Valle de la Orotava

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The production area occupies the northern slope of the Cordillera Dorsal of Tenerife and forms a depression of about 150 km² that descends from around 2,000 m in altitude down to sea level.
• The valley is flanked by the escarpments of Tigaiga and Santa Úrsula, and the vineyard lies between 400 and 800 metres above sea level in the municipalities of La Orotava, Los Realejos and Puerto de La Cruz.
• The climate is favoured by the moisture-laden trade winds that blow year-round and by the cold Canary Current of the Atlantic, which moderate temperatures.
• Average annual climatological data include a summer maximum temperature of 37 °C, a winter minimum of 7 °C, average rainfall of 465 mm and average sunshine of 2,000 hours of light per year.
• The soils are 70% volcanic in character, 20% clayey and the remaining 10% volcanic rock, being light, permeable, rich in mineral nutrients and with a slightly acidic pH.

• During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries the Malvasía wine of the Valle de La Orotava reached such heights that Puerto de la Cruz became the leading port of the Canary Archipelago, with some 30,000 pipes of malvasía wine exported in a single year.
• The English colony settled in Puerto de la Cruz founded in 1665 the monopolistic company 'Compañía de Canarias' to control the export trade in wines, and at the 1674 harvest as many as 150 English ships anchored to await the wines.
• By the mid-18th century, faced with the crisis of Canary malvasía wine and falling prices, growers turned to 'Vidueño', which was cheaper to produce and easily converted into brandy for export to Cuba, Yucatán and Venezuela.
• The vineyard is grown on slopes and gullies using fixed pergolas (parrales) about 60 cm high, with multiple braided cordons trained from 1.5 m up the trunk, with vines averaging 50 years of age.

• The wines of the appellation are fresh and persistent, with a low acidity that characterises them sensorially.
• The wines display a wide range of colours, spanning whites, rosés and reds.

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-A1040
• Official trade body site — D.O. Valle de la Orotava