Tierra del Vino de Zamora

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The delimited zone is situated on the Northern Plateau (Meseta Norte), in the Duero River basin, at a mean altitude of 750 metres, with terrain predominantly between 700 and 900 metres above sea level.
• The climate is Mediterranean with strong continental influence, annual rainfall is low at 350 to 400 millimetres, summers are dry, and winters are harsh and very long.
• The frost-free period is set at 190 days per year, the active growing season at 210 days, and effective sunshine hours exceed 2,800 per year.
• Soils have a markedly alluvial character, as the zone is crossed by river channels including the Duero, the Valdearaduey, and the Guareña; they are deep and poor in organic matter (less than 1%).
• The most representative soil type is fine-sandy and clayey throughout all horizons, with sand on the plains, gravels on the slopes, and pebbles predominating on the higher ground, with a pH ranging from 6.0 to 8.0.

• The vineyards of the delimited zone have a mean age of 61 years, with many plots over a hundred years old because phylloxera barely affected the area.
• Malvasía, the white variety cultivated in the zone, represents in Zamora one of the last remaining refuges of this variety on the Iberian Peninsula.
• In the Middle Ages, the Tierra de Zamora was organised so that the Tierra del Pan supplied grain and the Tierra del Vino provided wine to the city.
• In 1489, ordinances were enacted prohibiting the entry into the Tierra de Zamora of wine harvested in villages outside its jurisdiction.
• Since the Middle Ages, the delimited zone has held the distinction of being the only place name in the geography of Spain that makes reference to a Tierra del Vino.

• The red wines display an intense red colour, great depth of colour, high tannin content, and substantial structure, making them particularly well suited to ageing and very long-lived.
• The wines are high in alcoholic strength and moderately low in acidity, highly aromatic with a strong presence of ripe fruit, broad on the palate, and with a long, lingering finish.

• The natural factors — especially low rainfall, high sunshine levels, temperature, and soils — combined with viticultural practices and the high mean age of the vineyards, allow for uniform ripening, which determines the high sugar content, moderately low acidity, and aromatic potential of the 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-A0634
• Official trade body site — D.O. Tierra del Vino de Zamora