Somontano

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Location of the Somontano wine-growing region within Spain
The 4 wine-growing regions of Aragon with DO status

Somontano is a Spanish wine-growing region in the Aragón region . Somontano means region below the mountains . In fact, the area around the town of Barbastro is on the southern edge of the Pyrenees at an altitude of 350 to 650 m. Politically, it belongs to the Comarca Somontano de Barbastro . The mountains protect the growing area from cold north winds. The amount of precipitation is 550 mm / year; the temperature differences between the cold winters and the hot summers are high.

The area has had DO (Denominación de origen) status since 1984 . The development since then has been very positive: the area under vines has increased from 1,300 hectares to 4,600 hectares today. 42 communities are located in the Somontano area.

Approved varieties are the red Moristel , Tempranillo , Garnacha , Parraleta , Cabernet Sauvignon , Merlot , Pinot Noir and Syrah and the white Macabeo , Garnacha blanca , Alcañón , Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer . 15% of the output is white wines , the rest red wines and a very small proportion of rosé wines .

history

Historically, the region in the Alto Aragón experienced its first peak from 1894. The Lalanne family owns vineyards in Bordeaux that fell victim to phylloxera . When looking for areas that are still intact, Somontano is chosen in northern Spain and the predominantly South American customers are supplied with wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The wines are also very successful in Spain (Lalanne is appointed purveyor to the court of the then King Alfonso XIII ). This success quickly caught on and so, according to conservative estimates, around 100,000 hectares of vineyards were planted at the end of the 19th century (30 times more than today!). The enthusiasm suddenly ends when the north of Spain is also attacked by phylloxera. After a long period of inactivity, the area only came to life in the 1980s, and some of the best wines in Spain have been grown for the last ten years or so.

Web links

literature

  • John Radford: The New Spain. A complete guide to contemporary Spanish Wine. Mitchell Beazley, London 1998, ISBN 1-85732-254-1 .
  • Jan Read: Spain's Wines 2005/06. 7th, revised, updated edition. Hallwag im Gräfe und Unzer Verlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-7742-6962-9 .
  • Jancis Robinson : The Oxford Wine Lexicon . 3rd, completely revised edition. Hallwag im Gräfe und Unzer Verlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-8338-0691-9 .
  • Jeremy Watson: The new & classical Wines of Spain. Montagud Editores, Barcelona 2002, ISBN 84-7212-087-2 .