I Tant Garnatxa Negra

Set up in 2012, I Tant Vins is the brainchild of Joan Àngel Lliberia, head man at Edetària, one of Terra Alta's most respected wineries, and firm defender of the unique character and personality of indigenous Catalan grape varieties, particularly Garnacha. I Tant's aim is to produce top quality, value for money wines that really reflect the typicity, or characteristics of the local area.

The region of Terra Alta also provides Joan and his team a very broad range of soils to work with. That diversity provides lots of subtle nuances to work with when crafting their wines - each vineyard has its own personality depending on soil type, its location or orientation.

With their commitment to native varieties and old vines, i Tant produce wines of real character and personality that are a wonderful expression of their homeland.

Garnacha is one of the most widely grown wine grapes in the world and in Spain it's about the third most grown red grape behind Tempranillo and Bobal.

It's a late-ripening variety which enjoys hot, dry conditions, which makes it a reliably robust choice for winemakers. In the northeast of Spain, Garnacha tends to produce quite soft, easy-drinking red wines. It's low in tannins, so you don't get that woody, dry sensation in the mouth. But because it's late ripening it can also be quite high in alcohol as the fruit has more time to develop the sugars which then become alcohol in the wine.

In terms of fruit, in younger wines you’ll pick up good bursts of red fruit like strawberry and raspberry. And in the varieties made with older vines that have been aged for a little you start to get sweeter, deeper fruit flavours reminiscent of figs. Occasionally you might also find a lick of white pepper just on top of the wine, which can add a nice touch of character.

Often overshadowed by its more famous neighbour Priorat, the Catalan DO Montsant should not be ignored. Like much of Catalunya, Montsant is defined by its landscape of mountains, hills, ridges and slopes. Changes of altitude and orientation are the order of the day, and the region transitions from warmer, lower stretches in the south-west corner to higher, wilder areas towards the north.

Soils too are very varied with everything from granite and slate (known as llicorella in next door Priorat) to sedimentary rock or limestone. Winters are generally cold and summers dry and hot, with humid evening winds from the Mediterranean helping to hydrate the vines during the ripening period.

Old vine Garnacha - or Garnatxa as you’ll see it referred to in Catalan - both red and white, are the dominant grape varieties here, but with all the variations in altitude and soil type you’ll find plenty of different styles. Cariñena (aka Carignan outside Spain) is another variety popular in Montsant which you can find blended with Garnacha or on its own.

The grapes are carefully selected and harvested by hand in the vineyard with any sub-standard fruit discarded. To maintain quality, the grapes are kept chilled at 10ºC on their way to the winery where they are de-stemmed and undergo a gentle pressing before temperature-controlled fermentation at 15ºC in 10,000-litre stainless steel tanks to lock in aromas. Once fermentation is finished the wine is fined and filtered before bottling.