The Montseny Nature Reserve in Catalonia could become a fresh source of premium Spanish if one producer succeeds in creating a new appellation.
Image credit: Wikipedia CC
Ignacio De Ros has registered ‘Montagne’ as a name for the potential new Montseny Nature Reserve PDO (Protected Designation of Origin).
The appellation would become the 12th individual PDO of Catalonia, alongside emblematic local wine regions such as Penedes, Priorat and Cava.
Montseny Nature Reserve, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve – located about 60kms north of Barcelona- is a mountainous massif, diverse in flor and fauna and blessed with a combination of Mediterranean sunshine, high rainfall levels, Central European coolness and, in most parts, Llicorella slate, the same soil found in Priorat.
De Ros’s wine estate currently falls under the regional Catalunya PDO, which, he argues, lacks the prestige that should be attributed to the singularity of the Montseny Nature Reserve.
‘The problem is that this park is managed by the Diputación Provincial de Barcelona, a local authority and they are not very cooperative,’ De Ros told Decanter.com.
High up at Can Llobet, a family estate since 1267, De Ros has planted seven hectares of Chardonnay and four hectares of Sauvignon Blanc between 700 and 900 metres in altitude.
He has teamed up with winemaker Josep Trallero, from the nearby Can Serrat estate of the Serrat de Montsoriu vineyards. Trallero supplies his wine to top local restaurants including Cellar Can Roca and he is the only other producer in the Montseny Nature Reserve.
De Ros expects to release his first batch of 15,000 bottles of wine named ‘Habeus Corpus ‘ and ‘Stella Montis Signi’ in December this year.
Written by Barnaby Eales
