Torres Salmos, Priorat DOQ

Description

Torres Salmos is a red wine made in the Priorat wine-growing region of Spain by Torres. It is a blend of old vine Carinena and Garnacha.

The Torres family has been making wine in the ancient Catalán town of Vilafranca del Penedès, southwest of Barcelona, since the 17th Century. It is this tradition combined with innovation, dynamism and commitment to quality that has put Torres firmly on the world map. They remain one of the largest family-owned and run wine companies in the world (there is also Miguel Torres Chile and Marimar Torres in California) and, under the stewardship of fourth-generation Miguel Torres they are committed to sustainable viticulture and green practices. Today Torres not only have vineyards in their home region of Penedes, but all over Spain in regions such as Priorat, Rioja and Rueda. In 2006 Torres was awarded European Winery of the Year in Wine Enthusiast’s Annual Wine Star Awards. The Torres family is one of the founding members of Primum Familiae Vini.

Torres are relative newcomers to the Priorat region and began work on the planting of vineyards in  Porrera and El Lloar on the slopes strewn with the hard, black slate-like “Licorella” stone in 1996. The region is known for its unique terroir, slate-rich hillsides, and harsh, dry climate that produces grapes with intense flavour and complexity. Wine-making in Priorat itself has a history stretching back over 800 years. The “Denominación” is located in the province of Tarragona and is famous for its old vine Carinena and Grenache. However, at the beginning of the 1980s many wine producers began planting French grapes to combine with the local varieties and, with improved wine-making techniques and modernised wineries, there is a whole new swathe of more modern, new-wave Priorat wines. A combination of old and new. Traditional and new wines’ quality is due to their unique microclimate and soil. The land, and this combination of old and new wines, have made Priorat one of the most closely watched areas of cultivation in Europe. Torres produce two wines here, Salmos and Perpetual (with a higher percentage of old vine Carinena).

The grapes for Torres Salmos are sourced exclusively from Torres’s La Giberga vineyard, located in the municipality of Porrera. The vineyards, planted on steep shale (llicorella slate) slopes, are subjected to significant variations in temperature between night and day. These natural challenges contribute to the allure of this wine. The wine is a is a blend of Carninena and Garnacha and is aged in new French oak casks for 14 months. Bottled as a Priorat Denominacion de Origen Qualificada (DOQ).

Torres Salmos is an homage to the monks of the courageous Carthusian order, who arrived in “Priorat”, in 1095, and began to cultivate vines. In 1835 a violent crowd destroyed the work of a lifetime and sacked the monastery, events which later culminated in the auctioning of church lands known as the “Desamortización de Mendizábal”.

Torres Salmos is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.