of 37ºc at the end of June and a minimum of -11ºc between December and March.  The difference between average summer and winter temperatures is 18ºc. The diurnal temperature difference in summer is amplified by the sandy soil which warms up during the day and drops quickly in temperature at night

The soil is formed from residues that originate from the decomposition and erosion of sand, clay and Pliocene chalk, which has led to dry, chalky soils on top of unconsolidated material. The soils where the majority of the vineyards are found belong to the Tertiary Era, the Palaeogene period (Eocenic-Oligenic), the right side of the Duero river being Eocene.

The soils are sandy and light, with an increase of fine elements as they go deeper. The quantity of gravel and heavier elements varies and is unevenly distributed in the different regions. They are easy to work, warm and help to speed up the ripening of grapes.

The structure of these soils allow the easy penetration of the roots to a great dept, which, to a certain degree, alleviates the lack of water due to the scarce capacity for water retention of these soils.

The soil is not very fertile and although it is true that the best wines are made in poor soils, it is important to take care that no productive factor reaches such an extreme condition that it prevents the production of balanced vines.

 The ph value, close to neutral, does not create any problems with regards to the availability of nutrients and encourages the activity of microbial flora.

There is no serious lack of oligoelements, although the iron content, which is quite high, can lead to the lower assimilation of magnesium, which is already scarce. At the same time, the low levels of organic material can accentuate the lack of magnesium, together with copper and zinc. The lack of calcium can lead to a poor assimilation of magnesium and boron.

At any rate, there are no extreme levels, from region to region, of any of the variables analysed. Nor are there any problems with neither soil salinity nor active chalk. It is important to emphasis that, due to the character of the soil in the region of Toro, there is no problem with Phyloxera.

The average meteorological variables for classification of the climate, taking into account the relation between the average annual rainfall in L/m3 and average annual temperature in ºC, are 27, according to the Lang classification, which, being less than 40, indicate that the climate is arid.

It is a continental climate with Atlantic influences. Rainfall varies between 350-400mm, with peaks in the months of May-June and December-January and a minimum in the months of July-August (drought). The average annual temperature varies between 12ºc and 13ºc with highs of 37ºc at the end of July and a low of -11ºc between the months of December and March. The average summer temperature is 23ºc with an average temperature difference between summer and winter of 18ºc.

There are 2.600 effective sunlight hours in the year, which can reach 3.000 hours, with an average of 85 cloudy and 95 clear days. Frost is certain from October to May, varying at around 85 days of frost, in the months when they do least harm.

In accordance with these characteristics, the growing cycle of the vine is about 230 days, giving greater alcohol potential and colour to the fruit, but with less fixed acidity. The scarcity of rain and the arid conditions prevent high production and lead to wines of greater alcohol content.

At the same time, the heliometric index is around 4.3, which has a favourable influence on the vineyard.

All these climactic conditions, extreme cold in winter and a great number of sunlight hours, lack of ambient humidity etc give an exceptional quality of the grape, which is essential for making good wine. As the saying goes: “In Toro the cold weather leaves sooner”.