Alella (DO)
Alella (DO)
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Alella (DO)

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Alella (DO)

Alella is a Spanish Denominación de Origen (DO) (Denominació d'Origen in Catalan) for wines produced in Maresme county in the province of Barcelona in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, located on the Mediterranean coast, 15 km to the north of the city of Barcelona.

It is one of the smallest DOs in Spain as the vineyards have been encroached upon by urban development. At the present time it only covers one third of the area that it covered in 1956 when it was established, despite a territorial extension in 1989.

Wines have been produced in this area since the time of the ancient Romans, and were mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia and by Martial in his Epigrams, when they were known as vins laietans. Structures have been found at the archaeological site of Veral de Vallmora, near Teià, showing that wine was made there from the 1st to 4th centuries AD. During the Middle Ages Alella wine was served at the court of the Kings of Aragón.

The region suffered the effects of the phylloxera virus at the end of the 19th century but the vineyards were successfully replanted using phylloxera resistant rootstock from the New World.

In 1906 the wine cooperative, Alella Vinícola, was founded which is renowned for its traditional Marfil brand. The wine cellars were designed by the modernist architect Jeroni Martorell i Terrats.

During the 1920s the region was famous for its cava (sparkling wine).

During the 1980s new varieties were introduced and the wine-making methods modernized. The wineries are urban mansions that are built on the slopes overlooking the sea. The height above sea level of the vineyards determines the variety grown and thus the type of wine produced.

The vineyards grow on the Serra de Parpers foothills, from the coast up the slopes of the mountains. The Besòs river forms the western boundary. There are two distinct areas within the DO:

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