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With around 500 hectares, the Toro region has the largest stock of hundred-year-old vines in Spain. This was said by the director of Bodega Numanthia, Lucas Löwi, at an event in London. Bodega Numanthia was founded in 1998 and taken over by luxury goods group LVMH in 2008. The winery owns several parcels of land that were planted 120 years ago. They are farmed organically. According to Löwi, there are vines in Toro that are up to 200 years old. The sandy soils of this region and the large distances between the vines have protected them from phylloxera.
The problem is that there is little attention for the wines of the region compared to Rioja or Ribera del Duero. Vineyards with 150-year-old vines in Toro hardly cost more than 25,000 euros per hectare. LVMH has bought some of them to prevent them from being abandoned. According to Löwi, the local variety of Tempranillo, Tinto de Toro, has adapted to the climatic conditions of the region over time and developed thicker skins and smaller berries due to the heat and sun. Therefore, the old vines had also survived the extreme conditions of the 2022 vintage well. Now, however, the heat and years of lack of rainfall would also affect them. "We are looking into the possibility of irrigating some of our very old vines. Not to increase yields, but to protect the vines," Löwi said, explaining that he will drill boreholes next year to extract groundwater from a depth of 25 metres. "The hundred-year-old vines in Toro are a unique heritage and we are committed to preserving it and transforming it into unique wines." This is why Bodega Numanthia supports "The Old Vine Conference", an international movement for the care and appreciation of old vines and their wines.
(al / source: drinksbusiness; photo: Numanthia.com)
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