Two iconic Familia Torres wines have won Gold medals at the Decanter World Wine Awards. The award-winning wines are Perpetual 2019 from the DOQ Priorat appellation, which scored 96 out of 100 points, and Grans Muralles 2018 from the DO Conca de Barberà appellation, which scored 95 points. Both wines are made using indigenous red grape varieties.
Regarding Perpetual 2019, the jury highlighted the ‘tell-tale Priorat aromas of graphite, black fruits, spicy oak, liquorice and earth’ that leave no doubts as to its origins, as well as its elegance and length, describing it as ‘long, full of flavour and bursting with quality.’
Perpetual is intense and full of character, certified as an old-vine wine by the DOQ Priorat appellation. In particular, its essence comes from the nearly century-old Cariñena and Garnacha vines planted on steep llicorella slate slopes, spread across five municipalities of the nine that make up the appellation (El Lloar, Bellmunt, El Molar, Porrera, and Torroja). This wine shows the typicity of the region through these historic vineyards, with a predominance of Cariñena, and spends 18 months ageing in large French oak foudres.
The 2019 vintage in Priorat was characterized by a lack of rainfall in the spring and summer and a heat wave in June. The rest of the summer was not especially warm, and there were two isolated episodes of rain in early September, which encouraged the gradual ripening and excellent health status of the grapes.
Grans Muralles 2018, from Conca de Barberà, also won a Gold medal at the Decanter Awards, where it tends to stand out, having achieved the highest ‘Best in Show’ distinction in the last three editions. The jury’s tasting notes define it as a wine with a ‘complex bouquet’ and a palate that is ‘energetic and very complex with structured tannins, bright acidity and considerable depth and length’, predicting that it ‘will age gracefully.’
Grans Muralles is one of Familia Torres’ outstanding wines and the prime example of the project to recover ancient varieties that the winery launched in the 1980s. This wine gets its unmistakable identity from its blend of indigenous varieties – including the ancient varieties Querol and Garró – and the stony slate soils where the vines grow, near Poblet Monastery. 2018 was a very rainy year in Conca de Barberà, with cool temperatures during the growing cycle, although the summer was warmer and drier, meaning the grapes ripened well.
The Decanter World Wine Awards, organized by the prestigious British wine media brand Decanter, are one of the most influential wine competitions at international level. This year saw the 19th edition of the event and record participation: 18,244 wines from 54 countries. The jury was made up of 250 international wine experts, including 41 Masters of Wine and 13 Master Sommeliers, who awarded 165 Platinum medals to wines scoring 97 points or higher and 676 Gold medals to wines that scored 95 or 96 points.
To see the results of the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards, please click here.
