[NEW RELEASE] PURGATORI 2022 (DO COSTERS DEL SEGRE)

The ancestral variety Gonfaus joins a truly one-of-a-kind blend.

The tenth vintage of the wine that marked Familia Torres’s first foray into the DO Costers del Segre appellation of origin takes a revolutionary turn, varietally speaking, by blending the ancestral Gonfaus with Garnacha. The result is a wine whose varietal composition is unique in the world.

• The tangible and cultural heritage of our estates and vineyards reveals vestiges of various religious orders, including shrines, chapels, and monasteries, as well as fortifications and other sacred spaces that manifest the close relationship between the human and the divine. The Purgatori winery (DO Costers del Segre) recalls memories of the site’s Benedictine heritage.

• Enriching this architectural and historical heritage is a wealth of ancestral varieties recovered from oblivion to endow our wines with an unmistakable identity – and ensure their future. Given the attributes of these varieties, they are capable of confronting climate change, an endemic disaster which is having an undeniable impact by now. The decision to recover these grapes therefore also corresponds to the need of adapting to climate change in unique and distinctive ways.

What unites all these recovered varieties is their Mediterranean character. Every sip is bursting with fruit, intense, with excellent acidity.

Today the Purgatori winery, located in the DO Costers del Segre, bears material witness to the Benedictine monks’ sojourn on the Purgatori estate, as a way of doing penance, from 1770 until the order abandoned the site. Enduring the extreme climate as punishment and working arduously in the vineyards to provide the diocese with a steady supply of wine meant that the monks, with time and experience, came to recognize the exceptional nature of the terroir, which would go on to produce a heavenly wine. In fact, according to popular legend, barrels would mysteriously vanish from time to time – a phenomenon that some insisted was the work of angels, whisking the wine to heaven…

Purgatori estate, a Familia Torres property, DO Costers del Segr

Gonfaus: Oenological and Physiological Characteristics

• The variety is low yielding and has its own innate resources to deal with drought. Gonfaus has adapted extraordinarily well to the Purgatori estate in Les Garrigues (a region with an extremely dry climate and strong shifts in temperature).

A Gonfaus grapevine at the Purgatori estate, a Familia Torres property

• A curious aside: Gonfaus is one of the few female varieties currently known –most are hermaphroditic. In his study on the kinship between grape varieties, French ampelographer Thierry Lacombe discovered that Gonfaus is a very old variety. Not only is it the “mother” of Querol, one of the first varieties that Familia Torres recovered, but a relative of many other varieties, including fellow ancestral Pirene, Trobat, and Graciano.

The Taste of Gonfaus

• Gonfaus produces wines with medium-to-high depth of colour; a canvas of dark cherry red edged in violet that suggests the elegance of fine classic reds.  The nose reveals ripe fruit with slightly spicy undertones that intermingle to bring us seductively complex aromatic characteristics. 
• The wines display beautifully integrated acidity and good concentration with ripe balanced tannins that eschew all astringency. Once vinified, Gonfaus is somewhat vertical, with a direct palate entry, yet still generous on the finish – full, intense, with a lingering aftertaste that echoes the now more settled notes of ripe fruit and spices. 

The recovered Gonfaus variety planted on the Purgatori estate, a Familia Torres property

Gonfaus and Purgatori

• Purgatori stays true to its Mediterranean profile, with Garnacha as its backbone. This highly versatile variety adds aromatic intensity and elegant tannins in addition to being certified organic.

Gonfaus is the perfect complement, contributing freshness, spicy notes, and ripe tannins that play an essential role in giving Purgatori its wonderfully smooth texture. 

Purgatori enjoyed during a terrace meal  

Tasting Note: Purgatori 202

Beautiful cherry red with garnet highlights. Deep, intense, and concentrated on the nose. Brimming with fruit notes (red blackberries) layered over smoky (dried vine shoots) and toasty undertones and delightful nuances of sun-soaked, dried fruit (dates). The palate is flavourful and balanced, full of warm spices (black pepper).