It is believed that it was the ancient Romans who first introduced grape growing and wine making in this region. The wines from Monterrei were renowned during the Middle Ages. As Federico Justo Méndez stated in his book Brotes de Raíces Históricas: “The wines from the Monterrei valley, due to their excellent quality, were on a par with the wines from Porto, and for a time were sold all over Latin America”.
Exports increased during the reign of Philip II, especially as the 5th Count of Monterrei was nominated viceroy to the new Spanish colonies in the New World. It was around this time that the city of Monterrey in Mexico was founded.
In modern times, most of the wine produces is still sold in bulk, but pioneering wineries have started to bottle and market their own brands.
Provisional DO status was originally acquired in the 1980s but was suspended. It was not until the 1994 that it was recovered.