Familia Torres has been proclaimed the most innovative winery at the Golden Vines Awards 2024, also known as the 'Oscars of wine' recently held in Madrid. The 2024 Barca-Velha Golden Vines Innovation Award recognises the pioneering work of the Spanish winery to integrate sustainable and respectful winemaking practices, which combine respect for tradition with constant innovation and contribute to the rescue of ancestral varieties.
For Mireia Torres, Director of Innovation and Knowledge at Familia Torres and member of the fifth generation: "This is a recognition of the entire team of professionals dedicated to research, whether from the area of Innovation and Knowledge or from different departments that collaborate on projects. Work is carried out in various fields, including viticulture, oenology, microbiology, technology, and open innovation. Our goal is to find solutions that allow us to face the challenges of the sector by being more efficient and resilient, as well as to contribute ideas of interest for new products".
Voting for this year's awards has been attended by 1,200 wine professionals from more than 100 countries, including Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers with decades of collective experience, through an extensive survey that has led to The Golden Vines Report, which was originally promoted by Gérard Basset as founder of Liquid Icons. The awards were established in his honor in 2021 to support, honor, and celebrate "la crème de la crème" in the world of wine and spirits.
Regarding Familia Torres, as the award winner in the innovation category, it is highlighted, in addition to the adaptation and mitigation measures it carries out against climate chage, the commendable effort to rescue grape varieties that were thought to be extinct. A research project that the winery began 40 years ago to help recovering the Catalan winemaking heritage and that now focuses on recovering not only the ancestral varieties with oenological interest, but also those that best adapt to the new climatic scenario.
Familia Torres’ Innovation and Knowledge department also promotes other projects aimed at transforming vineyards and wineries towards more sustainable and resilient models. These include projects related to regenerative viticulture, a new way to manage vineyards that Familia Torres is already implementing in Spain and Chile with the aim of recovering soil fertility and promoting biodiversity, as well as capturing and fixing atmospheric CO2 and thus mitigating the effects of climate change.
