Cariñena, Aragon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 41°20′N, 1°13′W
Cariñena
Country	Spain
Community	Aragon
Province	Zaragoza
Government
- Mayor	Alejandro Bibrián Andrés (PP)
Area
- City	82.5 km² (31.9 sq mi)
Elevation	591 m (1,939 ft)
Population (2004)
- City	3,500
- Density	42.44/km² (109.9/sq mi)

Cariñena is a village in the province of Zaragoza, in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It is the capital of the comarca Campo de Cariñena. It is known for its wine and the cariñena grape, to which it gave its name.

The name Cariñena dates back to the Roman era. Pliny the Elder, the procurator of Tarraconensis, named this Roman settlement Carae; the suffix -iniana (thus Cariniana) was characteristic of many Roman manors.

The village Cariniana signified the hamlet and manor situated in the location of Carae and refers to its owner, Carinius. At the end of the second century, a tendency to concentrate the property led to the appearance of the large latifundia whose owners gave their name to places like this. Afterwards, in the Middle Ages, the name followed sound rules to become its current name.

Today, Cariñena is still producing wine, being the main economical activity in the area. Cariñena's wines were well know for its oxidation and high alcohol content, but in the last ten years the winerys of the area has been improving the techniques and the yields, and today is a promising Denomination of Origin in Spain. Tempranillo, Garnacha and Cariñena (red grapes) and Macabeo/Viura are the main varietals, but most of wineries are including grapes such a merlot, syrah, chardonnay and other.