Monterrei is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) (''Denominación de Orixe Protexida'' in Galician) for wines located in the southeast corner of the province of

Ourense Ourense (; es, Orense ) is a city and capital of the province of Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path of the Way of St ...

in ( Galicia,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

). It covers the municipalities of

Verín Verín is a town and municipality in the southeast of the province of Ourense, autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. The population of the municipality is about 14,433. It is located 70 kilometers east of the provincial capital of Ourense and ...

Monterrei Monterrei ( es, Monterrey, label= Castilian) is a municipality located in the Province of Ourense in the Galicia region of north-west Spain. Monterrey is well known for its Castle, built in the 10th century. The Mexican city of Monterrey was na ...

, Oimbra and

Castrelo do Val Castrelo do Val (Spanish Castrelo del Valle) is a municipality in Ourense in the Galicia region of north-west Spain. It is located towards the south-east of the province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country o ...

. Long a neglected DO, Monterrei became suddenly relevant and production has boomed as some of its wines were praised by wine critic

Robert M. Parker, Jr. Robert McDowell Parker Jr. (born July 23, 1947) is a retired U.S. wine critic. His wine ratings on a 100-point scale and his newsletter ''The Wine Advocate'' are influential in American wine buying and are therefore a major factor in setting th ...

in March 2008

History

It is believed that it was the

ancient Romans In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...

who first introduced grape growing and wine making in this region. The wines from Monterrei were renowned during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. 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 Philip II may refer to: * Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC) * Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor * Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374) * Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404) * Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497) * Philip ...

, especially as the 5th Count of Monterrei was nominated viceroy to the new Spanish colonies in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

. It was around this time that the city of

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

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.T. Stevenson ''The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia'' Fifth Edition pg 366 Dorling Kindersley (2011)

Geography

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.

Soils

The fertile, clayey soils, humid climate, high vine density and the yield of the local grape varieties means that wine production is high at 50 hectolitres per hectare.

Climate

Monterrei is the warmest and driest area in Galicia, sharing some climatic characteristics with the Spanish central plain. The

Serra do Larouco Serra (Latin for "saw") may refer to: People * Serra (footballer) (born 1961), Portuguese footballer * Serra (surname) * Serra (given name) Cities, towns, municipalities Brazil *Serra, Espírito Santo, a city in the Greater Vitória area *Ampar ...

range produces a

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is carrie ...

effect in the area. Besides, summers are long and sometimes dry, sometimes with a daily temperature range sometimes as wide as 30 degrees Celsius. Temperatures can fall below 0 °C in winter. Average annual rainfall is about 700 mm and the influence of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

produces cold autumns.

Grapes

Recommended red grapes: Mencía and Merenzao; also authorized are Araúxa / Tempranillo,

Caiño Tinto Caíño tinto (also known as Borraçal in Portuguese) is a red Galician wine grape variety that is also grown in Portugal's Vinho Verde wine region where it is known as Borraçal. In Spain, it is a permitted variety in the '' Denominación de Ori ...

and Sousón. Recommended white grapes:

Doña Blanca Doña Blanca (Spanish "White Lady", also known as Dona Branca in Portuguese) is a white Spanish and Portuguese grape variety that is grown primarily in the northwest Galicia region of Spain and throughout Portugal from the Douro northward. The ...

Godello Godello is a white variety of wine grape grown in northwestern Spain, in particular in Galicia. The Gouveio found in northern Portugal is thought to be the same grape variety. The origins of Godello variety are located in the town of Godella ...

, and

Treixadura Treixadura or Trajadura is white Portuguese wine grape variety grown primarily in the Vinho Verde wine region of northeast Portugal and the Galician wine regions of Ribeiro and Rías Baixas in Spain where the variety is known as ''Treixadura' ...

; also authorized are

Albariño Alvarinho () or Albariño () is a variety of white wine grape grown in Northwest Portugal (Monção and Melgaço) and Galicia (northwest Spain) where it is also used to make varietal white wines. In Portugal it is known as Alvarinho, and some ...

Blanca de Monterrei Blanca (meaning "white" in Spanish) may refer to: Locations United States * Casa Blanca, California or Blanca, a former unincorporated community * Blanca, Colorado, a Statutory Town *Blanca Peak, a mountain in Colorado * Blanca Wetlands, a prote ...

, Caiño Branco, and

Loureira Loureira is a Portuguese parish, located in the municipality of Vila Verde. The population in 2021 was 1106 in an area of 1.87 km². {{Infobox Portuguese subdivision, official_name=Loureira, image_shield=, coordinates={{coord, 41.630, -8.427, ...

. As most vineyards have been planted recently, they are on trellises (''en espaldera'') so as to maximize their exposure to the sun.

References

External links

D.O. Monterrei official website
{{Galician cuisine Wine regions of Spain Galicia (Spain)