Terra Alta

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The geographical zone encompasses pre-coastal calcareous mountain ranges, the Puertos de Horta, and the sierras of Pàndols and Cavalls, together with conglomerate rock mountains such as Puig Cavaller.
• Vineyard plantings are situated at approximately 350 to 550 metres above sea level, within the zone's broader elevation range of 250 to 1,000 metres above sea level.
• Viticultural soils display a minimum of 8 edaphic profiles according to the USDA classification, including the Xeric-Lithic Torriorthent and the Xeric Petrocalcic, with a predominance of loam textures and high levels of calcium carbonate and active limestone.
• The zone's dry Mediterranean climate records a mean annual temperature of 14.6 °C and rainfall of 485 to 592 mm, with cold winters that reflect a degree of continentality outside the vegetative period.
• Two winds predominate: the Cierzo, a dry northwesterly blowing from September to June, and the Garbinada, a southerly and southeasterly sea breeze occurring from June to August.
• Gradient defines three types of cultivation sites: hillside sites with slopes equal to or greater than 10%, flat sites with slopes below 10%, and terraced sites with very little or no slope.

• A historical record dated 1647 documents a planting of 'Vernatxa', possibly white, by Mossén Onofre Catalán in the municipal district of Gandesa.
• Traditional white wines, known as vírgenes or 'brisats', are produced by fermenting whole crushed white grapes, and this heritage is maintained in the skin-contact maceration of contemporary white wines.
• The zone is the world's wine-producing region with the highest concentration of the Garnacha blanca variety, a grape with a long historical tradition in the comarca.

• The protected white wines display a distinctively saline character on the palate and notable length, a consequence of the calcareous nature of the viticultural soils.
• Traditional white wines, known as brisados, are vinified as if they were reds and are powerful, robust, full-bodied, and high in alcohol. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)
• The Mediterranean and southerly character of the zone conditions aging potential, such that only exceptional harvests rated very good or excellent yield wines capable of aging beyond five years.

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-A1556
• Official trade body site — DO Terra Alta