Comparable to the Portuguese Estremadura, the Spanish region of Extremadura could also be translated as "peripheral area". The region in southwestern Spain still shows an almost untouched charm in many places beyond the well-trodden tourist trails. Extremadura is more the name of a region than of a wine growing area. The only controlled origin in this area is the D.O. Ribera del Guadiana. Extremadura has not been of much interest to Spanish viticulture, although at one time over 100,000 hectares were under vine here. Even today, the vines are said to cover an area of a good 82,000 hectares, but the harvest is largely accounted for by table grapes as well as wine for distillation, especially for the production of brandy. Until the end of the 20th century, cooperatives here produced wines of little interest, much of it for local consumption. The warm region is less suitable for white wine, which, however, still enjoys great importance here. With the creation of the D.O. Ribera del Guadiana, however, movement has come into the region. The first producers are producing excellent red wines from grape varieties such as Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Garnacha, Syrah and others. At the same time, the white vines are being uprooted in many places and replaced by excellent red wine varieties. In addition, the region enjoys development support from the European Union. The present vineyard area of the D.O. Ribera del Guadiana today is about 27,000 hectares. In addition, the production of cork is also an important economic factor.
