MONOVAR 

A visit to this thriving little town, rising from a green sea of rolling vineyards, is a must for wine lovers. The 19th century saw the strong, slightly sweet MonOvar reds fetching astronomical prices after phylloxera destroyed the French vineyards. Monastrel grapes are used for the reds, whose depth and strength comes from the doble pasta production method, where a first batch of grapes and must is mixed with a second one in the same vat before fermentation begins. The excellent and delicate roses owe their bouquet to another local method, where the wine is fermented from must drawn off from a first light crushing of the grapes. Sample, too, the perfumed and aromatic sweet dessert wine Fondillon  which needs 20 years to mature. Traditional vineyard tools and implements are on show in the idiosyncratic Museo de Artes y Oficios. Wine-tasting is available at Bodega Salvador Poveda.