Monterrei is one of Galicia’s newer Denominaciones de Origen, and it’s not yet very well-known outside of Spain. The wines of Quinta de Muradella, made by Jose Luís Mateo, are probably the best international ambassadors for this tiny region with just 27 wineries.
But good things come in small packages, and Monterrei is working hard to improve its international presence and reputation. There’s a long history of winemaking in this region, interweaving Roman gods, Spanish colonies in Mexico, and modern-day wineries.
Ready to learn more about Monterrei? Let’s keep going…
A Little Geography
Monterrei is located in the south of the province of Ourense, and a large part of its territory shares a border with Portugal to the south. It’s much smaller than the rest of Galicia’s wine regions, with just 657 hectares of vineyards that spread out to the north, east, and west of the town of Verín.
Monterrei’s terrain is divided between the Támega river valley extending south to the Portuguese border and the mountains that surround it to the north, east, and west.
Hijos de Rivera, S.L., better known for their Estrella Galicia beer, bottles and sells the mineral water from Cabreiroá parish, in Verín.
With over 100 years of history, Cabreiroá’s waters and their medicinal properties have soothed the ailments of generations of people in the Monterrei Valley.
Val de Monterrei
The Val de Monterrei (Monterrei Valley) subzone covers the Támega river valley in the flattest part of the appellation. Wide and flat, it follows the course of the river until it enters Portugal.
The bottom of the valley sits between 400 and 500 meters above sea level, and the terrain rises around the edges to reach altitudes above 1,000 meters at the tops of the mountains. People historically planted vines both in the valley and in higher areas around 700 meters, although they considered the higher-altitude vines to produce lower-quality grapes. This is changing as climate change forces producers to seek out higher-altitude vineyards.
Val de Monterrei has slightly more than half of the appellation’s vineyards, which are planted in rich alluvial and colluvial soils made of sedimentary materials like clay. The valley also has a fair amount of sandy granitic and slate soils formed by erosion of the mountains. Organic matter left by the passage of the Támega creates fertile soils, so the Val de Monterrei has the potential to produce larger quantities of grapes
In terms of climate, the river’s humidity is offset by the width of the valley. A wider valley means air currents can enter and ventilate the vines, and it also lets in plenty of sunlight.
The subzone includes whole towns as well as parts of others. In some cases, not all the land in a town enters the subzone, with only some of its parishes allowed in. The towns and parishes of the Val de Monterrei subzone are Castrelo do Val (parishes of Castrelo do Val, Pepín and Nocedo do Val), Monterrei (parishes of Albarellos, Infesta, Monterrei and Vilaza), Oímbra (parishes of Oímbra, Rabal, and San Cibrao), and Verín (parishes of Abedes, Cabreiroá, Feces de Abaixo, Feces de Cima, Mandín, Mourazos, Pazos, Queizás, La Rasela, Tamagos, Tamaguelos, Tintores, Verín and Vila Maior do Val).
Ladeira de Monterrei
The Ladeira de Monterrei subzone, or “Slopes of Monterrei,” is made up of vineyards on the slopes surrounding the Támega river valley, located in the highest parts of the Monterrei appellation and reaching altitudes up to 800 meters.
Ladeira de Monterrei has slightly less than half of the appellation’s vineyards. Its slopes are usually very gentle, so there’s no need for terraces like in Ribeiro or Ribeira Sacra. Soils in this subzone are mostly granite and slate, and vines produce lower quantities of grapes that make more intensely aromatic wines.
Different slope orientations create different microclimates. In general, higher altitudes lend themselves to cooler temperatures and a slight uptick in precipitation which can cause risks for vines, but south-facing slopes can offset this temperature difference with more exposure to sunlight.
This subzone includes the towns and parishes of Vilardevós, Castrelo do Val (parishes of Gondulfes and Servoi), Oímbra (parishes of As Chas, Bousés, Vidiferre and A Granxa), Monterrei (parishes of Flariz, Medeiros, Estevesiños and Vences), Verín (the parish of Queirugás), Rios (parish of Castrelo de Baixo and various lugares in the parishes of Castrelo de Cima, Fumaces, Progo and Rios).
