Teso la Monja is a red wine produced by the winery Teso la Monja, in Valdefinjas (Zamora), within D.O. Toro.
The winery Teso La Monja was founded in 2007 by the Eguren family, a family that originated in La Rioja and that has a great wine tradition (Sierra Cantabria).
In love with the old vineyards in the area, Miguel and Marcos Eguren founded the first winery in Toro, the famous Numanthia Termes winery. There, they produced one of the great Spanish wines of all time, Termanthia, with which they obtained a precious rating of 100 Parker points. In 2008, already with the foundations of Teso La Monja well settled down, they sold Numanthia Termes to the French group Louis Vuitton-Möet Hennessy.
Teso la Monja is located in the municipality of Valdefinjas, province of Zamora. The winery owns 92 hectares, and some of its vineyards are pre-phylloxera with over 130 years of age. The vineyards are subjected to a harsh continental climate, with very hot summers and very cold winters that mark the opulent character of its wines. The land is cultivated with respect for the surroundings and the environment, applying the minimum possible interventions when working on the land. They avoid using herbicides and systemic products. They look for the natural balance of the vineyard, with small productions of between 1,000 and 2,000 kg/ha, and they achieve wines of maximum purity and identified with the terroir.
Teso la Monja is a red wine produced by the winery tinta de toro and which comes from a small 1.8-hectare vineyard. The pre-phylloxera vines are planted in vase-shape at an altitude of 775 metres, on soils with slight limestone veins. The cultivation of this exceptional vineyard is under the precepts of biodynamics, preserving the principle of minimal intervention to obtain the maximum character and identity of the terroir and the grape.
They are manually harvested and placed in small boxes. Once in the winery, and after going through a double selection table, the grapes are destemmed by hand, berry by berry, by a team of 55 people. After the stalks are separated from the berries, all the grapes are placed in a wooden vat. Here, once the alcoholic fermentation has started, 40% of these grapes are stomped manually (between 25-50 cm), an operation performed three times a day during a hour and half. After the alcoholic fermentation, the grapes go through the malolactic fermentation in a French oak Ovum, Taransaud. The ageing takes place in new French oak barrels of fine grain and medium toasting for 24 months.
Teso la Monja is an extraordinary wine. An oenological gem that enhances Spanish viticulture.