History

History of the winery

History

The viticulture in Extremadura, has its genesis in Roman times. At that time, this community enjoyed a strategic point as well-known and recognized as Emérita Augusta (present Mérida), capital of Lusitania, one of the main supplying regions of the Empire.

Here was the union of two of the most important routes of his time, the one of the Silver and the one of Cáparra.

Around the river Guadiana - the Roman Anas-flourished villages and wine-growing fields. In the Roman Theater of Mérida there are valuable mosaics that certify the importance of the wine at that time for the region.

The cultivation of wine was introduced by the Romans and enjoyed both by them and the Visigoths.

During the Middle Ages the Arab domination broke the wine tradition inherited from the Romans since a sura of the Koran prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages only if there is nothing else to drink.

For its part, the celebration of the mass requires the presence of wine.

The Muslim tolerance allowed that the wine traditions were not lost until the birth of monasteries like the Royal of Guadalupe, ordered to build to celebrate the battle of Salado.

In these refuges the wines found expert hands and new techniques that served to give them a quality not known until then and to create their zones of influence.

The Royal Monastery of Guadalupe, the birthplace of Hispanidad, not only influenced the Villuercas, but also went beyond and filled America with vines and good techniques that today survive with extraordinary strength.

The Extremadura, in addition, contributed to spread the art of viticulture beyond the seas (many of the conquerors came from this region) in the years of the colonization of America in the fertile lands of the new world.

At the moment Cañamero, is one of the zones with more potential vitivinícola of Spain, with a TERRUÑO without equal; That makes Bodegas Cañalva, be "UNIQUE"

Environment

At the foot of the Villuercas, and in the heart of the "GEOPARQUE", Cañamero is in the extreme southeast of the province of Cáceres, bordering to the south with the one of Badajoz and very close to the one of Toledo.

The landscape is of the most varied, predominating the forests of oaks and cork oaks, that alternate with areas of scrubland where the broom, jara and cantueso flourish. Here and there we are surprised with Celtic castres, cave paintings, caves with karst formations, medieval castles and Roman remains such as those of Talavera la Vieja.

The heart of the region is in Guadeloupe, Historic-Artistic Set, which embraces its Monastery declared a World Heritage Site. It was commissioned by Alfonso XI in commemoration of the victory in the Battle of Salado.

From your journey through these lands you will retain sensations and images that you will always remember, but you can also get the famous wines from Bodegas Cañalva.

Its location at the foot of the mountain and very close to the plain, the abundance of streams, fertile plains and valleys of different orientation made this place a place of transit and settlement.

Today, a network of magnificent roads has put us three hours from Madrid and has become a point of stop for travelers who move between this point and towns and cities Extremadura such as Guadalupe, Trujillo, Mérida or Cáceres.