Terra Alta (DO)

Terra Alta is a Spanish

Traditionally, due to its geographical isolation, this area traditionally only made wine for local consumption and has only recently started to produce modern

Several cooperative wineries were designed and built in the 1920s by

History

In the times of the

There are extant legal documents on the regulation of the grape and wine industry: Las Costums d’Orta dating from 1296 and Las Costums de Miravet from 1319.

During the 19th century the vinos rancios (rancid wines) from Terra Alta, such as “Amber Blanc” attained great fame.

However, the area was devastated by the outbreak of the phylloxera bug. The current vineyards were replanted (by grafting onto New World rootstock) between 1920 and 1950, largely by means of the creations of cooperatives.

Terra Alta DOP acquired official status in 1972 and there are currently around 6,000 ha covered, with 1,242 grape growers and 62 wineries registered.

Geography

The main town in the area is Gandesa. To the east the Terra Alta DO borders on Tarragona (DO), while to the west it borders on the province of Teruel. The mountains reach a height of 950 m above sea level, though the vineyards are lower down on the slopes, valleys and plateaus.

Climate

The climate is mixture of Mediterranean and continental. The summers are long, hot and dry and the winters are very cold. The average annual temperature is 16.5 °C (max 35 °C in summer, min -5 °C in winter). There is a risk of late frosts in spring. Average annual rainfall is about 400 mm. A dry wind, known as el