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How Spain’s Toro Loco illustrates tradition and modernity

21 June 2023 By db staff writer

Award-winning wine Toro Loco illustrates the potential of the region of Utiel-Requena in Spain, the producer BVC Bodegas has stated.

Created in 2009, the wine won a gold medal at IWSC competition, before retailer Aldi then “made a major contrbution” to the development of the brand in the UK, and worldwide, with it now distributed in more than 25 countries.

Terroir

Located at an elevation ranging from 600 to 900 metres above sea level, the Utiel-Requena region has a unique combination of factors that contribute to the creation of its wines.

The Mediterranean breezes that sweep through the region, coupled with the varying altitudes and wide diurnal temperature range, creates the setting for vine growth, the producer said. Warm days and cool nights offer a “perfect balance”, it said, allowing the grapes to ripen gradually while retaining their acidity and developing complex flavors.

The emblematic variety of the appellation, central to the winemaking tradition of Utiel-Requena, is the Bobal grape. This indigenous grape thrives in the region’s unique terroir, showcasing its resilience and adaptability. Known for its deep colour and this robust structure, Toro Loco blends it with Tempranillo for its superior red wine to develop aromas of strawberries and fleshy cherries.

The rosé is 100% made from bobal, with a 2022 vintage “built on freshness”, the producer said.

Community-based

Since its creation, Toro Loco has been working with 3,000 winegrower families to offer more responsible wines as well. Benefiting from a suitable climate, vines have never needed special treatments, the producer said, and in these ideal conditions it has instilled a strong ecological shift to such an extent that today 30% of the D.O. is certified. In 2014, the brand started offering its first organic wines.

The Toro Loco brand has also undergone a number of innovations, such as in 2018, when La Finca Música was created: a wine aged for 18 months in clay amphoras called Tinajas at a frequency of 432Htz – the so-called “frequency of the earth”.

It speeds up fermentation, aromas are more developed, the wine fruitier, its typicity more marked, the producer claims.

More recently the brand launched at Aldi, Toro Loco Hermanito, which means “Little brother” in Spanish, to provide an option for those who want to enjoy a great tasting wine with a lower alcohol percentage.

This light, fresh and full of juicy cherry aromas red wine is only 10% ABV.

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