Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 34
T
he foosball tables in Catalonia are different from all other foosball tables in
the world. First off, the plastic players
have hands, one extended forward and
the other back, which gives them a more
dynamic aspect, as if they were really
running. And then they have two feet,
which allows for more control of the ball.
Miguel Torres points out both details while we play a couple
of games on the patio of his house, in the small town of Pacs,
in Penedès
Torres takes this "futbolín" seriously. "In college, I put
many courses at risk by playing so much," he confesses, and
then warns me against what I just did: I'm down 3-0 and, in
my desperation, I've been spinning the rods as if possessed.
It's considered an amateur move; in fact, in the professional
circuits of foosball (yes, there are professional foosballers),
it's against the rules.
Even with my illegal crazy turns, the two games end in
a massacre-both 5 to 1 in his favor, without him showing
the least sign of mercy. And he apologizes for having lost the
skill he had in college.
Since taking over Bodegas Torres in 2012, he's been focused
on other interests, including a research project started by his
34
WINE & SPIRITS
AUGUST 2019
(ABOVE LEFT) MIGUEL
TORRES AT HIS NEW
PRIORAT VINEYARD,
PLANTED WITH LOCAL
VARIETIES.
father, Don Miguel. Some 30 years ago, Don Miguel ran a
series of ads in local newspapers, asking vine growers if they
had seen vines in their vineyards that they did not know-
that were different from the rest. The answers soon arrived.
And they arrived by the hundreds.
Torres's team began to investigate case by case. When
the DNA analyses they ran did not turn up a match to any
other known vine, they reproduced that particular vine, first
obtaining cells from the plant material to reproduce the vine
in vitro, and later planting a block in the vineyard. "It took
us about fifteen years to obtain grapes that we could vinify
from each one of those vines," Torres says.
As we drive across town to Bodega Waltraud, the winery
Torres built to produce the family's top wines, he continues
to describe the project. After three decades of research, Torres and his team have found 54 indigenous varieties. "The
viticulture in Catalonia arrived with the Phoenicians, 2,700
years ago," he says. "In all that time, it is probable that there
have been mutations and natural crosses. What we have
done has been to recover that material already present in
nature-many of the vines were growing in the wild. Catalonia, together with Galicia, has the richest and most diverse
varietal garden in all of Spain," Torres claims, as we enter the
tasting room, a large space with a wall of windows that look
out onto the winery gardens.
Torres pours a glass of Grans Muralles, a wine the family has made since 1996, the first of their wines to include
varieties from this research. In vintages since, the red blend
has included cariñena, garnacha and monastrell, as well as
querol and garro, two varieties that the winery rescued from
oblivion, both planted in Conca de Barberà, about 50 miles
west of Barcelona.
Torres's recovery work has spread throughout Catalonia, and today, in addition to Grans
Muralles, they are planning a new line
tentatively called Ancestral Vines. This
line will present the individual varieties
that have given the best results-"the
ones with better color, more fruit flavors and better acidity," he says.
Torres pours me a taste of forcada,
a white wine with clear notes of white
flowers, and severe acidity. There's a
light red moneu, which fills the mouth
with soft, elegant tannins. And pirene,
a red variety that gives a deliciously
refreshing wine, generous in its tart
red fruit. None of these had known
identities. "We reviewed old viticulture
books, in case we found similarities,
but the descriptions were too vague,
so we decided to name them with the
place where we discovered them," he
explains. Moneu, for instance, comes from the Costes del
Moneu in Penedès.
According to Torres, Catalonia began to lose its varietal
richness with the arrival of phylloxera, toward the end of the
19th century. The recovery of the vineyards coincided with
the beginning of the Cava boom in the early years of the
20th century. As Catalàn sparkling wine developed, producers concentrated on three white varieties-xarello, parellada
Wine & Spirits - August 2019
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - August 2019
Contents
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - Cover1
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - Cover2
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 1
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 2
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 3
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 4
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - Contents
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 6
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 7
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 8
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 9
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 10
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 11
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 12
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 13
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 14
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 15
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 16
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 17
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 18
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 19
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 20
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 21
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 22
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 23
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 24
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 25
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 26
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 27
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 28
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 29
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 30
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 31
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 32
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 33
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 34
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 35
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 36
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 37
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 38
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 39
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 40
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 41
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 42
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 43
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 44
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 45
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 46
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 47
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 48
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 49
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 50
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 51
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 52
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 53
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 54
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 55
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 56
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 57
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 58
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 59
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 60
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 61
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 62
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 63
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 64
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 65
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 66
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 67
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 68
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 69
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 70
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 71
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 72
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 73
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 74
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 75
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 76
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 77
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 78
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 79
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 80
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 81
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 82
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 83
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 84
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 85
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 86
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 87
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 88
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - Cover3
Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2024spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2023winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2023fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2023summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2023spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2022winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2022fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2022summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2022spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/202112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2021winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/202110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/202108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/202106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/202104
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/202102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/202012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2020winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/202010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/202008
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/202006
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/202004
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/202002
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201912
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201911
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201908
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201906
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201904
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201902
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201812
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2018_winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201810
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201808
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201806
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201804
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201802
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201712
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2017winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201710
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201709
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201706
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201704
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201702
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201612
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2016winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201610
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2016fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201608
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201606
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201604
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201602
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201512
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2015winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201510
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2015fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201508
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201504
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201502
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201412
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2014winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201410
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2014fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201408
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201406
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201404
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201402
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201312
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2013winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201310
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2013fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201308
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201302
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201212
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2012winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201210
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/fall2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201208
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201206
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201204
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201202
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/drm_test
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/201110
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com