Like many Spanish wine regions, it knew a heyday at the turning of the 20th century, when the French vines were destroyed by phylloxera.
The D.O. Toro was only founded in 1987 and there were only a few estates in operation at that time.
But everything changed with the new millennium, when newcomers from other wine regions settled in Toro, bought many properties estates, investing huge sums in this small region.
Today, some 40 estates are active in Toro.
The D.O. is located at the western tip of Castilla y León, between the provinces of Valladolid and Zamora. It follows the Douro River in the direction of Portugal.
The vineyard lies in altitude; between 700 and 1,100 m, so its climate is even more extreme than in Ribera del Duero.
Only the local "Tinta de Toro – a remote cousin of the Tempranillo, but much more resistant, can stand these conditions.
The soils are also very poor, so that everything is in place there to make great wines.