Cacabelos
León · Castile and León
DO Bierzo4.734inhabitants
990first mention
1879wine documented
A town of El Bierzo on the banks of the Cúa, on the Way of Saint James. Next to it is Castro Ventosa, identified with pre-Roman Bergida; in 1108 Archbishop Diego Gelmírez rebuilt the town and in 1138 Alfonso VII granted it to the see of Compostela.
First mention: Cacabelos is first mentioned in the 10th century, in the grant by Bermudo II of León to the monastery of Carracedo (founded around 990).
The legend
Roman and monastic origin: tradition; Vinos Guerra documented since 1879; seat of the Council since 1989Cacabelos, capital of Bierzo wine: from Castro Ventosa to the Guerra wines
In Cacabelos they say that wine came with Rome: at the gates of the town stands Castro Ventosa, the ancient Bergidum, and local tradition credits the Romans with the first vineyards of the Cúa valley, which the medieval monasteries of the Bierzo would later have spread along the Camino de Santiago. What is well documented is more recent: in the last quarter of the 19th century the Guerra family founded in Cacabelos one of the first bodegas in Spain to sell bottled wine under its own brand, and from here exported it to Europe and America. In the 20th century the town built the district's first and largest wine cooperative, and in 1989 it became the seat of the Regulatory Council.
Alive today: Cacabelos is the seat of the Regulatory Council of the DO Bierzo, land of Mencía and Godello. Since 1998 it has held the Feria del Vino DO Bierzo in its Plaza Mayor, as well as the Fiesta de la Vendimia and the old Feria de San Miguel. The municipality is home to around ten bodegas and belongs to ACEVIN.
Wineries and their wines
- Armas de Guerra Crianza
- Armas de Guerra Godello
- Armas de Guerra Joven
- Armas de Guerra Roble
- Armas de Guerra Rosado
- Señorío del Bierzo Godello
- Señorío del Bierzo Mencía
- Godelia Extra Brut Gran Reserva
- Godelia Godello
- Godelia Mencía
- Godelia Rosé
- Godelia Selección Godello
- Godelia Selección Mencía
- Viernes Godello
- Viernes Mencía
Wine towns nearby