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BASIC FEATURES
All these mountains make the DO Montsant very rugged. Only beside the Montsant river, around Ulldemolins and in the lower Priorat area, where the DO opens out towards the Ebro, are there flatter areas and gently-sloping hills.
THE SOILS
Broadly speaking, three different kinds of soils are to be found, though there is great diversity within each group. At the edge of the DO are compact limestone soils, characterised by pebbles and silt on river terraces and reddish fersialitic soils. In the Falset area there are granite soils which are fertile but do not retain water well. In some areas around Cornudella and Falset there are siliceous shales known as “llicorelles” These soils are stony and poor in organic matter..
THE RIVERS
The area covered by the DO Montsant, as mentioned above, opens out towards the Ebro. It is crossed by the river Montsant and the “riera” (a river which tends to dry up seasonally) of Capçanes, both of which flow into the river Siurana. None of these have a great flow of water, and this is subject to seasonal variation. They are fed by the “rieras” and streams coming down from the mountains which surround them.
The course of the river Montsant runs almost entirely within the DO, skirting around the northern side of the mountain from which it takes its name, to join the Siurana near the village of El Molar and finally flow into the Ebro. The “riera” of Capçanes runs through the south of the area, and today nearly all its water flows into the reservoir at Els Guiamets.
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