Toledo
Wine Tourism amongst Castles and Vineyards
Toledo is capital of Castille-La Mancha a political, geographical and cultural region located in the southeast of Madrid. It lies on a high plateau known as “Meseta Sur” (Southern Plateau) which could successfully be a desert due to its extremely hot and dry climate, but two significant crops keep this region look like a neverending green sea of olive trees and grapevines. More than a homeland of Manchego cheese and Don Quixote, this region is a source land of almost half of Spain’s total wine production.
The first written documents about viticulture in Castile-La Mancha dates to 12th Century. Nonetheless, it is pretty evident that like in many other regions within the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) vines were introduced by the Romans. There are 9 traditional Designations of Origin within the region of Castile-La Mancha (Mentrida, Valdepenas, Jumilla, La Mancha, Almansa, Manchuela, Ribera del Jucar, Ucles and Mondejar).
A tour to Toledo and D.O. Mentrida will introduce you to the summery of Spain combining the historical city of Toledo and the introduction to the wines of the region. Culture, gastronomy, art, tradition are not the full list of what Toledo represents. It is a mixture of three cultures, Christian, Islamic and Jewish and was declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986. But still, wine and food are main characters in the life of Toledo, which is well known for the quality of its cuisine, cheese of La Mancha, olive oil, marzipan, saffron, etc.
