Altos Ibéricos, the Rioja by Bodegas Torres, wins a gold medal at the Rioja Masters 2014 competition, organised by specialist publication The Drinks Business, and becomes absolute leader in its category. According to the famous British magazine’s December edition, the 2012 vintage of this tempranillo wine is at the top of a list of 25 crianzas and has the only gold awarded in this category by the panel. It is also one of the 10 golds awarded during the entire competition, in which a hundred or so wines with the Rioja Qualified Designation of Origin participated, classified in six different categories.
This important recognition comes after the 2011 vintage was awarded by Asia’s top wine professionals at the Decanter Asia Wine Awards last year with the Red Spanish Varietals International Trophy, which is the most important recognition of the competition: International Trophy in its grape variety (Tempranillo) and style group (Crianza).
The Decanter Asia Wine Awards (DAWA) aims to recognise quality wines and provide consumers across Asia with a trusted source of recommendations. The DAWA prides itself on recruiting Asia’s greatest wine palates to rigorously blind taste wines that are organised in flights to ensure the very best tasting conditions. Over 40 top wine experts from across Asia joined the DAWA 2014 judging panel, including judges from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Korea, and Taiwan.
Altos Ibéricos – with 12 months in oak and an extended period of bottle maturation – is a wine of exceptional quality, elegant and contemporary, made of grapes carefully selected from the winery that the Torres family has in the heart of the Rioja Alavesa, specifically on the outskirts of the historic town of Labastida, some 1,270 metres above sea level. With a surface area of 25,000 m2, the winery is a clear example of sustainable and efficient building, in line with Bodegas Torres’s environmental policy, and has solar panels, vertical wind turbines and a biomass boiler that cover 50% of the winery’s energy demand.
From the location, an exceptionally beautiful area called Alto Otero, the wine takes its name, which at the same time evokes the cuisine of the Iberian Peninsula. Enveloped in an attractive red label with embossed gold diamonds, Altos Ibéricos is a cherry red colour. The nose has an intense white floral and red fruit aroma, which combines harmoniously with oak-imparted notes of spices and toast. In the mouth it is initially fresh and velvety, gradually revealing the finesse and smoothness of its tannins. It is these smooth tannins and fruity sensations that combine particularly well with tapas, pinchos and Iberian cured ham.
About Bodegas Torres
The Torres surname has been linked to wine for more than three centuries, when the family first planted vines in the Penedès. Since it was founded in 1870, Bodegas Torres has combined tradition and innovation with the aim of leading the premium quality wine and brandy sector. In doing so, the company has always carried out its work with the utmost respect for the environment. This family tradition, upheld over generations, along with the work of a comprising team of 1300 people around the world, has brought Bodegas Torres numerous Awards and recognitions, the latest being the nr 1 position in the “World’s Most Admired Wine Brand”- ranking, published by the British magazine Drinks International.
Nowadays, the 4th generation of the family – represented by the company’s president, Miguel A. Torres, and its vice presidents, Juan M. Torres and Marimar Torres – heads the company alongside the 5th generation, made up of Miguel Torres Maczassek (general manager of the Torres Group since September 2012), Mireia Torres Maczassek (general manager of Torres Priorat and Jean Leon and responsible for the premium cava project), Arnau Torres Rosselló and Cristina Torres. Furthermore two other 5th generation family members – Anna Torres Maczassek and Marta Torres Rosselló – are members of the Board of Directors.
Right from the beginning, exports have been one of the main pillars of the company, and nowadays Torres wines can be found in more than 150 countries. In Spain, Bodegas Torres is present in the following Appellations of Origin: Catalunya, Conca de Barberà, Costers del Segre, Penedès, Priorat, Terra Alta, Rías Baixas, Ribera del Duero, Rioja and Rueda. Internationally, Torres has vineyards and a winery in Chile (producing wines under the appellations Central Valley, Secano Interior, Limarí Valley, Maule Valley, Maipo Valley, Itata Valley, Colchagua Valley and Curicó Valley) and in California (Russian River Valley, Sonoma County). The California winery, Marimar Estate, is managed by Marimar Torres and is owned by Marimar and Cristina Torres.
Torres has a turnover of 230 million EUR (2013) and owns 2432 hectares of vineyards – 2000 of which are in Spain, 400 in Chile, 32 in California – and employs more than 1300 people. The most renowned “Single Vineyard” wines are Mas La Plana, Reserva Real, Grans Muralles, Perpetual, Milmanda, Fransola (Spain), Manso de Velasco (Chile), the wines from the Don Miguel and Doña Margarita vineyards (California), and those made at the Jean Leon winery. The Torres family’s Spanish “Single Vineyard” wines age in the Waltraud Cellar, named after the wife of Miguel A. Torres – Waltraud Maczassek – who initiated and directed exports to Germany 25 years ago. Nowadays, Waltraud Maczassek is the President of the Miguel Torres Foundation.
Torres is a member of PFV (Primum Familiae Vini), an association of 11 wine families who are among the most prestigious wine producers of their region. Torres has been a member since the association’s founding in 1991, along with Vega Sicilia, Egon Müller, Symington, Pol Roger, Perrin, Joseph Drouhin, Tenuta San Guido, Hugel, Antinori and Mouton Rothschild.
