The most widely cultivated grape variety within the hectares of the Protected Denomination of Origin is Monastrell, making it the most important in our winemaking process. Other notable varieties grown in the area include Garnacha, Garnacha Tintorera, Cencibel, Airén, Pedro Ximénez, Macabeo, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Monastrell wines are well-balanced, aged in oak barrels and aromatically expressive. They show notes of ripe and dark fruits such as cherry, strawberry and redcurrant, and display an intense dark purplish-red colour with purple hues. On the palate, they offer structure and power, with persistent tannins.
The Monastrell vine has an upright growth habit, with thick, short, and scarcely branched shoots. Its leaves are pentagonal in shape with three well-defined lobes. The clusters are small to medium in size and quite compact, with spherical, medium-sized berries of a blue-black colour. They have a thick skin rich in anthocyanins, while the pulp is soft and fleshy, containing only a small amount of tannins.
It is a very rustic variety with high resistance to drought and it requires good exposure to sunlight. It also shows medium to high sensitivity to downy mildew and powdery mildew, while being highly resistant to excoriosis, grey rot and vine moth. In addition, it presents strong resistance to phylloxera.
The Monastrell variety is a vine of Spanish origin, widely grown along the Mediterranean coast, and is the third most planted grape variety in Spain.