All wines which are sold under the Montsant name carry a numbered back label which guarantees its origin. But what is really behind this back label? Two rigorous sessions of quality control.

The first one takes place at INCAVI, the Catalan Vine and Wine Institute. Analysis is based on making sure that such things as alcohol level, acidity or the amount of sulphites each type of wine contains are within the parameters which the DO Montsant has previously established.

The second one is a sensorial test, which is carried out by a team of DO Montsant winemakers and INCAVI technicians. In a blind tasting, the committee studies the visual, aromatic, tast and back palate properties of each wine.  After  results are quantified, the team decides if the wine is apt or not.

A wine must pass both tests in order to be sold under the Montsant brand. The back label which guarantees this is our quality assurance mark.

From 8^th July until 1^st November, Santa Mònica Art Centre (Centre d’Art Santa Mònica) in Barcelona will be offering an exhibition called “Condensed Subject. Cooking with Science”, promoted by the Alicia Foundation, a centre for research whose advisory committee is headed up by Ferran Adrià.

The show, which invites people to read cooking, gastronomy and food with scientific eyes, although maintaining their cultural function, is based on the project “Sweet Wine Like Honey” in which DO Montsant winery, Mas de la Caçadora will be participating. Panses, which is the name of their sweet wine, will be distilled to make a more concentrated product which will be available to visitors of the exhibition.

Two more accolades for DO Montsant wines. This time, in The Hague. For one, we have an honorary mention for Mussefres Selección 2008 from Serra d’Almos cooperative in the red wine category and for the other, Castell de Falset White 2007 from Agrícola Falset-Marçà has received recognition in the white wine category.

These two prizes, on top of others which have been awarded in the last few years are proof of our wineries’ good practice and the consolidation of DO Montsant wines on the international wine scene.

José Peñín will be examining Montsant wines next Tuesday during the annual tasting for his Guía de los Vinos de España 2011 wine guide. Accompanied by one of his auxhiliary tasters, Javier Luengo, Peñín will analyse more than 130 vins. Some wines have already been released and others will be coming out in the next few months.

The tasting will take place at VITEC, the Scientific and Technological Wine Centre in Falset.

DO Montsant in Peñín Wine Guide 2010

The tasting for the 2010 wine guide has shown that the DO Montsant has more wines than most wine appellations over the 90 point mark. Or, in other words, 57 wines of the 133 were rated as “excellent”. The rest, were mostly qualified as “very good” which is to say they gained over 80 points.

DO Montsant wines according to José Peñín

Red Wines

Young: fruity, meaty and flavoursome.

Aged in oak: concentrated fruit, potent, meaty with mineral notes.

White Wines

Predominant variety of White Grenache; body, structure and herby touches of  Mediterranean mountains.

Predominant variety of Macabeo: light, fine, fresh and fruity.

Rosés

Flavoursome, fruity, pleasant with well pronounced red fruit.

Traditional Wines

Voluptuous with aromas and taste of raisins and jammy fruits.

Two silver medals to Coca i Fitó cellar.

ISIS 2006 red wine from Celler Els Guiamets has been awarded with a gold medal in Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, a world-known contest based in a blind taste made for a wide group of specialists. Aroud 7.000 samples have been tastes, coming from all over the world.

Another DO Montsant cellar has been awarded in this contest. Coca i Fitó cellar has two silver medals, Coca i Fitó 2007 and Jaspi 2007.

We, as DO Montsant, are very proud to be active partners in that project. Preparatory works have been lasting for two years, and the local society has been involved in all the process. DOQ Priorat, DO Montsant, Olive Oil Growers Association, Turism Association and many individuals have been working hard in the final documents.

Next step has been the approval of the Priorat County Council, and now we need the support of Catalan and Spanish Governments, to reach the final step in UNESCO headquarters.

After all that long process, party will be wonderful and plenty of wine will be available for you!

First week-end of May, as usual, Falset Wine Fair will show you all the wines from Montsant DO and Priorat DOQ apellations.

Our program is full of activities. You can see the english version at the end of our brochure. Open this link

Falset 2010 Wine Fair brochure (cat, spa, eng)

The brave struggle against adversity and subsequent success of  Celler de Capçanes, in the D.O. Montsant, will soon become a fictional television series. A film producer has been working on this project for some time now and it is due to be shown at some point next year.

The film, with a budget of between one and one and a half million Euros, could have well-known actors such as Ramon Madaula and Josep Maria Pou amongst its protagonists. It will be based in Capçanes and will be a costume drama, although it will have some similarities with real life. This initiative has already appeared as news in the Catalan Avui newspaper.

Read the newspaper article

D.O. Montsant, Vinyes d’en Gabriel winery is continuing to work the difficult Canadian wine market. According to the winery, they have just visited Canada to give sales support to their importer, by taking part in various trade fairs related to the food industry in Montreal and Quebec.

Vinyes d’en Gabriel winery is a clear example of a small winery within the D.O. Montsant, a family business which, for generations, has been related to the wine world (in fact, their experience goes as far back as the 19th century. This winery has taken a great leap forward, which has brought it prestige and also has opened up various international markets.

Various wines from D.O. Montsant, Els Guiamets winery, were selected for the Spanish Chamber of Commerce’s Gala dinner, which took place in London recently. According to this cooperative winery, their Vall Sellada wine was served with starters and their Gran Mets was served with the main course and finally three magnums of Isis were raffled off during the event.

The dinner was presided over by the Spanish Ambassador in the UK and the chairman of the London branch of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Fernando Pérez Fraile, amongst other personalities who also attended.