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Products
The WineThe Costa Daurada exploits one of the most rooted gastronomic goods in the Tarragonese, Catalan and Mediterranean culture through the Route of the Wines. The Mediterranean climate, whose influence is very varied here, grants privileged conditions to the zone that allow producing an extense gamma of wines of great fineness and quality. Thus, the Costa Daurada has vineyards which produce wines of different Denominations of Origin - Conca de Barberà, Montsant, Penedès, Priorat, Tarragona and Terra Alta - which give several options to articulate an original route around their cellars and picturesque villages: Falset, Gratallops, La Vilella Baixa, etc. The crop of the vineyard is an ancient tradition of the area and today it constitutes the most important agricultural crop. The interior plains discover a landscape of farming, especially of vineyard, among small and far villages, surrounded by small hills filled by pines.
In La Conca de Barberà the crop of the vineyard is an ancient tradition which constitutes the main agricultural crop of the county at present. White, rosé, black and foamy wines with moderate alcoholic graduation are produced. They have a very gifted sharpness and a delicately fruity bouquet.
Regarding all the Denominations of Origin, that of the Montsant is the youngest one but it has already a long experience because of the fact that it was a subzone of the D.O. Tarragona. The red wines, which are elaborated from Black Garnatxa, Carinyena and Ull de Llebre, have body and they are balanced and aromatic, very suitable for the breeding. All the white wines, which are mede with White Garnatxa, are structured and dense.
On the other hand, the Mediterranean climate confers privileged conditions to the Penedès for producing an extense gamma of wines of great quality. This D.O. elaborates light, fruity, white, fresh, and aromatic wines with an also moderate graduation. Moreover, they also make black, soft, velvety and elegant wines with noticeable character, although it is a subordinate production.
The Priorat owns a dry climate and a cooler temperate than the coast. The carinyena black grape is the key of the current Priorat wines. In minor proportion, grenache is also grown. From the wisely mixture of these two varieties, the full-grown, dense, intense and robust black color is born. Some white grapevines are grown with testimonial character: Garnatxa, Maccabees and ‘Pero Ximenes’. Together with these wines, the tradition has made last those other rancid wines, slowly aged in barrels, loaded of personality and rich in sensations.
The white wines of the D.O. Tarragona enjoy the regard of the consumer thanks to their soft graduation and theirs fruity bouquet. They are soft and light wines with little marked sharpness. In this zone, light wines with half and very elegant sharpness are elaborated thanks to the ‘Ull de Llebre’.
Terra Alta is characterized by the crop in strong grounds, deep and not too many permeable "terraces". The vineyards are pruned very short for using the humidity of the terrain to the utmost. The Terra Alta, elaborates strong and extense white wines, of high graduation and big body. The black wines with a lot of coating are elaborated by a mixture of the three black varieties (Maçola, Garnatxa Negra and Garnatxa Peluda).
The Oil
The oil is a product with a lot of history. Its crop, introduced by the Greeks and promoted by the Arabs, is one of the most characteristic on these counties. It is one of the most integrated elements of the landscape in the Costa Daurada and, as if it was a garden, the farmers keep the plots clean of stone forming margins that delimit the crop.
The regions of the Baix Ebre and Montsià are the first producers of oil in Catalonia, as well as Matarranya d'Aragó, and they configure an authentic sea of olive trees. The Costa Daurada owns several Denominations of Origin related on this product aswell: D.O. of the Terra Alta, D.O. Baix Ebre - Montsià, D.O. Baix Aragó and the D.O. of Siurana Oil which is one of the most well-known around.
The Siurana Denomination of Origin was created in 1977, and its regulations were approved in 1979. Since that date, the olive tree production of the municipal terms, which are ascribed to it and present some common characteristics, are extremely protected. This Denomination takes the Siurana name, which is an affluent of the Ebre River, because part of the territory is included in the natural basin of this river. Reus is the shopping center that articulates good part of the mercantile activity. The production’s geographical zone of the protected DOP Siurana takes a strip within the regions of Tarragona. It is perpendicular to the Mediterranean Sea and crosses part of the regions of the Priorat, the Baix Camp, l'Alt Camp, the Tarragonès, the Ribera D'ebre and the Baix Penedès from Scrubs of Lleida.
Two regions can be differentiated: the first one is interior and it is placed in the Saws of the Montsant and Llena and the second one is situated in the east of the former one and it coincides with the region of the Camp de Tarragona. The accepted varieties are the Olive or ‘Arbequina’, the Rojal and the Morruda. Regarding these three modalities, the Arbequina is considerated the main one because the 90% of the olives which are extracted for the oil have to be from this variety. The crop offers an extraordinarily aromatic juice, of green and yellow color and light on the palate. It is an extra virgin olive oil that is recognized and appreciated by its nutritional qualities and firm ally in the fight against the cardiovascular illnesses.
The oil protected by the Siurana DOP constitutes an 11% of the total of the oil produced in Catalonia. The production goes addressed mainly to the Spanish market which consumes a 60% and the rest is destined for the export, approximately a 90%, which is carried out in countries of the European Union.
