Cultivation

The new plantations usually choose trellising system, with either long prunnings like Guyot or short with Royat cords, simple or double. But, there are still pleny of old vineyards working with traditional spur-pruning system, with 4 to 6 branches of spurs with two exposed buds.

Vineyards plantations thickness remains between 1.800 and 4.500 vines/ha, with an average of 2.500 vines/ha. But, this rate has been increased in the latest plantations, near to 3.000 vines/ha.

The maximum permitted production figures per hectare in the Catalunya Designation of Origin are 10.000 tonnes for red grape varieties and 12.000 tonnes for white grape varieties .
 

                                  Climate

Annual mean temperature*1 (ºC)

                   

DO Catalunya's gegraphic area has a Mediterranean climate, plenty with sunlight hours (>2.500 h/year), with dried and template winters and regularly hot summers. Spring and autumm are usually the most rainy and unstable seasons. Annual mean temperature is around 14-15ºC and the rainfall stays between 350mm/year in the dryest areas and more of 600mm/año of the wettest zones.

In the prelitoral and the litoral areas, sea currents tend to adjust solar warming, which gets more intense as we go further inland.

On the coast, climate is smoother and mild, with increasing temperatures as we head south and inversely to rainfall. The inland, far from the sea, has a continental and Mediterranean climate, with cold winters and very hot summers.

Annual mean rainfall (mm) *1

                   
                                                                          

Soil

DO Catalunya main soils are from lime nature, low on organic matter and with medium texture.