DO Montsant gained official status towards the end of 2001, which makes it a very young appellation. However, the winemaking tradition of the region where it is located dates from over 2000 years ago. The first archaeological evidence dates back to the time of the Roman Empire, and ever since then, with its moments of crisis and others of glory, winemaking has been a constant factor in the towns and villages of DO Montsant.

One of the region’s key factors is its orography, a characteristic which the Regulating Council regards as an essential element in its winemaking identify. The landscape, diverse, hilly and, to a large extent, abrupt, is also gentle and pleasant in some areas, especially in the south of the region. Equally, the soils have very varied foundations and compositions, changing and taking shape like a mosaic. This hilly profile plays an important role in the climatology, together with the influence of the nearby River Ebro (the appellation’s southerly border) and the winds which blow in from the sea.

The result is a Mediterranean climate, with certain nuances pertaining to a continental character: the mountains tone down the effect of the thermal absorption provoked by the maritime influence, consequently the contrast between day and night temperatures becomes more pronounced, especially during the grape ripening period. This wide cyclical variation in temperature levels benefits sugar formation during the day, while cool temperatures at night help to conserve acidity, giving rise to high-quality grapes. In addition, DO Montsant’s complex orography lends itself to infinite microclimates which give each individual plot its own unique characteristics.

As a result of this environmental diversity, DO Montsant, together with other institutions, are sponsoring a chart of the region’s landscape, in which the landscape is regarded as a cultural value, integrated in the wealth of heritage belonging to an essentially agricultural community which has known how to combine its interaction with the surroundings together with the conservation of the values which characterise it. All of this without forgetting that the landscape is also an economic resource which can and ought to be an added value, an example of a job well done, respect, and sustainability.