It is the only wine that includes the recovered ancestral variety Moneu in the blend
The wine Clos Ancestral 2020, from Familia Torres, scored 95 out of 100 points and won a gold medal in the prestigious British wine competition International Wine Challenge. The second vintage of this organic wine from Penedès – the only one made with the ancestral variety Moneu – impressed with its aromatic power, supple tannins, and bright acidity, with the jury describing it as ‘vibrant and youthful’ and ‘very charming’ in their tasting notes.
A greater proportion of Moneu has been used in the blend for Clos Ancestral 2020, which also includes the indigenous varieties Ull de Llebre (Tempranillo) and Garnacha. Moneu is one of the pre-phylloxera varieties recovered by Familia Torres in the context of a project launched in the early 1980s. Today, the fifth generation of the family are firm proponents of this project to identify varieties with great potential for winemaking and adapting to climate change. This ancestral variety ripens slowly, stands up well to high temperatures and drought, and maintains moderate levels of alcohol and a pronounced acidity despite being one of the last varieties to be harvested in Penedès.
The wine comes mainly from the historical Castell de la Bleda vineyard in Penedès, very close to Mas La Plana. 2020 was a year with abundant rainfall during the growing cycle, although the summer was dry and the temperatures were high. Each variety in the blend is vinified and aged separately. Only half the wine is aged in second-use oak for 10 months, while the rest is kept in stainless steel tanks to strengthen its aromas. With regard to Moneu, part of the wine from this variety is aged in clay vessels and amphorae, as was done in the past.
Thousands of wines from over 50 countries competed in the 38th edition of the International Wine Challenge, where they were tasted and evaluated by a professional jury last April in London. This event is considered one of the most rigorous and influential annual wine competitions.
