Sierra de Salamanca

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The vineyards are arranged on terraces adapted to a rugged topography on the hillsides above the Alagón river and its tributaries, more pronounced toward the northwest of the zone.
• Cultivation on terraces over steep slopes ensures good sun exposure for the vines, with a mean Huglin Heliothermal Index of 2,500 for the zone.
• The rock formations are metamorphic to the west, notably greyish-green argillaceous slates of slight metamorphism attributed to the Cambrian, and plutonic to the east.
• The soils of the zone are acidic in character, unlike the general run of wine-growing districts in Castilla y León, with a mainly sandy loam texture, silty loam to the northwest and silty to the south.
• The climate is Mediterranean, with relatively short and not very cold winters and long, hot, dry summers, with abundant rainfall in autumn and spring exceeding 1,000 mm per year.

• In the late 1950s, cooperative wineries were established in the zone, introducing new techniques and contributing to the preservation of the vineyard.
• The traditional planting grid of 1.5 m × 1.5 m, with a density of 4,400 vines per hectare, is still maintained today on account of the quality of the grapes it yields.
• The district was recognised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with the right to the Vino de la Tierra designation from 1994, by means of the Order of 25 January 1994.

• The wines have a medium-high alcohol level, high and well-balanced tartaric acidity, and notes of minerality and low-growing scrubland plants such as fennel and thyme.
• On the palate they are long and unctuous, with intense flavour and finish and sweet, spicy tannins, and they show medium-high longevity with high ageing potential.

• The scant rainfall in summer and during harvest ensures the absence of cryptogamic disease and the good health of the harvested grapes.

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 PDO-ES-A0631
• Official trade body site — D.O.P. Sierra de Salamanca