"The Route of the Siurana Oil" presents the most distinguished tourist aspects of the different regions which form the Siurana DOP thanks to the element that joins these lands, the olive oil. On the other hand, it is an opportunity to know the characteristics of a product of maxim quality how the Siurana extra virgin olive oil is and, moreover, a good way for discovering the main tourist attractions of the several territories which are part of the denomination. The itinerary that has been designed for making the route feasible passes through the following villages and towns: Falset, Gratallops, La Vilella Baixa, Cabacés, La Bisbal de Falset and Margalef de Montsant. They have the following most interesting points: the Cellar of Falset, the cellars of Gratallops, the hermitage of the Consolation, the fountain and the hermitage of the Foira and its gothic altarpiece, the museum Eco del Greco in Cabacés, the cave of St. Llúcia and the ancient prehistoric shelters in Margalef.
The Rice of the Delta of Ebre
The delta of the Ebre generates the 98% of the total production of rice of Catalonia. With this datum we can explain the importance of this cereal in the life of the inhabitants of this territory and its landscape aswell. The river takes four different colorings during the year due to the crop of rice in the Delta of the Ebre. During the months of April and May the fields are flooded for pioneering the sowing and the Delta is prepared for the production. The rice, which has Denomination of Origin due to its quality, is one of the main protagonists of the gastronomy of the Ebre. Within the famous Paella, it can look black or ‘rossejat’ (with yellow tones) even though there are many possibilities which can be discovered in the several restaurants of the zone.
The development of the crop of the rice in this zone is motivated so much by the climatic characteristics, its salinity and the altitude of the phreatic cape. It is constituted by the municipal terms of Deltebre and Sant Jaume D'enveja and also by part of the terrains of the delta of the Ebre which cover the municipal terms of the L’Aldea, Amposta, Camarles, l’Ampolla and Sant Carles de la Ràpita. The zone of grinding and packaging corresponds to that of production. The varieties that can be commercialized with this denomination are the following ones: Bahia, Tebre, Sénia, Fonsa, Bomba and Montsianell.
Seefood of the ‘Delta de l’Ebre’
This natural space gathers the optimum conditions for the breeding of molluscs, king prawns and fishes like the eel. The mussels are concentrated in its two bays due to the protection that both peninsulas of sand offer. Moreover it is a rich zone in nutrients for the combination of the fresh water with the salty one. The production of oysters goes around the 600 tons and that of Mediterranean mussels raises the million and half annual fish. Tragically they are in danger because of the lack of fresh water which has had a little flow from the Ebre River during the last years.
Regarding all the shellfish, we must highlights the fishing of king prawns, in Sant Carles de la Ràpita. The name comes from a small Ribat of Almoravid worship, like Miravet. In the 18th century, Carles III futile wanted to convert the bay of the Alfacs into the most important port of the Mediterranean Sea, this project did not materialize but it was the origin of the town. Another project, which finally started, was that of the canal of navigation which aimed to connect the Ebre with the bay of the Alfacs. Later, it would result the canal of irrigation which allowed the first crops of rice in the Delta (1788). Thus, the people of this village, who are fishermen by nature, are famous for their mussels, the fish and the king prawns. At present Sant Carles de la Ràpita is a tourist center of growing importance in the Terres de l’Ebre region thanks to its modern infrastructures and its famous cuisine all over.
Peaches and Tangerines
The climate of the Ribera d’Ebre allows that the sweet fruit has a coloring and an intense flavor, and it achieves that this fruit matures before the other zones of the country. This fact gives to the product an added value and a quality which is very appreciated by the most demanding international markets. Regarding the peaches, the main producing centers are Benissanet and Miravet, and the village of Massalió has the D.O. of Calanda. It is a kind of the variety called "groga tardenca", which presents a pale yellow color with a simple dottled peel. It has a hardness and special sweetness that provides this fruit an excellent and unmistakable taste to this fruit. In order to preserve all these aspects, the peaches are in the tree during the months of summer and until its manipulation.
The zone of the tangerines on the Terres de l’Ebre is placed in the counties of the Baix Ebre and Montsià. The specific climatic conditions of this zone provoke a differential flavor and aroma in its crops of peaches and tangerines. The varieties which are included are: the tangerines Satsuma, Okitsu and Clauselina as well as the tangerines Fine, Fernandina, Clemenules and Marisol. Alcanar is the center producing of citrus more important of all the State.
Honey of El Perelló
The honey is one of the other products with D.O. of the Costa Daurada. The Perelló is famous around the country thanks to its work of the extraction and packing of the Muria Honey, with an extense selection of varieties and derivative products (pollen, propolis, royal jelly, cosmetics and even candies of honey). They have a collection and exhibition of ancient utensils related on the Apiculture and a moth with living bees. They also make different visits on the beekeeper equipment around the terrain. The Perelló gathers the last home-made beekeepers of these lands and thanks to the quality of their production, the village has won the name of “The Village of the Honey”.
The Hazelnuts
The hazelnuts production area of the Priorat and Terra Alta takes part of the Denomination of Origin of Reus. This crop was introduced to replace the crop of the vineyard which was destroyed by the phylloxera at the end of the 19th century. Nowadays, the hazelnuts are protected by the Denomination of Origin and it has a range of varieties which have been traditionally cultivated in the zone: Negreta - the most cultivated variety -, Pauetet, Gironella, Morella and Culplana.