📍 Monterrei

Monterrei is a wine zone in south-eastern Galicia, in the province of Ourense, right on the border with Portugal. Its centre is the town of Verín in the Támega valley, and above the valley stands the old Monterrei castle. Vineyards lie on the valley slopes and on terraces at several hundred metres.

Compared with the rest of Galicia it is drier and warmer: rain is less frequent, summers are hot and winters can be frosty. The mountains weaken the influence of the Atlantic, and the climate is closer to continental. As a result the wines are fuller and denser than those on the coast. Monterrei is one of the five wine appellations of Galicia.

White wines are made from Godello and Treixadura, sometimes with another local vine added. They are fresh, with scents of flowers and ripe fruit. Reds are mostly from Mencía, light and fragrant with red-berry notes, along with other local grapes.

For comparison with its neighbours: to the west lies the damp Ribeiro, to the north-west Ribeira Sacra, and to the south across the border the Portuguese regions of Vinho Verde and Trás-os-Montes.