Miguel Torres Jr

From father to son: Wine and the City talks to Miguel Torres Jr, head of Miguel Torres Chile, about his new sparkling Pais rosé, why Chile needs a sparkler with its own identity, Torres' green initiatives in Chile and who will take over the company when Miguel Torres Sr retires.

Miguel Torres

Wine and the City chats to the godfather of Spanish wine, Miguel Torres, at the Torres HQ in Villafranca del Penedes about the 2011 Wineries for Climate Protection conference in Barcelona, his work in China and plans for retirement on the eve of his 70th birthday.

Torres

Wine and the City and Adam Lechmere of Decanter.com taste two Torres greats: Grans Muralles 2007 and Mas La Plana 1996 at the Torres HQ in Villafranca del Penedès just outside Barcelona. Torres was the 2002 Decanter Man of the Year and was recently honoured with a lifetime achivement award by The Drinks Business.

Torres

Like Robert Mondavi was to California, so, to many, Miguel Torres is Spanish wine. The leading Spanish brand in the UK, Torres sells 4.2m bottles in Britain a year, with Viña Sol, Esmeralda and Sangre de Toro brightening supermarkets aisles across the country. Globally speaking, Torres is one of the most recognisable names in Spanish wine, and inextricably linked with the man behind the brand – fourth generation Miguel A. Torres.

Though respect for the environment has always formed part of the Torres modus operandi, it wasn’t until 2006, after watching Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary film An Inconvenient Truth, that Miguel Torres became startlingly aware of the very real threat of global warming on both the wine industry, and the planet. “It opened my eyes”, says Torres. “Global warming is one of the greatest social and environmental challenges facing humanity this century. Temperatures have already increased by one degree, which has brought the harvest forward by two-weeks. If they increase by five, Southern Europe will be full of arid steppes.”

Torres’ green commitment runs deep. He was honoured with a lifetime achievement award last month at the drinks business Green Awards for his pioneering work towards championing green issues in Spain, and his dedication to sustainable causes, while last year, at the inaugural Green Awards, Torres was named Green Company of the Year.

Torres, who turns 70 this year, has donated £9m of his own money to environmental issues. He drives a hybrid car and has bought 45 more for his staff. Before the climate conference in Copenhagen in December ’09, Torres welcomed 200 environmental experts into his home to prove that the wine industry is worried about the planet and the direction in which it’s headed. “Climate change is a reality. I’m astonished to see the speed at which it is taking place. Everyone should make a contribution to fight against this threat,” says Torres.

Bodegas Torres was founded in Vilafranca, Penedès, in 1870 by Miguel (I), his brother Jaime Torres Vendrell and their father. To symbolise the trio they created the three towers (torres) logo, which graces Torres bottles to this day. Over its 141-year history, the business has withstood everything from phylloxera to Civil War. Torres is expected to stand down as head this year, and speculation is rife as to whether of his son, Miguel Jr, or daughter Mireia will take the helm. “The board of directors is following the issue closely,” is all Torres will reveal.

Working in keeping with the philosophy of co-founder Miguel Torres Vendrell, that: “a good wine always respects nature, everything Bodegas Torres does is focused around minimising the impact of the winemaking process on the environment, with the overall aim of increasing vine and therefore wine quality. This June, Torres will host a Symposium for Environmental Exchange in Vilafranca, where Ricardo Lagos, the United Nations special envoy for climate change, is due to attend, along with green-focused wineries from around the world, such as Chivite, Codorníu, Yalumba, Fetzer and Concha y Toro.

Torres produces 44 million bottles a year, turning over £175m in annual sales and exporting to 140 countries. The company owns 2,440 hectares of vineyards across the world, in California’s Russian River Valley, Curicó in Chile, and Penedès, Priorat, Toro, Jumilla, Ribera del Duero and Rioja Alavesa in Spain. The recent impact of global warming has forced Torres to move his Spanish empire north, towards the Pyrenees, which will allow for cooler grape growing conditions.

In collaboration with the Catalan Institute of Vines and Wine, Torres operates research programmes aimed at recovering ancient Catalan grape varieties in danger of extinction. The region was once home to more than 100 indigenous grapes, but after the phylloxera epidemic of the mid-19th century, only a dozen have survived. In the past 15 years, Torres has, quite remarkably, rediscovered 58 varieties by asking farmers to inform him when they find a vine they don’t recognise. Torres’ great grape revival can be found in Grans Muralles, a DO Concha de Barberà wine made from the virtually extinct Garró and Samsó varieties, along with Monastrell, Cariñena and Garnacha.

The aims of the company’s latest project, Torres & Earth, include making use of biomass to produce biofuels, investing in solar panels, encouraging the use of wind power, and recycling water from waste management systems. But Torres’ green reach stretches all the way round the earth. The company has collaborated with the University of Barcelona to help protect the Bonelli’s eagle and the Ornithologists Union of Chile to safeguard the Andean condor.

“All of us can and must do something. Only by carrying out small acts of respect towards the environment as individuals, will we be able to raise ‘green’ consciousness on a lager scale,” says Torres, in an impassioned call to action we’d be churlish to ignore.

Wines from Spain Trade Fair

Last week was something of a Spanish affair. After the Caballeros dinner at the Dorchester on Tuesday came the annual Wines from Spain trade fair on Thursday, where I bumped into a number of the Caballeros minus their red robes.

