Monterrei is one of the five denominations of origin of wines that exist in Galicia. The production area extends along the Támega river valley, with an area slightly less than 700 hectares, distributed among the municipalities of Castrelo do Val, Monterrey, Oímbra, Vilardevós and Verín. There are another 13,000 hectares that are also dedicated to growing vines in this region, but they are excluded from the D.O. Monterrey. The 14 wineries, which employ more than 500 workers in the area, produce nearly 800,000 liters of wine a year.

Galician wines

MONTERREI

Monterrei

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.

The area has had DO status since November 25, 1994 and the supervisory authority has been in place since January 1996. In total, more than 3000 hectares of land are approved for the cultivation of quality wine. The regulations are generally closely monitored. At the moment (as of 2005) there are 16 wineries and around 580 part-time winegrowers who work for these wineries.

Monterrey Grape Varieties

All types of wine are permitted within the wine-growing region. The white grape varieties lead with a total of over 60 percent. Internationally, attempts are made to benefit from the current fame of the white Godello grape variety , which had almost disappeared due to phylloxera . The sparkling wines of this rare variety have been rediscovered in the Valdeorras area and are also an important factor here. Other white varieties include Treixadura , Doña Blanca , Monstruosa , and Palomino .

The red wines are mainly made from the Mencía and Bastardo varieties and sometimes also blended with Garnacha , Gran Negro and Merenzao (also called María Ardoña).

White Grapes

  • Albariño: While it can vary in style, the classic Albariño notes are light to medium bodied, high in acidity and highly aromatic, with hints of peach, Meyer lemon and apple blossom.
  • Caíño Blanco: Due to the fact that it is a variety that is rarely cultivated in the area and that ripens late, Caíño Blanco is usually used as a complement to other more common variations.
  • Dona Blanca: This grape produces fresh and aromatic wines that are often added to other varieties. Due to the size of its cluster, this grape variety tends to have a short ripening period.
  • Godello: Mistakenly mistaken for the same grape as Madeira’s Verdelho, Godello has recently become increasingly popular for producing medium- to full-bodied white wines with a mineral content.
  • Loureira: Normally used as a blending grape, Loureiro imparts rich, exotic aromas like orange oil and fruit flowers to wines. It is high in acid and low in alcohol, making it a good counterpart to Treixadura.
  • Treixadura: Treixadura often adds body and alcohol, sometimes necessary textural components in a region that often produces high-acid white wines. On its own, it usually carries fresh, fruity notes like lemon and apple.

Red Grapes

  • Araúxa: This grape produces very intense, fruity wines with great acidity. It is the second most cultivated grape in the area.

  • Caíño Tinto: It is known for producing acidic red vines, with vineyards that rarely exceed those of medium size. However, the grape has a thick skin and a high tannin content, which is why many winegrowers vinify it with carbonic maceration.

  • Mencía: It’s a challenging variety that requires vineyards that receive enough heat and sun for full ripening, but not so much that alcohol levels go through the roof. Mencía, the region’s most prominent red grape, is best known for its intense and concentrated iterations in Bierzo, to the east of Galicia.

Featured wines

The vines grow on the sides of the valleys around the river Tâmega. The main town is Verín. The vineyards are at an altitude that varies between 400 and 450 m above sea level.

There are two different sub-zones: Val de Monterrei (Monterrei Valley) and Ladeira de Monterrei (Monterrei slopes). The vines cover an area of about 3000 hectares, even though not all of them are covered by the DOP.

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Monterrei is the warmest and driest area in Galicia, sharing some climatic characteristics with the Spanish central plain. The Serra do Larouco range produces a rain shadow effect in the area. Besides, summers are long and sometimes dry, sometimes with a daily temperature range sometimes as wide as 30 degrees Celsius.[2] Temperatures can fall below 0 °C in winter. Average annual rainfall is about 700 mm and the influence of the Atlantic produces cold autumns.

Plurivarietal wines such as Rosal and Condado do Tea, incorporate other varieties of the subzone such as Loureira and Treixadura, respectively. These wines have an intense aroma, with a slight acidity, and are complex in the mouth, where the influence of the varieties of the area provide differentiating nuances with plant and floral sensations in the nose provided by linalool (rose) and hexanol (vegetable).

 

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Monterrei white and red wines subjected to aging process in oak barrels can use the terminology of Barrica, Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva.

These wines have a minimum of 12% of alcohol if red and white wines 11,5% and a volatile acidity of 1 gram per litre up to 10% alcohol and 0,06 grams per litre more for each alcohol content that is over 10% and a minimum total acidity of 4,5% tantric per litre and a sulphur content not over 160mg per litre.