Castilla y León

Castilla y León is a Spanish region made up of nine provinces: León, Zamora, Salamanca, Palencia, Valladolid, Ávila, Burgos, Segovia and Soria. It is located in central and northern Spain, in the upper part of the central plateau. Castilla y León is the largest region in Spain. It is based in the central spanish plateau, which is known as meseta. The Duero river basin crosses Castilla y León from east to west. Castilla y León boasts a cultural and ethnographic heritage of immense value. The nine provinces share tastes and flavours yet are also characterised by their gastronomic diversity. In addition, wine lovers visiting Castilla y León will be delighted with the immense wealth of this land in this sector, which has placed it at the forefront of wine tourism. One of its particularities is the altitude, as it has the highests vineyards in Europe, even beating those in Alto Adige in Italy. There are vineyeards in DO Cebreros at 1200 meters. Castilla y León is a high plateau with continental climate, which means it is very cold in winter and very hot in summer. Some pleople describe the climate in the region as 9 months of winter and 3 months of hell. Also characteristic is the temperature variation between day and night in summer. This temperature variation marks this wine region except for Bierzo. In Castilla y León there are 11 DOs, 3 quality wine areas (DOP, protected designation of origin) and one geographical mention (IGP) of Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León. The surface area of vineyards exceeds 70,000 hectares, of which 60% correspond to the DOs and the rest to the different wine-growing areas of the region. It is the sixth region in terms of wine production, so it is characterized by quality rather than quantity. Instituto para la Competitividad empresarial de Castilla y León is a public agency dependent on Junta de Castilla y León (regional government) that is divided into several departments. The Internationalization Department offers services to companies in Castilla y León aimed at promoting and supporting their international activity.