Admittedly, DO Tarragona is not one of Catalonia’s more well-known DOs. Part of this is that few of the wines produced in the region garner a good deal of fame despite the fact that historically, all the way back to the Romans, it was a well-regarded region for wine production as stated by Pliny the Elder.
The region is also placed oddly on maps sometime with just its coastal portion being shown and ignoring the interior portion that follows the Ebre River. The region used to be considerably more contiguous but this section in the middle was carved out in 2002 to form that majority of what is now DO Montsant.
This was was maybe for the best as both portions of DO Tarragona are at much more low-lying in elevation whereas the portion that is now Montsant is at a higher elevation. Regardless, it does have a great deal of calcareous limestone soils. Also, the permitted red grapes of Tempranillo, Merlot, Carignon, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, and Syrah are similar to what you find in Montsant as well as Priorat but with the addition of Sumoll and Pinot Noir. And the same goes for the permitted white grapes of Macabeu, Parellada, Xarel·lo, Chardonnay, and White Grenache, but then with the addition of Moscatell of Alexandria, Sauvignon Blanc, and Subirat Parent.
The region doesn’t lack for wine production and one of the biggest wineries, De Muller is a well-known cellar, if not for its DO Tarragona wines, then for its vermouth. Undoubtedly, more cellars will start to emerge and gain more fame with time as the soil, climate, and grapes all hold great potential to make quality wines.
Please peruse more articles about the wines of Tarragona.
