Name for a liquid measure and unit of weight that was used in Spain and Portugal, especially for oil, wine and honey. In some Latin American countries, the arroba is still a very common measure of weight or quantity for staple foods such as flour, sugar, maize, beans and rice as well as coca leaves. The volume was/is somewhat different per country and also locally. The values are between 10 and 15 l or kg.
In Spain, arroba is still used to some extent for a certain quantity of grapes that are wedged into a harvest basket during the grape harvest. When grapes are harvested for the production of sherry, this is understood to mean a picking basket with 11.5 kg of grapes. A carretada (a wagonload of grapes) consists of 62 arrobas. See also under units of measurement.
In Spanish and French, the "bracket monkey" (the @) has long been the symbol for the unit of weight arroba. Here it has been preserved; the "@" is referred to as "arroba" in electronic communication.
Serious sources on the internet are rare - and Wine lexicon from wein.plus is one such source. When researching for my articles, I regularly consult the wein.plus encyclopaedia. There I get reliable and detailed information.
Thomas Götz
Weinberater, Weinblogger und Journalist; Schwendi