📍 Aragon

Aragon is an autonomous community in north-eastern Spain, made up of the provinces of Huesca, Teruel and Zaragoza. According to the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, vineyards covered 35,051 ha here in 2022, about 3.9% of Spain's total. It is a land of low rainfall and sharp temperature swings, with six protected wine designations.

Almost eight tenths of the vines are in Zaragoza, 27,923 ha; Huesca has 5,355 ha and Teruel 1,773 ha. About 69% of the area, 24,290 ha, is not irrigated, while 10,761 ha is. Cariñena, Calatayud and Campo de Borja lie in Zaragoza province, Somontano around Barbastro in Huesca.

The specifications of Cariñena and Campo de Borja link the wines to low rainfall, sharp temperature swings and the cierzo wind: it increases evaporation, the vines are constantly short of water, so the grapes ripen slowly. For Calatayud, the specification credits altitude, varied soils and the gap between night and day temperatures.

Six designations hold PDO status: Cariñena (14 municipalities), Calatayud (46), Campo de Borja (16 in full and 2 in part), Somontano, and the estates Aylés and Urbezo. Garnacha (Grenache) appears in the specifications of all four zones, and Campo de Borja says it has 5,000 ha of it. Tempranillo, Macabeo, Syrah and Chardonnay grow alongside. Maximum yield for red wines ranges from 49 to 62.9 hl/ha.

Why it matters to you. Look for the designation name on the label: under the specifications, wines of Cariñena, Calatayud, Campo de Borja and Somontano are bottled inside the zone. Aragon is not just one grape, Garnacha, so check which grape and which zone the bottle names.