DO Empordà

Its most characteristic wines are the Garnatxes d’Empordà, sweet wines made from this variety, known locally  as lledoner. Even so, most Empordà wines are dry whites, rosés and reds.

The most characteristic varieties are the three grenaches (white, grey and red) and red carignan. A native variety, white carignan, is being recovered of late and very interesting wines are beginning to be made from it.

The Tramuntana wind dries the sea humidity from the vines and favours optimal ripening and healthy grapes.

Empúries is traditionally considered the place where the Phoenicians and Greeks introduced vine growing to the Iberian Peninsula. Later the Romans and, in the Middle Ages, the monastery of Sant Pere de Roda continued to promote this cultivation in Empordà down to the present day. Today the DO's most important winery is that of Castell de Peralada, alongside a solid range of cooperatives that have adapted effectively to modern times. More recently, this traditional offer has been strengthened by a steady trickle of small wineries that have broadened the range with excellent quality.

The territory, like some of the area's typical dishes, is characterised by the contrast between sea and mountain, with vineyards stretching from the very coastline and through the Cap de Creus Natural Park to the first pre-Pyrenean foothills of the Serra de l'Albera.

The range of Empordà wines is very broad. Fresh, flavourful white wines are made from the macabeo, white grenache and chardonnay varieties. The rosés, made from carignan and grenache, are characterised by a more or less intense cherry colour, great personality and a delicate aroma, and are fresh with moderate alcohol.

The red wines, which now account for most of the production, are made basically from the carignan and grenache varieties, complemented by varieties introduced in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, mainly cabernet sauvignon and merlot.

Garnatxa d’Empordà

It is so representative of the county that it has given its name to the wine made from it: Garnatxa d'Empordà, made sweet, usually by adding alcohol to stop fermentation and thus retain part of the grape's original sugar. Several wineries have given this traditional, almost home-made wine a makeover, applying modern technology while preserving its distinctive features, giving it a more commercial dimension and bringing it within reach of a wider public. Across the border, this type of wine finds its identity continued in the sweet Roussillon wines of Banyuls, Collioure and Rivesaltes.