Calatayud is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) for wines located in the southwestern corner of the province of

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tribut ...

(

Aragón Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sout ...

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") , ...

) about 90 km from Zaragoza and covers over 5,600 ha, extending over 46 different municipalities, including Calatayud itself. It borders with the Cariñena (DO) in the east and with the province of

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial popula ...

in the west. It is in the

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River valley and is crisscrossed by many of the Ebro's tributaries including the

Jalón Xaló (; es, Jalón ), is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Marina Alta in the Valencian Community, Spain. Geography The town of Jalón is located in the Jalón Valley. The Jalón or Gorgos river crosses the town, which has a length of . ...

, Jiloca, Manubles,

Mesa (river) The Mesa River ( es, Río Mesa) is a river in the Sierra de Solorio range area, Iberian System, Spain. It is a tributary of the Piedra River. There are trout in the river, but the population of the endangered European freshwater crayfish in the ...

Piedra Piedra is a hair disease caused by a fungus, which causes formation of nodules on the hair shaft.Veasey JV, Avila RB, Miguel BAF, Muramatu LH. White piedra, black piedra, tinea versicolor, and tinea nigra: contribution to the diagnosis of superf ...

and

Ribota Ribota is a municipality located in the province of Segovia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2022 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given po ...

. The vineyards are found on the south facing slopes of the Sierra de la Virgen range at heights of between 550 m and 800 m above sea level.

Climate

The climate is

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (a ...

(hot dry summers and cold winters), the mean annual temperature does not exceed 13 °C, and there is a good probability of frost during six months of the year. The mean annual rainfall is between 300 mm and 500 mm per annum.

Soils

Most of the vines are planted in soils that are stoney, loose, very poor in nutrients and with a high lime content. The permeability is good so the roots are able to obtain the water and nutrients they require.

Authorised Grape varieties

The authorised grape varieties are: * Red: Garnacha Tinta,

Tempranillo Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del Pais in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its ...

, Mazuela, Monastrell,

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Leban ...

Merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to t ...

Bobal Bobal is a variety of '' Vitis vinifera'', a red grape used in winemaking. It is native to the Utiel-Requena region in Valencia, Spain. The presence of Bobal in Utiel-Requena was documented in the 15th century in "Espill o llibre de les dones� ...

, and

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeus ...

* White:

Macabeo Macabeo, also called Viura or Macabeu (, ), is a white variety of wine grape. It is widely grown in the Rioja region of northeastern Spain, the Cava producing areas south of Barcelona, and the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. Spanish ...

Malvasía Malvasia (, also known as Malvazia) is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and the island of Madeira, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the worl ...

, Moscatel de Alejandría, Garnacha Blanca,

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new ...

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

, and

Gewürztraminer Gewürztraminer () is an aromatic wine grape variety, used in white wines, and performs best in cooler climates. In English, it is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz (; although this is never the case in German, because "Gewürz" me ...

References

External links

DOP Calatayud official website
Wine regions of Spain Spanish wine Appellations Wine classification Calatayud Geography of the Province of Zaragoza Aragonese cuisine {{coord, 41, 39, N, 0, 53, W, region:ES, display=title