Tierra de Léon

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Tierra de León (also called Vinos de León) is a wine-growing area within the district Valdevimbre - Los Oteros and is located on the southeastern edge of the province of León , part of the autonomous region of Castile-León . The area includes some municipalities in the neighboring province of Valladolid . The region covers a total of 2,733 square kilometers, of which around 7,000 hectares are planted with vines. 6,000 hectares are part of the Vinos de la Tierra de León country wine area, which has been in existence since April 1999 . The vineyards are at an altitude of 750 - 860  msnm , so similar to the Ribera del Duero growing area. As in Ribera, the climate is also continental. The average annual rainfall is around 500 mm.

The area has applied for a conversion into a DO . Around 2000 hectares of particularly suitable vineyards were recorded for this purpose.

The specialty of the region lies in the local grape variety Prieto Picudo (vineyards approx. 2000 hectares ). Prieto Picudo is a classic rosado grape variety. The rosé is fresh and slightly tart, has an alcohol content of 12 ° and retains a lot of the carbonic acid that is created in the Madreo process. Whole grapes are added to the must in order to trigger a second partial fermentation. The first fermentation slows down, the wines become more aromatic and fuller.

In addition to the Prieto Picudo, the Mencia is a widespread grape variety. The red Tempranillo (called Tinto Fino here) and Garnacha Tinta round off the range of red grape varieties.

The white wines are dominated by Verdejo , which is stronger in this region than in Rueda DO . Albariño and Palomino are grown as complementary varieties . Overall, white wines only play a minor role with a share of 15%.

The Vino Tierra de León association currently has 23 bodegas . Thirteen wineries also bottle, the other ten sell barrels.

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 .
  • Jeremy Watson: The new & classical Wines of Spain. Montagud Editores, Barcelona 2002, ISBN 84-7212-087-2 .