Winemaker Notes
Castillo de Monseran is located in Carineña in Spain. Cariñea is frequently cited as the birthplace of Grenache/Garnacha. Only later did the varietal migrate to southern France, where it gained fame as a Rhone varietal, especially in the big, peppery Chateauaneuf de Papes of the southern Rhône. The terroir in Carineña holds similarities of the southern Rhône.
Castillo de Monséran is made by winemaker Hugh Ryman and Jesús Prieto, the winemaker of Bodegas San Valero.
Hugh is a graduate of the prestigious school of winemaking at Bordeaux University and went on to gain practical experience in Australia, working at Petaluma with the legendary winemaker Brian Croser, while Jesús graduated from Zaragoza.
Together Hugh and Jesús work with a team of viticulturalists to select appropriate vineyard parcels and to choose the right moment for picking. They then carefully control the vinification and ageing of Castillo de Monséran in tank or in barrel, before making the final blends.
Their close personal involvement at every step of the production process ensures the style, quality and consistency of the wines.
Spanish red wine is known for being bold, heady, rustic and age-worthy, Spain is truly a one-of-a-kind wine-producing nation. A great majority of the country is hot, arid and drought-ridden, and since irrigation has only been recently introduced and (controversially) accepted, viticulture has sustained—and flourished—only through a great understanding of Spain’s particular conditions. Large spacing between vines allows each enough resources to survive and as a result, the country has the most acreage under vine compared to any other country, but is usually third in production.
Of the Spanish red wines, the most planted and respected grape variety is Tempranillo, the star of Spain’s Rioja and Ribera del Duero regions. Priorat specializes in bold red blends, Jumilla has gained global recognition for its single varietal Monastrell and Utiel-Requena has garnered recent attention for its reds made of Bobal.