Montsant is the new kid on the block in Spain, gaining D.O. status in 2002. Prior to this, it was known as the Falset subregion of the Tarragona DO. The DO took its name from the Montsant mountains in the area, and there are nearly 5,000 acres under vineyards. The region nearly encircles Spain’s second DOC Priorat and is sometimes called the “poor man’s Priorat.” The two regions share similar winemaking styles and grapes, but Montsant lacks the schist soils and the terrain is not as extreme as Priorat.

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I’ve decided to work in a few more Spanish regions over the coming weeks. Spain is my second favorite wine producing country behind France, and I’m looking forward to following Wine Future – Rioja 09. Experts will gather in Logroño, Rioja in November to study the challenges facing the wine industry today such as consumption trends, the economic crisis, climate change and emerging markets. Conference participants will also discuss opportunities, ideas and solutions for the global wine industry. This could also attract major attention to the Spanish wine industry.

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Spain’s second Denominación de Origen Calificada is Priorat, the first was Rioja. This classification created some of the most expensive wines in Spain for an area that was all but forgotten twenty years ago. Grape growing in Priorat dates back to the 12th century, when the Carthusian monks tended to the vineyards for several hundred years. By the end of the 19th century phylloxera devastated many of the vineyards, and they were not replanted until the 1950s. In the early 1980s, a group of mavericks – René Barbier, Alvaro Palacios, Carlos Pastrana, Dafne Glorian and José Luis Pérez moved to Priorat and started making excellent wines almost immediately. From 1985 to 1995, exporting bulk wines stopped and only high quality wine was bottled. Priorat gained D.O. status in 1954 and Catalonian authorities approved DOQ status in 2000.

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I decided to follow up last week’s D.O. Cava post with a post on D.O. Penedés, where most of the Cava is produced. However, D.O. Penedés also produces several varieties of still wines. The region is divided into three main areas Upper Penedés, Central Penedés and Lower Penedés. Each features different soils and climates. In the Upper and Lower Penedés, where the majority of the cultivation takes place, you will find continental and maritime sediments of considerable thickness such as shells. The coastal hills are triassic, cretaceous and oceanic materials, with limestone fossils. The entire surface area is about 600 squared miles.

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Cava is Spain’s sparkling wine, using méthode champenoise for production. D.O. Cava is unique in Spain because it includes five Spanish regions. All other D.O.s consist of only one region. These include Utiel-Requena, Aragón, Ribera del Guadiana, Rioja and Catalunya. However, 85% of Cava comes from Penedés in Catalunya. As the D.O. was established in 1993, Cava was already produced in these other regions creating a unique situation. Officials couldn’t suddenly tell winemakers they couldn’t produce Cava thus the creation of D.O. Cava.

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