Wine tourism in D.O. Tierra del vino de Zamora
In 1997, a group of winegrowers and winemakers from the area set out to put an end to the trend of vine grubbing-up, taking the first steps in search of a Denomination of Origin. After more than six years working on the qualification and certification of wines, first as “Vino de la Tierra” and later as “Vino de Calidad con Indicación Geográfica”, in the “Boletín Oficial de Castilla y León” no. 81, dated 27 April 2007, Order AYG/782/2007 of 24 April was published, by which the v.c.p.r.d. Denomination of Origin “Tierra del Vino de Zamora” was recognised and the Regulations were approved.
A unique area for unique wines
The Tierra del Vino county is located within the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León (Spain), specifically in the south-east of the Province of Zamora.
It covers both banks of the river Duero, the Spanish wine river par excellence, and is crossed from north to south by the Roman Vía de la Plata (the Southern Way of St James).
With a total surface area of 1,799 square km, it encompasses a total of 56 municipalities, of which 46 belong to the province of Zamora and 10 are in the lands of Salamanca.
The land and the climate
Both climatic and edaphological factors contribute to making vine cultivation the main vocation of our lands, favouring the production of grapes of excellent quality.
Zones
“Tierra del Vino” is crossed by multiple watercourses, which is why the soils of our county have a marked alluvial character. They are deep soils, poor in organic matter, very permeable and with good retention capacity. At depth they are very clayey. On the surface, in the plains the presence of sand is very frequent, on the slopes gravels begin to appear and on the heights pebbles predominate.
Microclimates
The climate of Tierra del Vino is extreme continental and arid, with very cold winters and dry, hot summers. The average winter temperature does not exceed 3º C and the summer one reaches 23º C. Rainfall is scarce and its annual average barely reaches 400 mm. The average altitude of Tierra del Vino is around 750 m above sea level. In general terms it can be specified that, within the parameters mentioned, the climate varies in our county, losing humidity and gaining temperature as one advances from north to south. The frost-free period is set at approximately one hundred and ninety days a year and the average active growing period at two hundred and ten days. Effective sunshine exceeds 2,800 hours/year.
Main:Red: Tempranillo.White: Malvasía, small-berried Moscatel and Verdejo.Complementary:Red: Garnacha and Cabernet-Sauvignon.White: Albillo, Palomino and Godello.The studies of our Technical Services indicate that the average production per hectare in Tierra del Vino is around 3,500 kg for the red varieties and 5,000 kg for white varieties. The most common planting density of the goblet-trained plots varies between the 1,111 vines per hectare of the 3.00 x 3.00 spacings and the 1,008 of the 3.15 x 3.15 spacings. In the case of trellises, of more recent planting, the most common spacings are 3.00 x 1.50 and 3.00 x 1.30 with respective densities of 2,222 and 2,564 vines per hectare. At this time the percentage of trellised vineyard with respect to the total registered vineyard is approximately 18.66%. The average age of the vineyards registered with our Regulatory Council is put at 65 years.
Experiences to enjoy in D.O. Tierra del vino de Zamora
Discover this wine-growing region located in the south-east of the province of Zamora.
