El Toro Spanish Crianza & Verdejo

Victoria Benavides

Victoria Benavides makes the rich, ripe and instantly appealing Elias Mora Semicrianza, and the powerful, raisiny, and caramel tinged Gran Elias Mora, from the Toro grape, Tinto de Toro. The advantage, she points out, of being the owner and winemaker is that she can take risks such as leaving the grapes that bit longer on the vine to ensure the flavours and ripeness are just as she wants. Her approach to her wine is like that of a cook-the flavours are not always identical every time, and the use of oak depends on the results of each vintage. The wines are made from 100% free standing, very old Tinta de Toro bushes that grow on sandy soils covered with rocks. The winery is named after Elias Mora, the man who owned some of the core vineyards for the production of the Victoria’s red wine. A few years ago, he sold his vineyard to Dos Victorias on the condition that he tend the vineyard until his death.