EARTH, CLIMATE AND SOIL
The Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin is on the northern plateau and Burgos, Segovia, Soria and Valladolid accompany the River Duero, which provides a link between more than 100 towns and villages along a vine-growing strip of around 115 km.
The weather and the legacy of nature have given the whole area exceptional soil for vine-growing. The different kinds of weather mark unpredictable contrasts, altering the normal progress of the vines and giving them a character and strength that make them unique.
The climate is Mediterranean with a continental character: with a moderate/low average annual rainfall; dry summers; long, hard winters, and sharp swings of temperature through the seasons. It is precisely these swings that help the grapes develop a strong skin capable of withstanding bad weather to protect the fruit until harvest.
The soils have sediments of silty or clayey sand alternating with limestone and even chalky layers. The river basin shows undulations in the landscape, small hills eroded by the influence of the river, with heights ranging from 911 metres in the moorland down to the valleys alongside the river.