Why it matters
The producer
Xavier Iturria founded Bodegas Iturria in 2009 in D.O. Toro, a Castilla y León appellation that had long exported bulk red wine and attracted prestige investment from outside the region. He arrived with a qualification in oenology and viticulture from Bordeaux and a decade of cellar work across Ribera del Duero, Rioja, and Toro itself. He chose one of Spain's most demanding high-plateau sites, found parcels with ungrafted old vines, and set about farming them the way Bordeaux had taught him to think: carefully, with French oak, and without the yield-driven logic that had defined most Toro production.
The estate joined D.O. Toro formally in July 2015, six years after founding. Two wines define the range. Tinto Iturria, a blend of ninety percent Tinta de Toro and ten percent Grenache, is the entry-level bottle: firm, fruited, and sharply priced. Valdosan comes from 60-year-old ungrafted vines and carries old-vine concentration.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Toro sits in the western Castilla y León, along the Duero river basin, at elevations that range between roughly 620 and 750 metres above sea level. The appellation is built around Tinta de Toro, a clone of Tempranillo adapted over centuries to the extreme conditions of the high plateau: continental winters, dry summers, and fierce sun that pushes grapes toward deep colour, thick skins, and natural high alcohol. Most Toro from lower-lying sites produces wines of considerable weight and extracted tannin.
At 700 metres, the Iturria vineyard sits near the top of that range. The extra elevation delays ripening slightly, extends the growing season, and pulls acidity higher than the Toro average. At 700 metres, the wine has depth of colour and grip with altitude-driven freshness. The appellation label reads D.O. Toro on every bottle; the elevation is what separates the wine's character from the bulk-red category that the name has sometimes implied.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The ungrafted vines at Iturria are not a marketing point; they are a physical consequence of site. Sandy Toro soils did not host phylloxera, so there was no historical need to graft, and the old rootstock has remained. Own-rooted vines tend to grow more slowly, produce lower yields, and develop deeper root systems over time, which concentrates flavour in the fruit and gives wines a different texture from grafted plantings on the same soil type.
Valdosan draws specifically from the oldest parcels, where 60-year-old vines produce a small crop of intensely flavoured Tinta de Toro. The wine spends 22 months in French oak, long enough to integrate the grape's firm tannin without dominating the fruit character. Tinto Iturria is aged in oak too, though for a shorter period, and the ten percent Grenache in the blend softens the Tinta de Toro's natural grip and adds a red-fruit lift.
Wines to know
The range in view
Tinto Iturria is a blend of 90% Tinta de Toro and 10% Grenache. The Grenache component lightens the frame of what is otherwise a deeply coloured, tannic grape, contributing red cherry and dried herb to the wine's spiced, dark-fruit profile. The tannins are firm but fine rather than rough; the wine has oak integration and a balance at the price without being a compromise of the appellation's character.
Valdosan is the estate's reserve tier: pure Tinta de Toro from 60-year-old ungrafted vines, aged 22 months in French oak. The wine carries more concentration than Tinto Iturria, more depth of colour, and a broader mid-palate. Power and freshness run together in it, which is the altitude's contribution: the high plateau gives the grape its characteristic dark-fruit richness, while the 700-metre elevation provides enough coolness to keep acidity present rather than lost. Valdosan is built for time in bottle.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Tinto Iturria is the right first bottle. It is 90% Tinta de Toro, the grape that defines this appellation and this winemaker's work, with ten percent Grenache to soften the approach. In the glass it gives dark cherry, spiced red fruit, firm tannins that are firm rather than rough, and a finish with genuine balance and length. It is priced accessibly, which makes the quality of the tannin work and the overall integration more surprising. It tells you what Xavier Iturria is trying to do with Toro: make a wine from Tinta de Toro and Grenache, then age it in French oak.