A Spanish region that’s built its fame around crafting concentrated and alcoholic reds is pushing for a rule-change to gain regulatory approval for sparkling wines – but why?
The area is Toro, a DO in northwest Spain within Castile and Léon, that’s created a following for especially powerful red wines – a result of its hot continental climate and old, low-yielding vineyards planted with Tinto de Toro, which is another name for Tempranillo. But in a contrasting development, producers in the DO are hoping they will soon be able to use the Toro name on traditional-method sparkling wines made from grapes grown within the region’s boundaries. News of the move came from general secretary for Toro’s consejo regulador, Rubén Gil Alfageme, who told db at a tasting of the region’s wines in London last week that he was “waiting” for a change in the rules, which currently forbid sparkling wine producers from using the DO on the label. Although the consejo regulador is in favour of the rule-change, and the development has been approved by Spain’s agricultural ministry, Rubén said that Toro was now waiting for the European Union to allow the move, having “sent the papers to Brussels”. As a result, he said, “Maybe in 10 months’ time it will be a reality to have sparkling wines in Toro.” This change will be for fizz that’s bottle-fermented like Champagne, and made in styles from white to rosé, along with sparkling red too, and employing all the grape varieties currently
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Wine
