Alella (DO)

Historia

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.HistoryWines 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.