A Toast to Toro!

[Link] News of the Wine World: The Toro DO (located in Spain's Castilla y León comunidad autónoma) has updated its rules and regulation and now allows for the production of sparkling wines. ¡Chinchín!

This update was approved by the EU and published in the Journal of the European Union on November 14, 2024. The new products so approved include quality sparkling wines produced using the traditional method of sparkling wine production in red, white, and rosé styles.

• The allowed grape varieties include the following:
  • White grapes: Malvasía Castellano, Moscatel de Grano Menudo (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains), Verdejo, and/or Albillo Real
  • Red grapes: Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo) and/or Garnacha Tinta (Grenache Noir)

[Link] According to the Pliego de Condiciones, these grapes make the ideal base for a sparkling wine with "small intense bubbles and a persistent crown."

• The rules regarding Toro Sparkling Wines also include the following conditions:
  • Minimum of 11.% abv
  • Minimum 9 months of lees aging
  • White sparkling wines: pale yellow to golden yellow in color, clean and fruity aromas with evidence of lees aging
  • Rosé sparkling wines: pale pink to salmon in color, clean and fruity aromas with evidence of lees aging; must include a minimum of 25% red grapes
  • Red sparkling wines: cherry red to terracotta in color, clean and fruity aromas with evidence of lees aging

Note: as with all such updates, the paperwork is still winding its way through the bureaucratic back offices of the EU. As such, while this update has been approved and announced by the EU, the website of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food (Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación) has not yet posted an update to the Toro Pliego de Condiciones.

References/for more information:

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles…your blog administrator: [email protected]