Bierzo is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) for wines located in the northwest of the province of León ( Castile and León,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

) and covers about 3,000 km². It borders on the provinces of

Ourense Ourense (; es, Orense ) is a city and capital of the province of Ourense, located in the autonomous community of Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path of the Way of St James ( Camino de Santiago), and is crossed by t ...

Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 98,025 in 2018, making it the fourth most populous city in Gal ...

and

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensi ...

in the north and in the south on areas of La Montaña, la Cabrera and La Meseta, in Léon. The area consists of numerous small valleys in the mountainous part (

Alto Bierzo The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses b ...

) and of a wide, flat plain (

Bajo Bierzo The Bajo, Bajonese, Bajonesian, or Wajo, Wajonese ( bug, ᨈᨚ ᨓᨍᨚ, To Wajo; pey, Badjo; nl, Badjo, ) are the indigenous Indonesian ethnic group native to the Bajo Island of Lesser Sunda Islands (''Nusa Tenggara'') in Indonesia. These ...

). The DO covers 23 municipalities including the largest town of the area,

Ponferrada Ponferrada () is a city of Spain, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Ponferrada, the second most populated municipality of the Province of León, is also the capital city of El Bierzo, the only ''comarca'' recognized as ...

(population about 70,000).

History