The Támega River
The Támega belongs to a group of northern tributaries of the Douro River. It begins in the foothills of the Sierra de San Mamede, and flows into the Duero River (Douro in Portugal) in the Portuguese town of Entre-os-Rios. During part of its 145 kilometers it passes through Monterrei from north to south.
The Támega provides much-needed freshness for the region, and its flow has deposited rich alluvial soils along the bottom of the valley.
Monterrei's Climate
Monterrei’s location in the extreme southeast of Galicia around the Támega river valleys gives it a temperate Mediterranean climate, with both continental and Atlantic influences.
In a broad sense, Monterrei has hot and dry summers and cold winters. The Mediterranean-Continental influences means the area sees a shift in temperatures between day and night of up to 30º C during the period in which grapes are ripening. But the climate is complex, with specifically Atlantic, Mediterranean, or continental climate zones in different areas of the Támega Valley or its slopes.
In general, temperature extremes become more pronounced in Galicia the further southeast you go. Monterrei’s location gives rise to very pronounced thermal contrasts, with hot summers with temperatures surpassing 40º C (104º F) and cold winters in which thermometers dip to -8º C (17º F), with an average temperature of 12º C (54º F). The region receives close to 2,700 hours of sunshine and around 1,000 mm of rainfall year.
Monterrei's Soils
Monterrei has several types of soils: slate and shale-based, colluvial, granitic, and sedimentary.
The metamorphic soils of Monterrei vary depending on the type of rock they come from. Metamorphic rocks like quartzite, slate, schist, phyllite, etc. are all found in different areas of Monterrei. Rocks like slates and schists come from the compaction of clays and muds, and they tend to have a lot of fractures. This is a double-edged sword, since the fractures mean roots can penetrate the soils and underlying rock more easily but also means the soils retain less water. This means vines planted in these soils are forced to grow their roots deeper, and usually take longer to develop and have limited production.
Colluvial soils are located at the bases of metamorphic mountains, where metamorphic materials accumulated due to erosion that brought them down the mountains. They’re typically made of chunks of schist, slate, phyllite or quartzite that are mixed with tiny clays. These soils are usually dense and humid, which can be very good for growing larger quantities of grapes.
Similarly, the clay and sandy soils that cover the bottom of the valley are good for producing huge quantities of grapes. They could be considered “anthropic” soils from their centuries of cultivation and fertilization. However, left unchecked, vines planted in these soils tend to make wines of quantity rather than quality, so winemakers need to carefully control production. These clay soils also have their problems: in winter they accumulate a lot of water and form a very hard crust in the spring that makes them difficult to work with. However, this water retention can be good in times of drought.
Last but not least, granitic, sandy soils are similar to those in the rest of Galicia: they come from the decomposition of the granite bedrock into sandy soils made of minerals like quartz and feldspar. These soils tend to have a lower pH and are most often planted with white grape varieties.
Wines from Monterrei
Monterrei makes both red and white wines.
White wines from Monterrei are usually single-varietal Godello wines or Godello-dominant blends, with the grape accounting for 70% of the white grapes planted in Monterrei. Other varieties like Dona Branca, Albariño, Branca de Monterrei, Caíño Branco, and Loureira are also planted in smaller percentages. Many of the white wines of Monterrei come from vines planted on granitic soils, so they tend to retain some of the “verticality” associated with granite. They can range from big, fruit-forward, and alcoholic to refined and austere, depending in part on their altitude and the conditions of the vintage. In general, white wines from Monterrei tend to fall on the ripe fruit end of the spectrum rather than the vegetal, fresh citrus end.
Red wines from Monterrei are usually made using Mencía or Araúxa (Tempranillo). Other red varieties include Merenzao, Caíño Tinto and Sousón. Red wines from Monterrei also tend to have more fruit and alcohol than their counterparts in the other wine regions of Galicia, owing to the region’s southeastern location and quasi-Mediterranean climate. Winemakers have to be very careful when they harvest in order to avoid flavors of overripe, raisiny fruit in the wine.