Familia Torres has firmly established its winemaking project in Priorat, that began in the late 1990s, with four wines that reflect different approaches to this historic land of llicorella slate soils and heroic viticulture. Following the current classification of the DOQ Priorat that focuses on the origin of the grapes, the new 2019 vintage of Salmos has now been released as Vi de Vila (Village Wine) and expresses the typicity of just one municipality: Porrera.
The mention of ‘Vi de Vila’ in Priorat reflects the unique typicity of a municipality’s mosaic of landscapes, the sum of its diverse winegrowing areas. The name of the originating town is taken as a collective, shared trademark that restores historical importance. Grapes from Salmos 2019 are mostly sourced from vineyards that are owned by Familia Torres. These are vineyards planted on terraces in the 1990s and located in the higher part of Porrera, at an altitude reaching 550 metres, known by the names of La Giberga, La Solana, and La Coma.
A blend of Garnacha and Cariñena, Salmos is a wine truthful to the history and tradition of Priorat, thanks to the grape varieties used and also to the style of the wine. The 2019 vintage has recently been voted ‘Best of Show Priorat’ and granted Gold Medal in the 32nd edition of Mundus Vini, one of the world’s most prestigious international wine competitions, organised by Meininger Verlag, which took place in Germany at the end of February.
Along with Salmos Vi de Vila, each of the other wines that make up the winemaking project of Familia Torres in Priorat has a defined approach to the region. Secret del Priorat embodies the region as a whole and shows Priorat as it is today, using different grape varieties from vineyards located at various municipalities and altitudes. On the other hand, Perpetual focuses on old vines of Cariñena and Garnacha grown in century-old vineyards in five municipalities, preserving this ancient heritage (there are only 150 hectares of vineyards over 75 years old in Priorat today). Next vintage 2019 will include the mention of ‘Vinyes velles’ (Old vineyards) on its label following the DOQ Priorat classification.
Finally, Mas de la Rosa reflects the uniqueness of a single vineyard wine, that treasures nature, history and tradition. This is Familia Torres’ most exclusive Priorat wine, as it comes from a single 1.9-hectare vineyard planted before 1939, with bush-trained Cariñena and Garnacha vines standing on steep slopes. It captures the essence of the vineyard, its soils and biodiversity, with total candour. Mas de la Rosa will soon go for Gran Vinya Classificada status, the appellation’s highest wine classification.
Familia Torres’ latest project in Priorat is the new vineyard Els Tossals de Porrera, the highest llicorella slate vineyard in Priorat at nearly 750 metres in altitude, which was first harvested last year. ‘We want to revive heroic viticulture at high altitudes in the light of climate change and thinking about future generations. Today we’re enjoying the wines thanks to the vineyards our ancestors planted, and that’s why we’d like to plant our seeds for future generations’, stated Miguel Torres, fifth generation of Familia Torres.
