DO Calatayud was founded in 1989. It covers a surface-area in the province of Zaragoza which extends over exceptionally fine terrain for vine cultivation. Its wines are the result of the perfect interaction of the region’s microclimate, the wide range of soils, and the grape, the Garnacha Tinta, which is perfectly adapted to its surroundings. All of which gives rise to wines with a marked personality tailored to international tastes, given that the appellation exports 85 percent of its production.

Vine cultivation in the region dates back to 200 BCE, a fact confirmed by the discovery of a wine press in the Celtiberian village of Segeda, a place of great importance during the Numantine War, located between the municipalities of Belmonte de Gracián and Mara. However, the first written documentation about the excellent quality of the region’s wines dates back to the 1st century CE, whose author was Marcus Valerius Martialis, a Roman historian born in Augusta Bilbilis, a flourishing city of the era, near whose location the Moors founded the present city of Calatayud.

As a result, while the Romans developed vine cultivation, the Muslims abandoned it and the Christians once again highlighted its importance during the ‘Reconquista’ as a colonising crop. At the end of the 12th century the Cistercian monks encouraged vine plantation in the region and founded the ‘Monasterio de Piedra’ (The Stone Monastery). It would not be until the 20th century before another such impulse would be seen again, with the advent of phylloxera in France the region’s vineyards where extended to more than 44,000 hectares. During the sixties the viticulturists got together to create cooperatives and later applied for status as an appellation which was granted in 1989.

DO Calatayud, which currently endorses 15 registered bodegas, is located in the most westerly part of the province of Zaragoza. It brings together 46 municipalities, accumulating a total of 3,965 hectares committed to vine cultivation. The region boasts a complicated orography, located at the foot of the Moncayo mountain range and characterised by a complex hydrographical network made up of various tributaries from the River Ebro. The vineyards are spread over the hillsides, at altitudes fluctuating between 550 and 1,040 metres above sea-level. These high-altitude slopes benefit the vineyards’ ventilation but make their mechanisation very difficult, therefore most of the cultivation tasks are carried out manually, respecting the environment.

In this rolling landscape, most of the vineyards are planted in rocky soils made up of red and grey slate with traces of clay and chalk. These loose soils are poor in nutrients and have an elevated percentage of limestone which affords good drainage.