Syrah (Montsant, Spain)

Let's fly to Barcelona today. And, when we land, we're going to head to the west just a bit. We're in a relatively new wine region known by the name of its local mountains, Montsant. Montsant first acheived DO (Denominación de Origen) status earlier this century and got promoted to DOP (Denominación de Origen Protegida) when the Spanish Agriculture Ministry decided that was a more appropriate and distinguished term for its wine regions. It's the second highest accolade for wine region in Spain with the other being held only(see tomorrow) by Priorat and Rioja.

The vineyards in Montsant have been planted mostly on the sides of the Montsant Mountains among alive groves and somewhat dense forests. Despite being technically in the mountains, we're not really that elevated as we are near the Balearic Sea. The lowest vineyards in Montsant sit at around 200 meters/660 feet while the highest may be up at nearly 800 meters/2640 feet.

The soil is somewhat diverse throughout the relatively small region. Nearest the coast, we find soil that is largely slate-based while as we move up the mountains, we encounter sand created from the worn granite on the mountainsides as well as a sort of limestone-based chalky clay not unike the kaolin of the State of Georgia.

The weather here is warm, but usually not overly hot. Winters rarely develop frost, even in the mountains. Summers are dry and most of the 650mm/27in on average of rain per year fall in the fall right after harvest. Vineyard managers need to be careful to harvest before the heavy rains arrive or their crops may be ruined.

The Syrah here can best be described as powerful. These wines are quite striking on the nose giving off notes of black licorice and rich, dark coffee. On the palate, add in chocolate, black fruit, particularly blackberry and plum, black olive, and marcona almonds.

Enjoy these Syrahs with wild game, chorizo sausage, and hard local cheeses such as Manchego. While not at the level of yesterday's offerings, these wines are quite ageworthy and will become richer and earthier with a bit more spice as time progresses.


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