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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 valley of the River Duero, stands
out in particular for its red wines. In fact, many winewriters
believe that, all though it is a relatively unknown denomination
in the province of Zamora, Toro is in fact Spain’s most
promising wine region. Once it was known for dark, thick,
brusque and powerful wines that lived up to their name (Toro
means ‘bull’ in Spanish), easily reaching 17 degrees
of alcohol without assistance. But now Toro is being put forward
as the ‘Priorato of Castile’. The region takes
its name from the small capital 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.
Situated in an isolated, breathtaking location five miles
south of Toro, Quinta de la Quietud, meaning 'Estate of Tranquility',
was founded in 1999, and 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
his family has a long tradition of winemaking. Quinta de la
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
hillsides of different types of soils ranging from sandy and
rocky 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) and 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
frosts 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 de la 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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