PAZO DAS BRUXAS 2022 Named Best of Show Rías Baixas at the international Mundus Vini competition
Pazo das Bruxas 2022 from Torre Penelas, a Familia Torres property, was named Best of Show Rías Baixas at Mundus Vini, the prestigious international competition recently held in Germany, where the wine also took home the gold medal.
This accolade is only bestowed on wines which have obtained the highest points in their respective categories. What the jury appreciated most about the Albariño Pazo das Bruxas 2022 is “its acidity and yellow fruit and citrus aromas, along with mineral and floral notes”, describing the wine as “harmonious”.
Pazo das Bruxas is a white Albariño varietal from the DO Rías Baixas
The recognition coincides with the tenth anniversary of the wine, Familia Torres’s first Albariño and the wine with which the family winery established its presence in Galicia. The award-winning vintage hails from the new winery called Torre Penelas, which Familia Torres acquired last year and is helmed by winemaker Víctor Cortizo. Located in Meaño, in the Valle de Salnés, the winery represents the consolidation of Familia Torres’s winemaking project in this region, which also includes the Pazo Torre Penelas estate, where the family makes its high-end Albariño Blanco Granito, and 12 hectares of Albariño vineyards, with another 8 hectares being planted this year. All of the above reflects how committed Familia Torres is to the region and its winemaking potential.
The 2022 vintage features a more ecologically sustainable Burgundy-style bottle in keeping with Familia Torres’s environmental commitment, making it possible to reduce the bottle weight by 28%, along with the corresponding reduction in carbon emissions.
In terms of climate conditions in 2022, the winter and spring were dry, followed by a hot summer, which accelerated fruit maturation. Rainfall in early September helped yields recover and adjusted both alcohol content and acidity. The resulting wine is aromatically intense and seductive with a rich, flavourful evolution across the palate.
The Grand International Wine Award Mundus Vini, organized by the German publishing company Meininger Verlag, celebrated its 32nd edition in Germany in late February. More than 7500 wines participated in the competition and were blind tasted and evaluated by a professional jury of 242 experts (winemakers, wine producers and distributors, sommeliers, and wine writers) from 46 countries.
Meininger Verlag is behind such prestigious publications as Weinwirtschaft, Meininger Weinwelt, and Meiningers Wine Business International.
About Rías Baixas
What better place to get away from it all than the very end of the world? Here, just south of Finisterre, the land and sea meld in a briny, misty embrace born from the waves which relentlessly collide with the craggy Atlantic coast.
This is Galicia at its wildest and most rugged, a place in which to lose and then find oneself, steeped in a Celtic heritage whose spiritual past still echoes through the landscape.
Vineyards in Rías Baixas
Nature lovers in general, and grapevine enthusiasts in particular, will be fascinated by the local technique of cultivating the vines on pergola trellising. There is good climatic reason for this since the Atlantic influence generates high levels of humidity and lots of rainfall, making this fertile ground for fungal diseases. This type of trellising provides the vines with greater sun exposure. Albariño, Loureira, Treixadura, and Caíño Blanco are the queens of the local varietal panorama.
A curious historical aside: legend has it that Albariño vines were first brought to Galicia in the 12th century from the Rhine by Cistercian monks…but there is no evidence to support this. What is undeniable, however, is that the best Rías Baixas wines are on a par, in terms of elegance and quality, with Germany’s finest whites.
In its essence, Pazo das Bruxas by Familia Torres evokes the misty woodlands and ocean brine of its provenance. The witches embody the mythology and folklore of Galicia, which tell of wise women who used chants and dance to commune with pagan deities, asking them for nature’s finest fruit.
A bottle of Pazo das Bruxas
In its essence, Pazo das Bruxas by Familia Torres evokes the misty woodlands and ocean brine of its provenance. The witches embody the mythology and folklore of Galicia, which tell of wise women who used chants and dance to commune with pagan deities, asking them for nature’s finest fruit.
