Mondéjar is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) for wines located in the southeast corner of the province of

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

( Castile-La Mancha,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

), around the town of

Mondéjar Mondéjar is a municipality located in the Guadalajara (province), province of Guadalajara, Spain. According to the 2008 census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain), INE), the municipality has a population of 2,637 inhabitants. Refe ...

. It covers 19 municipalities, the most important one being

Sacedón Sacedón is a city located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2007 census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating populati ...

History

Wine has been produced in this area for centuries, due to the strategic position that Mondéjar occupies on the road between

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. The traditional market for the wines was strictly local. Originally, Mondéjar wines were classified as ''Vinos de la Tierra'', but they acquired official DO status in 1997.

Climate

Surprisingly, despite being in the centre of the Iberian peninsula, the area around Mondéjar possesses a Mediterranean climate due to the easterly winds and the altitude. Even so, temperatures in summer are high (40°C max) and low in winter (-8°C max) with strong possibilities of frost even in April. Average annual rainfall is 500 mm.

Soils

The land covered by Mondéjar DOP is generally gentle rolling hills. It borders on the

Vinos de Madrid Vinos de Madrid is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP), located in the southern part of the region of Madrid (Spain). It covers 54 municipalities and is divided into the three sub-zones ( Arganda, Navalcarnero, and San Martín), ...

DOP to the west and on the

La Mancha La Mancha () is a natural region, natural and historical region in the provinces of Spain, Spanish provinces of province of Albacete, Albacete, province of Cuenca, Cuenca, province of Ciudad Real, Ciudad Real and province of Toledo, Toledo. It ...

DOP to the south. The vineyards are at a height of about 800 m above sea level. In the southeast, around the town of Mondéjar itself, the vines are planted on red soil on lime bearing clay sediments, not very rocky and rich in potassium. In the north, around the town of Sacedón, the soils are dark, on marl, sandy and poor in nitrogen, magnesium and phosphates. In both zones, the subsoil is deep, has good permeability and is poor in organic matter.

Authorised Grape Varieties

The authorised grape varieties are: * Red:

Tempranillo Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del País in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in it ...

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse ...

, and Garnacha * White:

Macabeo Macabeo, also called Viura or Macabeu (, ), is a white variety of wine grape. It is widely grown in the Rioja region of northeastern Spain, the Cava producing areas south of Barcelona, and the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. Spanis ...

Malvar Malvar, officially the Municipality of Malvar (), is a municipality in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 64,379 people. Etymology The municipality was named after General Miguel Malvar ...

Sauvignon Blanc Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...

, and

Torrontés Torrontés is a white grape variety, mostly produced and known in Argentine wine, Argentina, producing fresh, aromatic (wine), aromatic wines with moderate acidity (wine), acidity, smooth texture and mouthfeel as well as distinctive peach and apr ...

Viticulture

The first leaf burst on the vines is in mid-March and the leaves start to fall at the beginning of November. 50% of the vines covered by the DOP are over 25 years old and produce an average of 5–6 kg/vine. The vine planting density is low at an average of 1,100 vines/ha.

References

External links

D.O.P. Mondéjar official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mondejar (DO) Wine regions of Spain Province of Guadalajara