WINE TOURISM
WINEMAKING TRADITION
MICROCLIMATE
The imposing presence of the Els Ports mountains to the south has a significant effect on the local weather. The Serra dels Múdefers and Pesells mountains form the border of the region to the west. The small valleys formed by torrents of water flowing down from these hillsides to join the River Canaletes are home to traditional vineyards often cultivated in small terraces along the slopes and valley bottoms. The centre of the region is less rugged and was traditionally used for fields of cereals but recently has also been prepared for vine-growing.
ORIGINS
Winemaking in the area was traditionally destined for self-consumption by the farmers and families themselves. This changed at the start of the 20th century when wine production for selling became more popular. The introduction of the Protected Designation of Origin label, DO Terra Alta, just over thirty years ago guarantees the quality of local wines and represented a big step forward in their commercialization. Winemaking is now much more controlled and professional, with a wide variety of styles and methods used to create wines with or without the DO label; wines which combine traditions and modern tendencies. New generations of winemakers have the knowledge and experience to produce wines which express the identity of these lands. Vernatxes, the local name for Garnatxa/Grenache grape varieties are the most commonly-grown grapes in the area.
VISIT
cellars
AGRÍCOLA SANT JOSEP DE BOT
Address: Carrer de l’Estació 2. 43785 Bot (Tarragona)
Telephone: 977 428 352
Opening times:
Monday to Saturdays, 10.00 to 13.00 and 16.00 to 19.00 Sundays and holidays: 10.00 to 13.30
Diumenges i festius: de 10 h a 13.30 h
Short description:
The Sant Josep cooperative (Cooperativa Agrícola Sant Josep de Bot) was founded in 1962. It grows, produces and sells products made from three local crops: grapes, olives and almonds. They also produce peaches on a smaller scale. They cultivate about a thousand vineyards with twenty different varieties of grape, among which the Garnatxa Blanca and Garnatxa Negra (Grenache Blanc/Noir) stand out. You can try a selection of their wines with no prior booking in the cooperative’s shop.
CELLER VINYA FERRER
Address: Carrer Caseres, 25. 43785 Bot (Tarragona)
Telephone: 977 428 327 – 699 805 651
Opening times:
Guided tours with booking
Short description:
The small Vinya Ferrer wine cellar was set up by two local artisanal winemakers who work the land with the utmost respect for nature and the final product. They make wine using natural yeasts to ensure the least intervention possible in the process. They bottle and sell the wines themselves too.
CELLER MENESCAL
Address: Avinguda Catalunya, s/n. 43785 Bot (Tarragona)
Telephone: 977 428 095
Opening times:
Monday to Saturday, 10.00 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 20.30
Sunday 10.00 to 14.00
Diumenge de 10.00 h a 14.00 h
Short description:
They produce white and red wines, and mistela (a sweet fortified wine). They offer wine-tasting sessions with cheese and cold meats, and family visits. The cellar is also home to a small museum with the traditional tools and equipment every family would have for living and working in the country in the past – a small homage to the men and women who worked hard to make a living off the Terra Alta land for centuries until very recently. Items on display range from kitchen and cooking utensils for making things like sausages or bread to agricultural tools and olive presses, as well as old beds, tables and decorative elements. The items range between fifty and three hundred years old.
CELLER LA DESPEINADA
Address: Carrer Méndez Núñez, 41 – Gandesa
Telephone: 604 353 468 – 604 359 173
Short description:
Petra and Àlex, Austrian and French respectively, are two young winemakers who set up in Bot in 2016 attracted by the peacefulness of the area and the quality of the wines. They live in Bot and have four hectares of vines with which they produce natural artisanal wines with very little use of technology and without additives. They take the utmost care of nature and make single-variety wines which transmit the essence of these lands.
CELLER TROTA VINS
Address: Avinguda Catalunya, 34. 43785 Bot (Tarragona)
Telephone: 977 428 240
Opening times:
Wine-tasting with pre-booking
Short description:
This small wine cellar produces single-plot wines with very little intervention. They use Hairy and White Garnatxa and Carignan grapes from their own vineyards and ferment wines in demijohns.
