Mediterranean port in Spanish cataluña which has played an important part in a flourishing wine industry since Roman times (see spain, history, and map). Until the 1960s, wines called Tarragona were predominantly sweet, red, fortified, and drunk as a cheap alternative to port. Awarded do status in 1976, Tarragona continues to ship communion wine all over the Christian world (see eucharist). Over 70% of Tarragona’s wine production today is white, however, a large proportion of which is sold to the cava houses in penedès. The montsant DO created in 2001 was carved out of the original Tarragona zone.