A staggering 1,500 wines were on show. I made it my mission to taste as many of them as humanly possible in two hours. After the tasting I was ushered into a car with blacked out windows and driven to Devonshire Terrace in the über trendy (and canopied) Devonshire Square for the Wines of Navarra press supper.

The restaurant was buzzing with wine hacks from the tasting. We got to enjoy a spread of Navarra wines and delicious tapas including golf ball-sized cod croquettes and juicy pork belly. Here are my top 10 wines of the day...

Bodegas Gerardo Méndez, Albariño do Ferreiro, Rías Baixas, 2008

This 100% Albariño from Galicia's quality DO is painstakingly made from grapes from eight different vineyard sites. All eight are separately vinified and aged on the lees for six months. The wine showed superb purity and elegance, with a stone fruit nose of peach and apricot wrapped around ribbons of honeysuckle. Bone dry with bags of texture, the palate is honeyed, rich and round, with a steely mineral core and persistent notes of lemon, apple and lime. Classy stuff.

Celler Joan Sangenís, Mas d'en Compte Barrel-Fermented Blanco, Priorat, 2007

Made from 60% Garnacha Blanca and barrel-fermented for two weeks on the skins, the nose is an enticing and complex mix of honeyed pear and apple, pineapple, cocoa and apricot. Full and buttery on the palate, with toasty mineral notes, hints of sweet vanilla and a concentrated, rich texture of fleshy peach, it had wonderful balance and lingering length. A fascinating find.

Equipo Navazos, Navazos-Niepoort, Sherry, 2008

Without a doubt the most curious wine of the tasting. It wasn't even in the catalogue – I got a tip off from Peter McCombie to try it. Only 4,500 bottles are being released. Made in collaboration with Dirk Niepoort from 100% Palomino Fino, it is fermented in butt and aged without fortification under a layer of flor for five months. Rediscovering the roots of Jerez with an unfortified white, it had a salty Fino nose that mixed with fresh notes of melon and green apple. The palate was equally fresh with a nutty finish. Sherry, but not as you know it...

Bodegas Naia, Naiades, Rueda, 2007

My wine of the night from the Caballeros dinner, I couldn't resist trying this 100% Verdejo again as it's so sensational. On the nose I got creamy toffee, caramelized white peaches, and poached pears dipped in honey. The rich, creamy palate is as velvety as it gets, with slightly nutty aromas and honeysuckle soaring from the glass. Toasty, full-bodied, and wonderfully rounded, it's utterly delicious, and not dissimilar to some of my favourite white Burgundies.

Bodegas Chivite, Colección 125 Reserva, Navarra, 2005

Being a huge Chardonnay fan, I was excited about trying this. Already won over by the retro font on the label, the wine didn't disappoint. Aged for 10 months in French oak, the nose was rich, creamy and enticing with notes of hazelnut, brioche and freshly baked bread. The palate was voluptuous and decadent, fresh and well structured, with a long, rounded, toasty finish. Divine – I needed intervention.

Cortijo los Aguilares, Pinot Noir, Sierras de Malaga, 2008

Based in the beautiful hilltop town of Ronda, the vineyard shares space on the estate with free roaming Iberian black pigs. Planted in 2000, the vines are still incredibly young, but are showing great potential. Made from 100% Pinot Noir, the wine had lovely aromatic, earthy strawberry fruit on the nose and great structure on the palate. Subtle, soft and rounded, it was quite lovely. A Pinot with promise!

Jean León, Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Reserva, Penedes, 2000

A legendary figure in the world of Spanish wine, before tending the vines Jean León opened La Scala restaurant in Hollywood with James Dean. Returning to his native Penedes in 1963, León used cuttings from Lafite to develop his signature Cabs. The 2000 vintage has a dense black fruit nose that mixes with enticing smokey, meaty aromas. Velvety on the palate, with grippy tannins and a robust body, it showed wonderful complexity – sweet herbal aromas danced with the liquorice on the finish. One for laying down.

Torres, Perpetual, Priorat, 2006

A homage to the monks of the courageous Carthusian order who arrived in Priorat in 1095 and began cultivating the vines, the wine is a blend of Garnacha from 50-year-old vines and Cariñena from 80-year-old vines from steeply-sloped licorella soils. So dark it was almost opaque, it had a beautifully dense, complex character of black cherries, sweet plums, liquorice and tar. Grippy, rich and mouthfilling with a chocolatey, spicy edge, it's drinking well now, but will be even better in a few years.

Marqués de Murrieta, Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva, Rioja, 1978

Tasting this was a real treat. The wine spent a remarkable 18 years in barrel before bottling, and has retained an attractive brick red colour. It had a delicious savoury nose of game, spice, tea and tobacco, along with the ever-present red fruit and soft leather core. The mature fruit had a slightly wild, savage character. Smooth and elegant on the palate, it showed remarkable vibrancy for its years. Worth the wait!

Bodegas Hidalgo, Palo Cortado Wellington VORS NV, Sherry

I'm a Sherry nut, so it doesn't take much to get me excited, especially if it's a Palo Cortado. This fine example from Javier Hidalgo, who was watching my reaction from the side of the stand, had a lovely rich nose of roasted almonds and caramel. The palate was round and plush, with sweet and savoury notes of toasted nuts and toffee. The tangy, salty thread, gave the wine a zing in its tail. Lively, long, lovely.