The name ‘Empordà’ comes from ‘Emporion’, the ancient Greco-roman commercial institution that established the bases of the agriculture, diet and gastronomy of our land: the Mediterranean trinity of vine, wheat and olive.

The vines that produce the wines belonging to the Empordà DO, established in 1975, grow in the extreme north-east of the province between the mountains of the Serra de l’Albera and the sea. Its climate and soils provide ideal conditions for the vineyards, sheltered from the cold tramuntana winds by the Albera Mountains, and it is in this part of the province that the majority of local vineyards are situated.

The grape varieties grown here include the white Garnatxa Blanca, Macabeo, Xarel•lo and Chardonnay and the red Carinyena, Ull de Llebre, Cabernet-Sauvignon and Merlot.

By means of combinations known as mar i muntanya (sea and mountains), the cookery of the Empordà unites two worlds imaginatively and it is no surprise that some of the most famous Catalan gastronomic creations take this area as their point of reference. Its excellent olive oil, bread and artisan cheeses go hand-in-hand with the ancient art of salting fish – the anchovies of L’Escala are renown and are also still salted by hand in the towns of Roses and Cadaqués.

This is the land that captivated Salvador Dalí, who lived most of his life here within the so-called Dalian triangle formed by his Theatre-Museum in Figueres, his house at Portlligat near Cadaqués and the castle he bought for Gala at Púbol (near Girona).