By Pablo Campos
Bonum vinum virorum animos laetificat
(good wine lifts the spirits of
men)
Somontano means “at the
mountain’s foot”. Well, in this case we are not talking of a small and lonely
mountain, but in the shelter of the mighty Pyrenees. The term Somontano neatly
defines a whole geographical area where this designation of origin has taken
residence. It is a transition region, located between the Ebro’s valley and the
Pyrenees. I guess the technical name would be something like the
“pre-Pyrenees”, although somehow that doesn’t seem like an accurate
nomenclature.
Where the Pyrenees begin
to rise a whole variety of about 15 kinds of grapes, both local and foreign,
find a perfect place to grow. And they do it in about ten thousands of acres of
land.
The soil has a
combination of sandstone and clay, mixed with a considerable amount of
limestone and alluvial material. It is not the most fertile of land, although
the drainage is of certain level. The altitude for this wine oscillates between
350 and 650 meters.
We owe it to the Romans
who, through their appreciation of a gentle glass of wine, sought the means to
consolidate this grapevine. Their endeavors where further developed by the
unrelenting influence of the local monasteries during the Middle-Ages.
Nowadays, the wines from the Somontano can be fully appreciated by us
consumers, allowing us the simple pleasure of tasting the fruits of this green
and abrupt corner of the Iberian Peninsula.