Toro is a region in Spain's Castilla y Leon, a northwestern province that hugs Portugal and spans east to Rioja's western border.
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While the wines of Toro were quite famous during medieval times, the region was devastated by phylloxera at the end of the 19th century. For the next 100 years, the Toro was most famous for its production of bulk wine.
Yet there remained a rich winemaking heritage and small pockets of old, ungrafted vines - the "lucky ones" that survived phylloxera. In 1987, the Toro DO was created with just four wineries.
Today, there are over 40 wineries in the region.
Vineyards sit at relatively high altitudes - between 600 and 750 meters above sea level - on a bed of clay, sand and calcareous soils. The summer growing season is long, hot and dry with quite crisp evenings.
The local Tinta de Toro is a strain of Tempranillo that's perfectly adapted to this region's climatic extremes.