Spain · Toro

Bodegas Iturria

Bordeaux-trained Xavier Iturria founded this small Toro estate in 2009, farming ungrafted old vines at 700 metres and ageing Tinta de Toro in French oak to produce wines that run counter to the appellation's bulk-red reputation.

The producer

Xavier Iturria spent ten years working cellars in Ribera del Duero, Rioja, and Toro before founding Bodegas Iturria in 2009. He arrived in Toro with a qualification from Bordeaux and a specific target: ungrafted old vines on the high plateau at 700 metres, where the elevation delays ripening enough to keep acidity present in a grape that at lower altitudes runs toward extraction and weight. Toro had long supplied bulk red wine to a market that did not ask many questions. Iturria came in the opposite direction.

The estate runs two wines. Tinto Iturria, a blend of 90% Tinta de Toro and 10% Grenache, is firm, fruited, and accessibly priced, with tannins that are firm and fine rather than rough and a balance that surprises at the price point. Valdosan comes from 60-year-old ungrafted vines aged 22 months in French oak: more concentrated, broader in the mid-palate, built for time in bottle. Bodegas Iturria joined D.O. Toro formally in July 2015, six years after founding.

Known for

Tinta de Toro from ungrafted vines at 700 metres; two-tier range anchored by Valdosan reserve.

Notable facts

The story

Ten Years Across Spain

In 1999 Xavier Iturria took a cellar job in Ribera del Duero carrying a qualification from Bordeaux and no estate of his own. Over the following decade he moved through Rioja and then Toro, working harvests in three of Spain's most demanding appellations while keeping a clear picture of what he wanted to do differently. Toro was producing powerful, extracted reds for a market that did not ask too many questions. Iturria kept watching the ungrafted old vines on the high-plateau parcels above the valley floor: vines that had survived without the grafted rootstock every other major European wine region had needed after phylloxera. In 2009 he founded Bodegas Iturria on those parcels, 700 metres up, and started ageing the fruit in French oak in a region where that was not the reflex move. The D.O. Toro regulatory body did not formally recognise the estate until July 2015. By then the wine had already found its audience.

From the atlas

Bodegas Iturria

At A Glance

Producer: Bodegas Iturria Appellation: D.O. Toro, Castilla y León, Spain Grapes: Tinta de Toro, Grenache Elevation: 700 metres Range: Tinto Iturria (entry), Valdosan (reserve) Vines: Ungrafted rootstock, 20 to 60 years old

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

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.

Soil And Site

The Toro plateau is predominantly sandy and clay-based, laid over deeper limestone and alluvial subsoils from the Duero. Sandy topsoil is the dominant factor that explains the presence of ungrafted vines: phylloxera, the aphid that devastated European vineyards in the late nineteenth century, cannot propagate easily in loose sandy ground. The Iturria parcels have never needed grafted rootstock, which means the vines grow on their own roots, drawing from the soil in the way they would without any intervention in the root system. Vines across the estate range from 20 to 60 years old; the oldest parcels, farmed for Valdosan, were planted when Toro was still producing primarily for bulk.

Story

Xavier Iturria began his wine career in 1999, working through cellars in Ribera del Duero, Rioja, and Toro over the following decade. Those three appellations cover the range of Tempranillo-family winemaking in northern and central Spain: Ribera del Duero for international-facing modern Tempranillo, Rioja for traditional aged blends and oak-driven ageing, Toro for raw, high-altitude power with a reputation for agricultural production over craft. Each region taught Iturria something different about what the grape could do.

He founded Bodegas Iturria in 2009 with a specific intention: to farm old ungrafted vines in Toro at high elevation and apply the French oak ageing techniques from his Bordeaux training. French oak ageing, careful blending, and an entry-level wine designed to compete on quality rather than volume. Six years later, in July 2015, Bodegas Iturria was formally incorporated into D.O. Toro, bringing the total number of protected appellations members to 58. For a small estate founded by a single winemaker against the grain of regional convention, it was a formal acknowledgment that the approach had taken hold.

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

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.

In The Glass

Tinto Iturria opens with dark cherry and dried spice, the Tinta de Toro grape's characteristic combination of deep colour and relatively high tannin, moderated by the Grenache component and oak ageing. On the palate the tannins are firm and fine rather than aggressive, with red fruit running through the mid-palate and a clean, spiced finish. The wine has genuine balance and does not drink like an extraction exercise.

Valdosan shows the older vines and longer oak time from the first pour. The colour is darker, the nose more concentrated, with dark fruit and the earthy depth that comes from vines with deep root systems in sandy Toro soil. In the mouth the wine is broad and long, with acidity running beneath the fruit and tannins that need time to fully open. The 700-metre freshness is most legible in Valdosan: where a lower-altitude Toro might feel heavy at this concentration level, the wine carries its weight without losing movement.

A Bottle To Understand It

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.

Anecdote

In 1999 Xavier Iturria took a cellar job in Ribera del Duero with a qualification from Bordeaux and no estate of his own. Over the following ten years he moved through Rioja and then Toro, working harvests in some of Spain's most demanding appellations while carrying in his head a clear idea of what he wanted to do differently. Toro was producing powerful, extracted reds for a market that did not ask too many questions. Iturria kept watching the ungrafted old vines on the high-plateau parcels above the valley floor, vines that had survived without the grafting that every other major European wine region had needed after the phylloxera crisis. In 2009 he founded Bodegas Iturria on those parcels, 700 metres up, and started ageing the fruit in French oak in a region where that was not the reflex move. The approach was quiet enough that the D.O. Toro regulatory body did not formally recognise the estate until July 2015. By then the wine had already found its audience.

Final Word

Bodegas Iturria is a small estate doing patient work in an appellation that rewarded patience slowly. Xavier Iturria spent a decade learning the grape before he grew it for himself. The ungrafted old vines, the high-plateau elevation, and the French oak ageing are not novelties; they are the tools of a winemaker who knew what he wanted to make before he had land to make it on. Tinto Iturria is where to start: firm, balanced, and fairly priced. Valdosan is where the old vines say the rest.

Sources

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