In the upstairs of Spanish restaurant Hispania, there is a selection of glasses filled with wines that almost didn’t exist. In front of them stands Mireia Torres, research and development officer at Familia Torres, the Spanish winery that operates primarily in the Penedès region of Catalonia.
Formed in 1870, the winery has garnered a reputation as one of the key players in sustainability. As Torres explains, the reasons for this are plentiful: the winery is introducing a reforestation programme; it has implemented photovoltaic panels which produce 50% of the energy it needs; it uses buried irrigation to reduce environmental impact; and it has established animals, beehives and birdboxes to focus on biodiversity within the vineyards.
Yet, there is one project that stands out as more intriguing than the rest: Familia Torres’ commitment to reviving ancestral grape varieties that might be resistant to climate change.
Started in the 1990s by Miguel A. Torres, a fourth-generation winemaker at Familia Torres, the project has a goal of rediscovering the Catalan varieties that were forgotten after the phylloxera crisis in the 19th century.
“This [phylloxera] is an insect which attacks the roots so that the vine cannot get any more nutrients from the soil, then it dies in one or two years,” Torres explains. “It means that a lot of our vineyards were abandoned or died.”
The family winery – which searches yearly for new varieties by visiting grape growers all over Catalonia – has so far seen great success, says Torres as she begins her masterclass. The estate has found and revived over 60 unknown Catalan varieties. Six of these, which sit in front of us, are now being used for wine.
Forcada
Starting with the Forcada grape, Torres says it is probably the most popular varietal, and it is drought resistant. The masterclass highlights three ways of working with the grape via a sparkling white wine, a still white wine and a blended wine named Clos Ancestral Blanco 2023, which combines Forcada with Xarel·lo.
“This is a very productive variety,” Torres notes. “There is a lot of minerality in the mouth, citrus notes and some salinity with a little bit of stone fruit.”
Moneu
The most popular red, she continues, is likely Moneu, which likewise can be single-varietal or blended, the latter evidenced through Clos Ancestral 2023, which blends Moneu, Tempranillo and Garnacha.
Alone, Moneu is an interesting varietal, Torres says, because it has a naturally low alcohol level. “It is not as productive as Forcada, and it’s a little bit more sensitive to high temperatures, but it’s a variety that always stops between 12% and 13% abv.”
Taste-wise, it offers light fresh fruit aromas with well-defined acidity, making it ideal for a contemporary audience looking for a lighter red.
Pirene
Turning to Pirene, “this variety is one of my favourites. I call it the Catalan Pinot Noir,” says Torres. A fellow red grape, Pirene produces flavourful yet still fresh notes. “There is blueberry and herbs, and the tannins are very soft like Pinot Noir,” she says.
Though, it’s worth noting that unlike Forcada and Moneu, Pirene isn’t yet at the stage where it’s being grown in large nurseries. The reason for this is that the variety is currently only “producing fruit at the end of the shoots” so Familia Torres is working on ways to make it more productive.
Gonfaus
The last of the grapes that work as single-varietal wines is Gonfaus. A red grape, Gonfaus likewise initially had the issue of low production, but Torres explains that production have levels increased when shoot-cutting began. “Now we have normal yields, and we give this variety to the nursery,” she says. Usually sitting around 14% abv, Gonfaus has a lot of volume and sweet tannins.
Querol and Garró
Finally, Querol and Garró are the fifth and sixth varieties that have been reinstated with the help of Familia Torres. Almost always part of a larger blend, Torres notes that “not all varieties are able to be mono”, yet she also adds that it’s a step-by-step process and that things may be different in the future.
A fascinating project with massive implications, Familia Torres and its ancestral grapes are something to keep an eye on.