Wine from Aragón
The Home to Four D.O.’s
Aragón, which lies in the north-eastern part of Spain, is known to be full of castles, monasteries, and World Heritage sites.
But, being in the world-famous winemaking country, this is not devoid of wines.
As the title suggests, the region is home to as many as four D.O. wine regions.
As a whole, the region is accounted for over four billion square feet of vineyards and of these, almost 60% are found to be occupied by the four D.O. regions.
Thus, we can say that the region has focused towards enhancing its wine production techniques with a keen eye to quality.
Now, let’s see in detail about Aragón and its D.O. wine regions here…
An Overview of Aragón’s Viticultural Zone
In a word, we can describe Aragón as diverse. Topographically, this region is lying along the central part of the Ebro Valley, wherein it is found to be running encased by the two mountain ranges.
To its north, is the Pyrenees and to its south, is the Iberic system.
Due to this position of the region, the climate in the region is changing drastically from one area to another.
Thus, the region is called the land of extremes, when it comes to climate. Overall, the region is said to be experiencing a moderate continental type of climate.
Here, the altitude in a given region is the primary determinant. As such, the Pyrenees along with the other areas of elevated topography on the northern side are experiencing a cooler type of climate.
On the other hand, the areas close to the Monegros desert are experiencing a hot type of climate.
The vineyards of Aragón are planted on the heights of 500 to 1000 meters above the sea level.
However, in the middle of the region, the altitude will fall to somewhere around 200 meters. With such a diverse range of wine grape growing conditions, the region is able to produce extremely versatile styles of wine.
When it comes to viticultural activities, large cooperatives are found to be playing an important role in the production of traditional wine varieties.
These wines are mainly reds that are produced from Garnacha grape variety. Besides this, the other prominent red grape varieties include Carinena and Tempranillo.
A Look at the Region’s D.O.’s
As mentioned earlier, the region has four D.O.’s, which are as follows:
Somontano
This region, which is sheltered by the foothills of the “Pyrenees”, has been a winegrowing territory right from the traditional times.
The Somontano DO was created in the year 1984 and at present, it includes as many as 43 municipalities.
The region’s vineyards are taking up over 4300 hectares of land, which are distributed across 24 wineries.
The prominent grape varieties in this region are:
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Garnacha
- Moristel
- Parraleta
- Tempranillo
- Merlot
- Pinot Noir
- Syrah
- Macabeo
- Garnacha blanca
- Alcañón
- Chardonnay
- Gewürztraminer
Cariñena
This, which is located at the heart of the Ebro Valley, is covering 14 towns and villages. In total, this region covers almost 16,000 hectares of vine lands across 50 wineries.
This is the oldest DO designation of the region, which was created in the year 1932.
The major grape varieties of the region at present are:
- Garnacha
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Merlot
- Syrah
- Viura
- Moscatel
Campo de Borja
This, which is located in the north-eastern province of Zaragoza, is extending to 16 municipalities.
Across 16 wineries, the region has almost 7,414 hectares of vineyards.
The grape varieties that are prevalent in this region are:
- Garnacha
- Tempranillo
- Mazuela
- Cabernet
- Merlot
- Syrah
- Macabeo
- Chardonnay
- Moscatel
Calatayud
The Calatayud region is located in the westernmost part of Zaragoza, and is found to be covering almost 5400 hectares of vineyards that are distributed across 46 municipalities. This is another Garnacha-driven DO wine region in Aragón.
The other popular grape varieties of the region are:
- Tempranillo
- Mazuelo
- Viura
- Malvasia
- Chardonnay
[mr_rating_form]
Tharani Rajamanickam
Winewriter
I am Tharani, I have Bachelors degree in Biotechnology. I am passionate about the wine industry and continue to explore, learn and share and I bring in a wealth of knowledge and expertise to help you keep updated with best wines in the world. Stay tuned..
Are you a Copywriter?
We have a lot of articles without much content, if you can do it better, you are welcome to write a nice article, and get the proper credit for that. Read more information about beeing an author, and Contact us for more information.
0 Comments