Monastrell, Mourvèdre, or Mataro? Call It What You Want—I Call It Delicious!
-one grape, many names
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This is a nice surprise!
What’s that?
I am trying a Monastrell wine from Spain for the first time in quite some time, and I am really impressed.
Fun!
I really like the Monastrell grape, which is also known as Mourvèdre in France, and Mataro in Catalonia, Australia, and sometimes California. I love drinking it so much so that I visited the Spanish wine sub-regions of Yecla and Jumilla – close to Monastrell’s ancestral home.
Okay, now that is commitment!
Yes! You know that I try to find wines with very good value for the quality level. I got disappointed a few times in the recent past, where I thought perhaps this region’s quality had dropped.
So what led you to try it again?
One of my personal curation customers.
Shouldn’t you be making recommendations to him?
I am an equal opportunity kind of gal! He said he tried today’s featured wine and really liked it. Ironically I had visited Castaño, the wine’s producer in Yecla, in 2021! An incredible coincidence, and so here we are!
Okay so tell me more! Let’s start with the where!
Southeastern Spain - mainly in the wine regions of Murcia and Valencia. The Jumilla and Yecla sub-regions, as you see on the map, are in Murcia. While there, I felt like I was in a very remote part of Spain. Today’s wine comes from Yecla specifically, which has an elevation of 500-850 m.
Makes sense that you would need some elevation to get some cooling effects to produce quality wine. Now, what about the what?
The wines are made with Monastrell, which is the region’s main grape. Its drought resistance makes it ideal for this area with just 300 mm of annual rainfall. It also likes it hot – to ripen fully! In France’s Languedoc & Rhône Valley wine regions it is often blended with Grenache and Syrah, where it contributes color, intensity, high alcohol (and consequently body), and high firm tannins. It is also the primary variety in the Bandol sub-region in France, where reds are made, but increasingly, rosé is the main style.
Monastrell has been documented in history as far back as the 15th century. It made it to Southern France at the end of the Middle Ages where it was a dominant variety. However, after the late 1800s’ phylloxera invasion in France, plantings plummeted due to problems grafting onto American rootstock. However, some vines did survive this aphid/louse’s invasion as phylloxera does not tolerate sandy soils. Ultimately, it wasn’t until after World War II that a proper rootstock for Monastrell was developed.
Let’s get back to the name – tell me more!
Let’s head back to the province of Valencia where Monastrell was propagated by monks. The name’s origin is likely from the Latin: Monasteriellu a diminutive of monasteriu, which means monastery.
Those monks influence everything wine!
Its name in France, Mourvèdre, comes from the Spanish city, whose long history has provided many names including Murviedro or Morvedre and its current name Sagunto.
What about the name Mataro?
Yes! It is known as Mataro in Australia, a name taken from a town near Barcelona where it was also planted. The same name was adopted when the grape was exported to California in the mid to late 1800s.
Eventually more vines were imported to California in the 1990s by the partnership of Tablas Creek Winery in Paso Robles and the Perrin family of Château de Beaucastel of the Rhône Valley. It was Tablas Creek that realized that there was quite a difference between what they called the ‘American clone’ (mid to late 1800’s imported vines) vs. the 1990’s ‘French clones.’
I love that – it reminds me of the article you wrote about Malbec and how the grape evolved in Argentina in a significantly different way than in its homeland France.
Genetics are truly fascinating!
For what it is worth, Tablas Creek eventually switched over to 100% ‘French clone’ Monastrell, what they call Mouvèdre for their wines!
But let’s get back to the beginning and how as an incredibly good value, this wine is a perfect Tuesday night wine!! I worry about going this low in price for a bottle, as I frankly think that producers cannot make very good quality wines at such a low price. But I must remember that some regions have very good economics due to favorable climate and lower labor costs.
Lesson learned!
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Bodega Castaño Hécula Monastrell 2021 from Yecla, Murcia, Spain
Style: Old World Style Moderately Full Red Wine
Varieties: Monastrell
This balanced wine has flavors of perfectly ripe red cherry, rich black cherry, kirsch, blueberry, vanilla, chocolate, cocoa, and malt. This moderately high intensity wine has high quality, ripe, slightly chalky moderate tannins.
Best pairings: Slow-cooked beef short ribs, Meat stew, Chorizo or spicy Sausage, Paella, Shepherd’s Pie, Assorted tapas, and Aged Manchego.
Serving Temperature: 16-18 degrees Celsius
Serving Tips: Enjoy
Price: $18 Cdn
Apologies: I have had technical difficulties with my compilation - please stay tuned. I have compiled all my wine recommendations in one place. I will do my best to keep this up to date. I also include the link(s) to the article in which the wine was featured.
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SOURCES:
Bodegas Castaño. (no date)Available at: https://www.bodegascastano.com/en/ (Accessed: 05 February 2025).
Hablemos de Yecla (2024) Yecla Vino. Available at: https://yeclavino.com/hablemos-de-yecla/ (Accessed: 05 February 2025).
Harding, J. and Robinson, J. (2023) The oxford companion to wine. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
MacNeil, K. (2022) The wine bible. New York, NY: Workman Publishing.
Mourvèdre- plantgrape. (No date) Available at: https://www.plantgrape.fr/en/varieties/fruit-varieties/177 (Accessed: 06 February 2025).
Mourvèdre (no date) Tablas Creek. Available at: https://tablascreek.com/story/vineyard_and_winemaking/grapes/mourvedre (Accessed: 05 February 2025).
Sagunto (2025) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagunto (Accessed: 05 February 2025).
Top Spanish wine regions to visit in 2025 (no date) WineTourism.com. Available at: https://www.winetourism.com/wine-country/spain/ (Accessed: 05 February 2025).
Wine & Spirit Education Trust (2021) D3: Wines of the World - An accompaniment to the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines. Version 1.2. London: Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
Winetourism.com (no date) WineTourism.com. Available at: http://www.Winetourism.com/ (Accessed: 29 January 2025).
There are some amazing Monastrell wines in the Murcia region; it's the dominant grape and many use it alone but there are some beautiful complex blends. Powerful, juicy reds are the mainstay, with some even at 16%!
A huge amount never make it to the UK and the biggest choice is of course in the region itself. Look out for Bodegas Xenysel, Finca Luzon, de Nariz, Viña Elena, etc and of course the mighty Juan Gil. There are some interesting small vineyards doing great things with interesting stories too, (Bodega Tinaha is a notable one, among others) I love it!
Such a great grape. Loved the article.