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Some of Spain’s most exciting wines emanate from the
area northwest of Madrid. The denomination of Toro (established
1987), which lies adjacent to DO Rueda and DO Ribera del Duero,
at the western end of the Duero river valley, stands out in
particular for its Red wines. In fact, many winewriters believe
that, all though it is a relatively unknown denomination in
the Zamora province, Toro is indeed Spain’s most promising
wine region. Once it was known for dark, thick, brusque and
powerful wines that lived up to their name (Toro, its capital,
means ‘bull’ in Spanish) easily reaching 17 degrees
of alcohol without assistance. But now Toro is being touted
as the ‘Priorato of Castile’. The region takes
its name from the small town, Toro, which lies east of Zamora.
Most of the vineyards lie to the south and west of the town,
on Spain’s central plateau, 600-750m above sea level.
Located in an isolated, breathtaking location five miles south
of Toro, Quinta Quietud, meaning 'Estate of Tranquility',
was founded in 1999, and it belongs to four wine-lovers from
Valladolid and Barcelona. The oenologist, Jean Francois Hebrard,
came to Spain to work on this project attracted by the terroirs
of Toro. He used to work in the Rhone Valley in France and
has a long family tradition of winemaking. Quinta Quietud
owns 22 hectares of Tinta
de Toro, all in bush plantation. These vineyards, aged
from 3 to 85 years, surround the winery and are planted on
the hillsides of different types of soils ranging from sandy
and rocky soils to clay soils. A topsoil made up of river
stones with a subsoil of sand and clay provide good water
retention. Low fertility of organic matter gives low yields
(2 kilos per vine) thus more concentration of aromas and flavours.
Low surface humidity prevents rot and fungal disease while
the high pH content of the clay subsoil maintains the grapes'
refreshing acidity. It is also Toro’s exceptional climate
which allows very healthy grapes to grow - hot dry summers
with temperatures of up to 40¾C and very cold winters with
frost possible from the beginning of October until the end
of April. Extreme differences between day and night temperatures
allow the grapes to ripen fully while maintaining balance
of acidity. Rainfall is low, only 250-500mm per year, most
of which falls in the Spring. Toro has over 3000 hours of
sunshine per year.
Quinta Quietud produce two styles of red wines, 'Corral de
Campanas' and 'Quinta Quietud', the latter being the flagship
wine, coming from the oldest vineyards.
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