The Monastrell grape is a very popular grape variety in mediterranean basin crops. Especially on the spanish Levante coast, where it has been cultivated for thousands of years. Currently it is also possible to find vine extensions of this grape in some areas of the United States and even in Australia.
This grape variety is also known by the names Mataró (in Portugal) and Mourvsed (French voice that comes from the Valencian voice of Sagunto).
Our main peculiarity is that it has a thick skin that allows it to withstand the blow of raindrops well without suffering the grain. A grain that is usually small in size.
The strain of the Monastrell grape also grows in warm or temperate areas, and matures very late and for very little time. Because it has a lot of sugars and is small in size, the grains start to dry out quickly. Plummeting its acidity. Which results in a plum flavor that is not always welcome by winemakers, who seek other contributions in terms of aroma and taste.
It is a grape variety that adapts well to many types of soils, hence it is grown in many different lands of temperate areas of the planet. In some of them obtaining some of the most prestigious wines that exist. Which says a lot about the quality of these grapes.
Uses of Monastrell grapes
Since it is a grape has a lot of skin it is usually used to create dark wines with a lot of alcohol content. Therefore, it is often used as part of the composition of other wines, where other grape varieties are also used. In these cases, Monastrell is often used to give color and to offer tannic values and fruity taste.
At Wineryon, however, we use it almost exclusively, to make our wines. Grains that we grow in very old vines (in old vines with free pre-phylloxeric standing), with a low yield, which offer high quality grains (which we collect in the month of November) and that subsist in very cold winters and very hot summers.
With them we make our wines, some of them only with this grape variety. And, in other cases, combining it with other grapes with which it completes its qualities.
In the first case is our star wine: Demuerte Black. A red wine made only from this grape that has the following peculiarities: an intense and bright cherry red colour; a fresh smell, which has some balsamic notes lots of ripe fruit, currant jams all well combined while also having a spicy character, in which we recognize different sweet spices, paprika, different cinnamon, or even cocoa.
With all this, the Monastrell grape is shown as essential in a soft and pleasant wine, round, flavored with fruit and jam, with a high percentage of ripe and silky tannins, which make your drink very long and leave a hint of friendly toasted notes.
We also use the Monastrell grape in the production of other varieties of our Demuerte wine. For example, in Demuerte Deluxe (where it shares with two other grape varieties in the following percentages: Monastrell 80%, Syrah 10%, Petit Verdot 10%); in our wine Demuerte Gold (where the percentages and varieties are as follows: Monastrell 50%, Syrah 30% and Tintorera 20%);Demuerte Classic (where Monastrell is mixed with the Syrah grape at 50%), and finally in our Demuerte One (where Monastrell combines with cabernet Sauvignon grapes in a percentage of 90-10 respectively).
So, if you want to taste the qualities of the Monastrell grape, do not hesitate and taste some of the wines we make in Wineryon. They will take you into a world of sensations and connect you with the essence of wine in the Mediterranean!
