Mataro

Synonymous with another wine grape, Mourvèdre, Mataro is a red-wine grape that grows in France’s Provence and Rhône regions, as well as Spain, Australia and the United States (California and Washington). This is a luscious, rich grape with dark-fruit notes, pronounced tannins, and a full body. It’s also very versatile. In addition to red wines, Mataro is often used to make Port or port-style wines as well as rosé wines. Despite its diversity, Mataro is not an easy wine grape to grow because it needs hot weather and moderate rainfall.

Mataro grapes can be traced back to Catalonia in Northern Spain around 500 B.C. During the 1860s, Mourvèdre arrived in California to be used for jug wines. It still thrives at many of the state’s vineyards today, although it is now considered higher quality and is used either as part of a GSM blend or a single varietal.

Quick Facts

• Mataro is a key grape in the GSM blend, which consists of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre (or Mataro)
• Spaniards will often refer to Mataro as Monastrell
• Plantings of Mataro in Spain are rapidly declining, with only about 155,000 acres today from 250,000 acres 20 years ago