Wine tourism in D.O. Terra Alta
The DO Terra Alta is located in the south of Catalonia, between the river Ebro and the lands of the Matarraña (Aragón), and comprises 12 municipal districts: Polillas, Batea, Bot, Caseres, Corbera de Ebro, La Fatarella, Gandesa, Horta, El Pinell de Brai, La Pobla de Massaluca, Prat de Comte and Vilalba dels Arcs. Today, some 5,500 hectares of vineyard are registered in the DO Terra Alta, worked by more than 1,600 winegrowers, and 45 wineries make their wines here.
A unique area for unique wines
The production and winemaking area of the DO “Terra Alta” (DOTA) is located in the south of Catalonia, between the river Ebro and the border with Aragonese lands, and comprises the 12 municipal districts of the Terra Alta county.
Its landscape retains all the characteristic features of an inland terroir close to the Mediterranean Sea: pre-littoral limestone ranges (Ports de Horta, Serres de Pàndols and Cavalls), small rivers (the Algars and the Canaletes), mountains of conglomerate rock, holm oak and white pine forests and, above all, agricultural soils tinged with the typical Mediterranean crops: almond, vine and olive.
The land and the climate
The orography of the terrain is varied and the vines are grown both in valleys and plains and on terraces that overcome the differences in level.
Zones
The cultivation soils generally have medium textures. Their common denominator is their richness in limestone and their poverty in organic matter.
Microclimates
Another of the features that asserts the inland Mediterranean character is the climate. Abundant sunshine and scarce rainfall.
Two particularities stand out: a singular balance between the two dominant winds, the Cierzo (NW) and the garbinada (southerly sea breezes), and a cold winter that denotes a certain continentality.
Whites, rosés, reds and sparkling wines are made, as well as up to 4 types of liqueur wine (white mistela, red mistela, rancio and naturally sweet wine). Despite the diversity, the singularity of the Terra Alta wines is due to the existence of a winegrowing culture with its own identity, to the location of the vineyards in a piece of the inland Mediterranean, and to the predominance of the traditional varieties, among them the Garnacha Blanca, whose white wines are those that best express the singular character of the terroir, and for this reason they are the only wines worthy of bearing on their label the specific guarantee mark, «Terra Alta Garnacha Blanca».
Experiences to enjoy in D.O. Terra Alta
Discover this wine-growing region located in the west of the province of Tarragona.
