Hi Julien, That was a really excellent and informative video. I'm the odd one out because I certainly know this wine and the bodega it comes from. Cards on the table my wife's family come from Valladolid and Toro is just to the west. I've visited Toro many times and I'm well acquainted with wines from Toro. A branch of the family even produce a low intervention, organic wine from Toro. I should also mention that many of the vines from Toro survived phylloxera. Valladolid is a great place for wine lovers. Ribera on the doorstep to the east; Toro on the doorstep to the west and Cigales on the doorstep to the north. I haven't even mentioned the white wines like Rueda but all these Denominacions also make whites. You are a bit of a tease Julien. I thought that glass of red on the table was the legendary wine and we would get some notes. I've never tasted it and can't for the life of me understand the price. However, I've been a big fan of their 'Almirez' for years. I did once buy a bottle of the Victoriana, which today is three times the price, and didn't think it was much better. My problem with the price of the 'most expensive bottle' is that it hardly scores any better than the Almirez by 'you know who' and he likes to give big scores for this kind of wine. By the way, prices of any Spanish wine that whiffs of great price/quality is going up. WT
Toro make great wine. It's full and robust but definitely 'old world'. My favourite 'bang for buck' from this winery is the 'Almirez'. I've tried its cheaper and more expensive partners and the Almirez is the one to get. The stupid price bottle is for those with money to burn.
Hi Mark. I know the area really well. I don't know what your plans are but I'll make a couple of suggestions if wine is part of your journey. If you fly to Madrid you can connect to the underground from the airport (ticket machines in English). Go to Chamartín where you can get a train to Valladolid. It's a 1 hour journey. Valladolid is the capital of Castile and the best place to explore the wine of the region. Toro to the west, Ribera to the east, Cigales to the north and on it goes. If you have a car you're sorted but you can get see a lot with public transport and the coach and train stations are close to one another. You can get a bus from Valladolid to Toro. Rioja is a different bag. The best way of visiting is with a car. A great region to visit with a lot of ancient history. You might contemplate arriving in Bilbao or Santander and travelling south. (Food is amazing too.) You might contemplate flying to Madrid and getting public transport to El Burgo de Osma (amazing place) and hiring a car from there to explore Rioja and Ribera. Hope you have a great time. WT
