MASOS Guadalest

MASOS is the winery that the Vidal Balaguer family opened in Benimantell, in the Vall de Guadalest, to bring back wine in a valley that lost it to phylloxera. It is at Mas de Ondara, a historic estate of 353 hectares with a farmhouse that has its own winery and chapel, surrounded by century-old olive trees. The Ondara farmstead already appears in 1237 in the Llibre del Repartiment of James I, which mentions its vines.

A valley that planted vines again

According to the winery itself, in the 18th century Cavanilles described the valley's extensive vineyards, and phylloxera, which reached the Alicante vineyards in 1905, wiped them out and pushed many locals to emigrate. The MASOS project has restored four farmhouses with their estates and has more than five hectares of vines planted following the contour lines. It makes a white, Mas de la Mona; a rosé, Penya del Castellet; a red, Albor de Masos, and a selection red, Vidal Balaguer, plus the oil Oro de Masos.

The visits

It has three experiences. The wine tasting, of three wines and with no winery visit, costs €25. The wine and oil tasting with a winery visit lasts an hour and a half, tries the four wines with products from the valley and costs €35; there is a session in Spanish at 12:00 and in English at 16:30. The pairing menu includes a visit to the tank and barrel room and a seasonal menu by chef Enrique Martínez with the four wines: €95 with drinks, €75 without and €35 for the children's menu. You book and pay on its website; it also sells gift cards from €25.