Grans Muralles 2014 from Familia Torres has taken “Best in Show“ at the Decanter World Wine Awards, the biggest wine event in the world, organized by the well-known British trade magazine since 2004. The red wine made by Familia Torres in Conca de Barberà has obtained the top prize awarded at the international competition, with a score of 97 points. There was an outstanding result, too, for another wine made by the hundred-year-old winery in Penedès – Reserva Real 2012 – which received the same score and a platinum medal.
Of the 17,000 wines from 57 countries competing, just 50 – eight of them Spanish – were considered “Best in Show”. 148 achieved the platinum medal, 20 of them made in Spain. The jury, consisting of 280 professionals from 30 countries, including 70 Masters of Wine, assess the wines depending on their origin. Those obtaining gold medals undergo a new tasting process to choose the winners of the platinum medal. These are then retasted to select the best wines at the event, the “Best in Show”.
Grans Muralles 2014 is an excellent, balanced red wine made from native Catalan grape varieties, including two older ones recovered by Familia Torres: Garró and Querol. Together with Garnacha, Cariñena and Monastrell, they shape the spirit of this unique wine. The grapes come from a vineyard at the foot of the walls protecting the Monastery of Poblet in Conca de Barberà, where the deep, stony soil consists of layers of slate and granite gravels. 2014 was a generally a warm, wet year, but with cooler than normal temperatures during the summer, which encouraged the slow, regular ripening of the grapes.
Reserva Real 2012 is Familia Torres’ most exclusive wine from Penedès because of its limited production, as it comes a small vineyard called Les Arnes. Covering only four hectares, it has slate soils which are unique in the region. Reserva Real, made with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, is a classic-style wine, aged, like Grans Muralles, for 18 months in new French oak barrels. 2012 was a cold year with normal rainfall, although the ripening period was dry, keeping the grapes healthy until harvest.
