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This Designation of Origin includes various towns in the regions of Priorat and Ribera d’Ebre in south-western Catalonia.
Generally speaking, the vineyards in the centre of Priorat belong to the Designation of Origin of the same name, while the rest belong to the Monsant Designation of Origin. In towns like Falset or El Molar however, there are vineyards that belong to both designations. The Montsant Designation of Origin was created in 2001 with the idea of grouping together the distinctive traits of a series of vineyards that existed in a sub-zone of the Tarragona Designation of Origin. It is a fairly recent designation that groups together more than fifty vineyards. The climate in the area is continental, with notable contrasts in temperature between day and night, which particularly affects the fruit while it is ripening. The vines here are characterised by their low yield. This aspect has contributed to making these wines even more highly-prized. Most of the wines produced in this region are red wines de guarda, which means that they are kept in a barrel for some time before being transferred to the bottle. The varieties of grape that are used are tempranillo, garnacha blanca and cariñena. This area also makes wine liqueurs such as mistela, mature wine, dessert wine and vimblanc. There are twelve wineries in the Montsant Designation of Origin which are open to visitors . One of the most interesting is the Celler Agrícola Falset-Marçà in Falset. This Modernist winery was designed by Cèsar Martinell in 1919. Martinell was also the architect responsible for the building of the Cornudella de Montsant Farmers’ Cooperative. The Masroig vineyard, in the town of the same name, was founded in 1917 and includes an agro-store selling local produce. Celler Laurona makes the wine of the same name, a Montsant which was ranked among the top 100 wines in the world by the prestigious Wine Spectator magazine. Another way of learning more about this designation of origin is by following part of the wine route network around the Priorat region. These used to be farmers’ paths which are now used to cross the vineyards. There are two different wine routes to choose from, both starting in Falset, and going either to Pradell de la Teixeta or to the tower of Fontaubella. There is also a route from Cornudella to Ciurana. The wines with the Montsant Designation of Origin can be enjoyed at Wine Fair that has been celebrated in Falset since 1995. It includes wine tasting events, wine-base cuisine, talks and exhibitions. Red wines are Mediterranean wines: well balanced, with deep aromas, full-bodied —maybe slightly less than its neighbour Priorat, and they can become really velvety after a short ageing period. Until recently, many wines were the traditional generous wines, mellow and oxidized, sweet wines and the local “vin blanc”. |
