Montsant

A Catalan appellation, among the first European regions with ongoing kosher production outside Israel.

Country

Spain

Climate

Mediterranean with continental influence

Main varieties

Garnacha · Cariñena · Cabernet Sauvignon · Syrah

Montsant surrounds the better-known Priorat and works with the same varieties: old-vine Garnacha and Cariñena.

The region holds a particular place in the history of modern kosher winemaking. The Celler de Capçanes cooperative was founded in 1933 by five families and worked in obscurity until 1995, when Barcelona's small Jewish community asked whether it would make a kosher wine. The cooperative bought equipment for controlled non-mevushal vinification of selected parcels, and the resulting Peraj Ha'abib became Spain's first kosher wine. Today the kosher line is around 5% of output but draws most of the attention.

That model, a kosher run at a working estate, is now used across Europe.