Montsant: A Hidden Gem in the Spanish Vineyard

Montsant is a young DO still to be discovered. It offers an incredible potential at a fraction of the price compared to its better-known neighbor Priorat. It is a place where exciting, unique wines are made, full of vibrancy and energy.

A Small Appellation with Dynamic Winemakers

Montsant is a much smaller appellation than Priorat: 2000 ha versus more than 17.000. The appellation was born as a spin-off of the Tarragona DO in 2001 after a long talk. The Denominación de Origen (DO) is now an incomplete ring at the bottom of the hill that is Priorat. To the North, the appellation is home to the Montsant and La Llena mountain ranges which are joined to the East by the Prades mountain range. To the West, the boundaries are marked by the Argentera, Mola de Colldejou and Llaberia mountains which drop down on the other side towards the Mediterranean Sea, which are on the opposite side to La Figuera and Tormo mountains. To the extreme South, the semi-circle covers land which is starting to drop down to the Ebro river valley, where the rivers of Siurana and Montsant converge. These two rivers and that of Capçanes are the main water sources of the vineyards.

Montsant DO is mid-way in quality between the Tarragona wines, mainly coming from flat plain and those of Priorat. The DO started with twenty-six members just three years after coming into existence and it now has well over 50 wineries, which is a clear sign of the interest the area is arousing among growers. The good thing about these new comers is that they are often under 40 years old and that they bring with them dynamism, enthusiasm and a lot of energy geared towards innovation and risk taking.

An Area with a Long Viticultural Tradition

Located in the Priorat region (Tarragona), it includes the Baix Priorat, part of the Alt Priorat and several municipalities of the Ribera d’Ebre with a total of seventeen villages being part of the DO. As it happens with the DOC Priorat, wine was made there during the Roman Empire. However it was only in the Middle Ages, with the conquest of the area from the Moors by the Christians and its subsequent population that major plantings of vineyard took place in the area. With the return of the Christians came the Carthusian monks of Scala Dei bringing new farming techniques from France which had a deep impact in the whole region (which nowadays encompasses the Montsant DO and the Priorat DOC). As other wine areas, Montsant had its ups and downs with a peak in influence and recognition reached at the end of the XIXth century – beginning of the XXth, when the wines were awarded in many Universal Exhibitions. However, as it happened in Priorat in the late XIXth century, phylloxera louse hit the vineyards and the area lost a great part of its population. Viticulture had to wait until the mid-1930s to start again and slowly recover from the louse.

Montsant: Mountain Viticulture

Soils are more varied than in Priorat DOC. There are mainly three types of soils. Compact limestone soils with pebbles in the periphery of the DO, linked to river bed sedimentation; gravelly soils made up of granitic sands in Falset coming from the erosion of conglomerate rock formations and llicorellas (silicate slate, the same as in Priorat) in certain areas of Falset and Cornudella. The latter have a poor content in organic matter. Having a look at the map of the DO will help locate where each soil can be found.

Best vineyards are located in terraces on steep sites, often interspersed with pine, almond and olive trees – the region is also known for its excellent olive oils. Traditional training method is the bush vine or head trained vine. However, some new vineyards are trellised using the Cordon the Royat method.

As in Priorat, very old plantations of Garnacha and Cariñema can be found, along with international varieties like cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah. Other grapes allowed are Monastrell (Mourvèdre), Tempranillo for red wines and Chardonnay, Grenache blanc, Macabeo and Muscatel for whites.

Basically, Montsant is a red wine DO with 94% of all plantings being that color.

Climate is very similar to that of Priorat. Even if the vineyards are located in a Mediterranean climate, mountain ranges surrounding the area make that it is slightly isolated from the sea, giving it some continental component. From that particular situation, important temperature shifts do happen between day and night, making that the grapes ripen slowly, increasing the polyphenol level and allowing the berries to keep a natural freshness. Besides, sea winds coming from the east bring moisture during the summer, compensating the relative drought of the season. The average minimum temperatures are around 7ºC and the average maximum temperatures are no more than 20ºC. Winters tend to be cold and Summers hot and dry. Average annual rainfall is around 500 and 600 mm. The average altitude of the zone is 360 meter above see level, rising steadily in the northwest and southeast as it approaches the Montsant and Montsalt mountains respectively. Due to this variety of terrains and exposures, DO Montsant gathers a huge number of microclimates, making specific wines.

Great Opportunities Lie ahead

Oddly, Montsant is not very well known domestically and Spaniards outside Catalunya (where 53% of all sales are located) seem to give it the cold shoulder since only a tiny 2% of them drink those wines. The rest goes to export markets, mainly to the USA (43% of all export sales), Germany (20%), Japan (9%) and Switzerland (around 4%). Other countries registering a tiny amount of bottles are Canada, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Brazil, Belgium and the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom for instance, the prestigious wine merchant BBR (Berry Brother’s and Rudd) in London offers some wines from Celler de Capçanes and Natur Montsant wineries. This is good news, since the opportunity to expand in international markets really exists and the acquired position in some of the most important markets is one of upscale wines, not to be found in supermarkets at discounted prices.

The positioning of Montsant wines make of them a good alternative to more expensive and highly priced Priorat bottles.

The Style of the Wines

Since Montsant is a hot region, wines tend to have high alcohol levels, and 14% to 14,5% abv are not uncommon, even in white wines. However, the majority of wines are nicely balanced and alcohol is not a problem per se. The temperature shifts during the ripening period as well as the sea breezes coming from the Mediterranean contribute to keep a good acidity, which responds well to the alcohol.

Simply looking at the composition of red wines, one can easily notice that most red wines are made either with a majority of garnacha or with a mix of garnacha and cariñena. Sometimes, some international varieties come as a complement to this basic blend (syrah, merlot, cabernet sauvignon). Only seldom cuvees exclusively made with international grapes can be found. Besides, best grades given by the Peñin Guide (the reference guide for Spanish wines) go to garnacha and cariñena based wines.

And one more note on cariñena based wines: even if some like Jancis Robinson do not highly consider this variety, when it is handled with care, that is low yields from old vines, wines tend to be astonishingly good and full of depth and body, along with a powerful structure and a nice balance between fruit and acidity and alcohol levels.

As far as whites are concerned, the most interesting ones are based on garnacha blanca. They make high alcohol wines but with specific notes of undergrowth and honey along with a mineral layers and a silky texture in the palate.