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Unfortunately there is no information about V.T. Extremadura available.
V.T. Extremadura

Description to V.T. Extremadura

The autonomous region with the capital Mérida is located in the south-west of Spain and covers 41,634 km² in two provinces. It should not be confused with the Portuguese region of Extremadura. Extremadura Alta in the north is largely identical to the province of Cáceres. The southern and somewhat more fertile part of Extremadura Baja around the course of the River Guadiana corresponds roughly to the province of Badajoz. It borders Portugal(Alentejo) to the west, Andalusia to the south, Castile-La Mancha to the west and Castile-León to the north. Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura are part of the vast Meseta plateau landscape. The name means "land beyond the Duero" or, according to another version, "extremely hard" (extreme). The region is divided into two halves by the mountain ranges of the Sierra de Guadalupe and the Sierra de San Pedro.

Extremadura - Schweine in Eichenwäldern und Weingarten

History

The region is one of the oldest wine-growing areas in the world. Shortly before the turn of the century, the Romans settled on the banks of the River Guadiana and founded the town of Emerita Augusta, today's Mérida. It was under them that viticulture first flourished. In the 13th century, the area was a hotly contested buffer zone between Christian and Moorish Spain. Under Moorish influence, viticulture declined due to the ban on alcohol, but reached a peak again in the 17th century. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was mainly emigrants from Extremadura who conquered Central and South America as conquistadores, most notably Hernán Cortés (1485-1547), Francisco Pizarro (1476-1541) and Hernando de Soto (1500-1542). Most of the riches they captured flowed back to their homeland.

Agriculture

The extremely fertile region is home to sheep farming, olive growing and viticulture. Not only wine, but also many local specialities bear the title of a protected designation of origin (DO). These include the famous "Jamón Dehesa de Extremadura" (Jamón Ibérico), the ham from the black Iberian pig that lives freely in the oak forests and feeds on acorns, cheeses such as "Ibores" made from goat's milk, "Torta del Casar" and "Queso de la Serena" made from sheep's milk, as well as olive oil and smoked paprika. The dehesas (cork oak forests) cover around one million hectares, a quarter of the region's total area, and provide the bark for the production of cork stoppers.

Climate & soils

In the south, the Mediterranean climate is characterised by hot, dry summers and mild winters, while in the north it is temperate Atlantic-continental. The soils consist of nutrient-poor slate, nutrient-rich alluvial soil, sand and clay.

Vineyards and grape varieties

The vineyards cover 80,000 hectares. The most important red wine varieties are Tempranillo, Garnacha Tinta, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, while the most important white wine varieties are Alarije, Pardillo, Pardina, Cayetana Blanca, Pedro Ximénez, Borba, Macabeo and Chelva.

Wine-growing areas

There is only one DO area called Ribera del Guadiana in the south (Extremadura Baja) and a region-wide IGP area called Extremadura. However, a large proportion of the wine produced here is used for distilling spirits. Wine production is dominated by a few large winegrowers' co-operatives (Sociedades Cooperativas), whose members grow both grapes and olives, as well as huge fincas (estates) with several hundred hectares of land.

Pigs: Image by Anne & Saturnino Miranda on Pixabay
Vineyard: © DO Ribera del Guadiana

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