The
winemaking tradition in the Toro region dates back to even earlier than Roman
times, as has been established from the archaeological remains unearthed in the
region. Its fame spread in the Middle Ages, during the 12th
and 13th centuries, when royal
privileges were granted to Toro wines. It is also claimed that they
were the wines that Columbus took with him across the Atlantic when he set off
to discover America and the region was one of those that supplied wine to
France when it was struck by the phylloxera plague at the start of the 20th
century.