Tastings: Monsant's institutional wines

Over the summer I was asked to participate in rating the ‘institutional wines’ for DO Montsant. These are wines they select to best represent the region at a given moment. Once selected, in addition to bragging rights by the cellar, the wines are served at promotional events for the DO. They aren’t randomly chosen and need to meet certain requirements. For example, the whites must be a minimum of 70 percent from White Grenache and/or Macabeu and the reds a minimum of 70 percent from Grenache and Carignan. A group of 20 of us conducted a blind taste test of the wines in various orders so that one person’s number one may have been another’s number ten to account for ‘palate fatigue’. It’s an interesting exercise, attempting to choose two wines that define a region, which produces some five million bottles of wine. Overall, I’d say that the result was good. If you want to understand DO Montsant in two wines, these offer up a good interpretation, although I would posit there are many other reds that you can try as well.

Acústic - Blanc 2015 €12

A wine that’s been getting attention for several vintages now, this blend of 60 percent White Grenache, 25 percent Macabeu, 10 percent Grey Grenache and five percent  Xarel·lo is exciting. While it has some tropical notes, owner Albert Jané has done well to round it out with a touch of barrel aging to make a modern interpretation of the ‘field blend’ from days past.

Celler El Masroig - Les Sorts Vinyes Velles 2013 €15

This cooperative makes around 30 percent of all the wine in DO Montsant and has the arduous task of blending together massively varying plots of grapes. The resulting blend of a Grenache and Carignan is impressive. Expressive red and dark fruits come out immediately as well as a generally spicy character that’s balanced by good acidity in what was a showstopper of a vintage.

Miquel Hudin is a sommelier originally from California but now based in Barcelona. He founded the Vinologue series of wine books.