Campo de Cartagena

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The Campo de Cartagena is a gently sloping plain oriented northeast–southeast, bounded to the north by the Prelittoral Ranges, which reach 1,605 m at the Sierras de Carrascoy.
• To the south it is bounded by the Littoral Ranges, oriented west–east, with a maximum elevation of 684 m at Peñas Blancas, descending toward the sea to Cabo de Palos, while to the east it borders the Mar Menor.
• The climate is Mediterranean with a sub-desert character, featuring mild winters averaging between 10 °C and 12 °C, hot summers averaging between 24 °C and 27 °C, and a mean annual temperature of around 17 °C.
• Rainfall averages around 300 mm, unevenly distributed across the year; autumn and winter are the wettest seasons, while summer is very dry, with rainfall that is occasionally torrential.
• The soils of the district are of the Calcixeroll type, formed on carbonated silty materials; they are generally deep, although mechanical breaking of the calcic hardpan—typical of calcareous soils in arid climates—is sometimes required.

• Cartagena wine was exported to Rome in amphorae, reaching its peak during the 2nd century AD, when the port served as the logistical hub for that trade.
• Between 1870 and 1890 the vineyard area expanded through the clearance of new land, driven by French demand for wine following the outbreak of phylloxera in France.
• In 1929 the writer Joaquín Belda described the "Vino del Plan de Cartagena," a traditional white wine made from sun-dried Meseguera grapes—golden in colour, full-bodied, and often rancio in character from ageing in old casks.
• This district produces the earliest harvests on the Spanish mainland and the first young white wines of the new vintage.

• Red varieties are characterised by high levels of colour pigments and tannins, producing wines that are rounded and well-structured.

• The climatic conditions endow white varieties with high sugar and glycerol levels and a well-balanced acidity, yielding wines that are aromatic, fresh, and fruit-forward.
• The low risk of spring frosts, high sunshine hours, and mild temperatures conferred by the influence of the Mediterranean Sea make it possible to achieve natural over-ripening in white varieties, creating optimal conditions for semi-sweet and sweet wines.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the specification (pliego de condiciones).

All appellations in Spain

Sources

• National pliego de condiciones (PDF)
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PGI-ES-A0607