RIVERBANK WINES
Riverbanks and rainy climates nourish the unmistakable identity of the wines from vineyards in the eternally green landscapes that define the northern regions of Spain. These wines are less Mediterranean and more Atlantic in nature, thus completing the varietal garden of the Iberian peninsula, a land of diversity and flavor.
Our journey begins in the Atlantic wine region par excellence: Rías Baixas, where the ocean greets the shore with a briny, misty embrace. The appellation of origin has seen a meteoric rise thanks to the sublimely elegant fruit and complex evolution of its Albariño wines.
The Celtic heritage of the region is still palpable, revealing a spiritual past where the sky and soil are inextricably linked through ancestral cultural practices. This leitmotif courses through our northernmost wine.
Rías Baixas landscape
With its brilliant yellow hue and golden edge, Pazo das Bruxas evokes its birthplace. Its intense aroma opens up a world of white flowers, citrus, and fresh stone fruit. A pleasant, lush culmination on the palate, but with firm acidity that carries through on the long, flavorful finish. Enveloped in briny echoes of sea mist: the influence of water as it meets the land.
We now head east to the left bank of the Duero River to dive into the eponymous appellation of origin of Ribera del Duero. Here, at 895 meters above sea level, the vineyards almost touch the sky, an elemental embrace that cradles the Tinta Fina grapes of Celeste Reserva.
The area experiences more abrupt temperature inversions than Rías Baixas, due in large part to the climate's partial continental tendency.
The lone red among fragrant fluvial whites wraps itself in a deep garnet robe, with seductively dark, impressive depth of color. Ripe fruit, blackberry jam, and the sensual maturity of toasted oak. A firm yet velvety palate caress, with an astonishingly voluptuous finish that lingers and lingers. Celeste Reserva.
In an effort to blur boundaries, as explained in earlier posts, Familia Torres has ventured beyond DO Ribera del Duero to establish a presence in the neighboring DO Rueda. Here the proximity of the Verdejo vines to the river, the fact that some of the rows are north-facing, and the gravelly soils composed of clay gravel and rounded pebbles – characteristic of the riverbed – accentuate the varietal expression, the organoleptic intensity and complexity.
Landscape with the town of Villafranca del Duero
The influence of the river runs through Celeste Verdejo, bringing us a brilliant, golden wine of superb acidity, with a seductive varietal nose and flavors of fennel, green almond, citrus, and white floral notes.
The estate is located in the municipality of Villafranca del Duero, on the left bank of the river, which is wide and abundant here, nestled into the first foothills of the valley where the gentle slopes and beautiful meanders are an invitation to stay.
Water, sky, and earth comprise a virtuous entropic cycle that humanity – through experience and cultural evolution – has learned to shape, listen to, and respect, turning vines into wine, the sky into shelter, the river into life.