The outbreak there gave Somontano the opportunity to showcase the quality of its wines to French consumers. As with so many Spanish regions, Somontano experienced a big jump in demand for its wine after the phylloxera louse devastated vineyards in France. The Ancient Romans are credited with developing the first vineyards in the area, a practice continued by later Catholics, who considered wine an essential part of their rituals. Although not particularly fertile, the soils have good drainage and a high lime content. These waterways influence the soils, which are mostly made up of clay and sandstone and are reddish-brown in color. Unlike the rest of Aragon and much of inland Spain, the Somontano region is greener thanks to higher rainfall (roughly 500mm/20inches on average each year) and an abundance of rivers and creeks. Those planted among the foothills are cooled by winds blowing down from the mountains summer daytime temperatures here can reach 35 Celsius (95 Farenheit). Vineyards located on high-altitude slopes benefit from high diurnal temperature variation (intense summer daytime heat and low night-time temperatures), allowing their grapes to maintain a good balance of sugar and acid. The three subzones can be divided into the mountains, the foothills and the plains with the Alcanadre river splitting Somontano into Somontano de Huesca in the west and Somontano de Barbastro in the east. The overall climate is continental, but the mountain range has a profound effect on the local weather. Somontano lies on a transitional zone between the valley of the Ebro River as it flows southeast towards the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees to the north. This lush, green, hilly region lies less than 60km (35 miles) from France and roughly equidistant from Getariako Txakolina on the Atlantic coast. The name Somontano means "under the mountains" and the region, which counts over 4,000 hectares (nearly 10,000 acres) of vineyard, sits in the foothills of the central Pyrenees mountains.
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