Wine culture reached Catalonia around the sixth century BC thanks to the most important Greek colony in the country, Empúries. Four centuries later, the wines of the Emporiae territories were well-known in domestic markets, in other provinces of the Roman Empire and in the metropolis itself.
In the Middle Ages, the slopes of Mount Rodes were covered in staggered terraces planted with vines, supervised by the Monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the vineyards highlighted their colonial power and symbolised agricultural progress. The phylloxera plague, which appeared in a vineyard in Rabós, brought this prosperous period to its knees.
The beginnings of the cooperative winery movement around 1930 led growers to join forces to improve the quality of the winemaking process, build new wineries and enhance the marketing system. What's more, private companies soon joined these movements and quality wine from the Empordà started to gain followers in many markets.
The red wines are of a high quality, full-bodied and harmonious, sometimes with the hint of meticulous ageing. These Reserve and Crianza wines are complex, fragrant and slightly spicy, and always featuring the aromas of the fruit and the plant. And they truly come to life in the mouth. The whites, often made from native varieties, are fresh and flavoursome.
Meanwhile, the rosés boast a well-defined cherry colour, oodles of character, a fresh aroma, and a moderate alcohol content. Unique to the DO are natural dessert wines made with the Generoso and Moscatel varieties, with a taste of the ripe, warm and silky grapes. Organic, fortified, overripe and sparkling wines complete the selection of Empordà's wines.
The Babalà range of wines (white, red and rosé) are young, jazzy and very easy to drink, either by the glass or with light bites. Babalà seduces all kinds of palates and is all the rage, especially among young people.
The Babalà range of wines (white, red and rosé) are young, jazzy and very easy to drink, either by the glass or with light bites. Babalà seduces all kinds of palates and is all the rage, especially among young people.
The Babalà range of wines (white, red and rosé) are young, jazzy and very easy to drink, either by the glass or with light bites. Babalà seduces all kinds of palates and is all the rage, especially among young people.
This dessert wine is the result of an attempt to recover a widely used ageing method on the other side of the Albera. One old barrel from the Solera de Garnacha de Espolla is selected and kept for more than a year in...
The Clos de las Dòmines Negro Reserve wine offers the utmost expression of two of the black grape varieties in the Empordà: the Cariñena Negra and the Cabernet Sauvignon. It's a robust, full-bodied wine, rounded off...
The Clos de Les Dòmines Blanco Barrica is a very special white wine, both for the method used and for the complexity of its coupage. A prime example of the white varieties from Empordà vineyards. The robustness of...
A "passerell" is a small bird, about 13cm, with brown plumage and reddish chest. Empordàlia has chosen it to pay homage to nature through the region of l'Albera, in the Empordà. The resulting wine is a deep Grenache...
Ençà is a wine inspired by the legend of the mermaid and the shepherd and the poem "L'Empordà" by Joan Maragall "La sirena se feu un xic ençà i un xic ençà el pastor de la muntanya". The image of the wine reflects a...
Sinols crianza is one of the most successful wines of Empordàlia. A little daily luxury. It represents a union of feelings in an attempt to make art with the grapes offered by this privileged place (the Empordà). The...
Antima is the emblematic wine of Empordàlia celler, the result of the selection of the best grapes from its oldest vineyards, (some of more them are 70 years old). Antima is the result of the work of many generations...
The most characteristic climate feature that affects crops is the strong north wind. The Tramontana, which blows with gusts that often exceed 120 kilometres per hour, has very beneficial effects on the health of the vineyard. Winters are mild with few frosts, while summers are hot yet cooled by sea breezes. The average annual temperature is between 14°C and 16°C.
Rainfall is around 600 litres per year. As for temperatures and sunshine, the Empordà area is ideal for growing medium and long cycle varieties, and extraordinary for the production of natural dessert wines.
The Cariñena and Samsó varieties form the basis of winegrowing in the Empordà, along with the Garnacha Negra (similar to the Lledoner area). These traditional varieties complement recently introduced ones such as Rabbit eye (Tempranillo), Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.
The dominant white wine varieties are the Garnacha Blanca, Garnacha Roja and Macabeo. And in a much lower proportion are the Moscatel, the traditional Xarel·lo and the recently introduced Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewürztraminer.
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