Discover your wine style, one glass at a time

Innovative winemaking in Catalunya’s Penedès: Torres Gran Coronas Reserva

Have you ever been to Barcelona? If so, you’ve been just a hop, skip and a jump away from the Penedès winemaking region in Catalunya. Though it is best known as the home of cava (i.e. Spain’s version of Champagne), there is a huge range of amazing wines coming out of this region. Today we’ll be exploring its innovative winemaking, and tasting Familia Torres’ Gran Coronas Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon.

Penedès

Map of Penedes wine region
Penedès map c/o Torres

This denominaciòn de origen (aka DO) is located in northeastern Spain, in the valley between the Mediterranean coast and the inland mountains that run between Barcelona and Tarragona.

Political map of Penedes region
Penedès map c/o dopenedes.cat

Penedès is a subregion of Catalunya, an area that is often compared to Quebec here in Canada or Flanders in Belgium due to its strong separatist sentiment. The area has rarely seen eye to eye with Spain, and has fiercely upheld its Catalan traditions and language. That said, in terms of wine, it was one of the first wine regions in the country to introduce modern winemaking techniques.

Clàssic Penedès

Penedès is also known for being home to cava, Champagne’s Spanish equivalent since it also uses the traditional method, though generally with indigenous Spanish grape varieties (xarel-lo, macabeo, and parellada). Famous Penedès cava producers include Freixenet and Cordoniu.

Wanting to stand out from the generic DO Cava, the area’s winegrowers created Clàssic Penedès, a regional brand of sparkling wines that are 100% organic and aged for a minimum of 15 months.

Promo for Classic Penedes showing a bottle of sparkling wine

Grape varieties of Penedès – old meets new

The region is much more than just sparkling wine. It boasts a warm, Mediterranean climate and a variety of microclimates and terroirs, each suited to growing different grapes which go into a wide range of unique wines. Many Indigenous varieties are grown here. We’ve already mentioned some indigenous white grapes above, and these are generally blended into fresh, easy-drinking white wines.

In terms of red Indigenous grapes, we have sumoll, trepat and ull de llebre (i.e. the Catalan name for tempranillo). Some of these Indigenous grapes have been used for centuries. Others, however, have recently been re-introduced and are making a comeback as Catalonian grape growers return to their roots.

Producers also grow Mediterranean grapes such as samsó (aka cariñena or carignan), garnatxa (aka garnacha or grenache), monstrell (aka mourvèdre) and syrah, as well as typically French varieties like cabernet sauvignon, merlot and pinot noir.

Innovative winemaking

Interestingly, Penedès was the first wine region in Spain to use stainless steel tanks and cold fermentation equipment. It has always adopted innovative winemaking techniques and integrated them into the traditional ways.

Similarly, its wines are not limited to “old-world” styles, and winemakers strive to appeal to a broad range of tastes.

Torres Gran Coronas Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon

Torres is one of Spain’s largest and most widely recognized wineries and is a big dog in the Penedès region. Founded in 1870, it remains a family business, and has grown exponentially over the years it now owns vines all across Spain (including 6 vineyards in Catalunya alone) totalling 2,000 hectares. It has also expanded internationally with vineyards in Chile and California. The Torres brand is built on the pillars of wine export and environmentalism. Thanks to this commitment to the environment, they are establishing the International Wineries for Climate Action group in an effort to reduce carbon emissions in winemaking by 80%!

Tasting note

The Gran Coronas Reserva is one of those wines that strikes a perfect balance between old-world depth and new-world flavour.

Bottle of Torres Gran Coronas Reserva in the snow
The Torres Gran Coronas is perfect for hearty winter meals

🍇 Cabernet sauvignon and tempranillo (a typical blend for the Penedès region)

👁️ Opaque ruby red

👃 Gorgeous black fruit aromas (smoky black cherry, fig, blackberry, plum), red currant, cedar, tobacco (from 12 months of barrel aging)

👄This one does need a bit of time to open up (try decanting it an hour or two ahead of time), but when it does, boy oh boy is it tasty. The fruit flavours from the aromas are more subdued on the palate, and nicely balanced out by a certain woodsiness ( like walking through a forest after the rain), pepperiness, and cedar notes. It is bone dry (less than 1 g/L of residual sugar), yet the fruit flavours do give it a perceived sweetness.

🍽️ The Torres Gran Coronas Reserva has lots of juicy acidity and ripe, medium tannins. Not only do these two components offer excellent aging potential (8-10 years), they make it a perfect food wine. As a full-bodied grape variety, cabernet sauvignon generally needs grilled or stewed red meats to match its flavour and texture. However, the tempranillo really smooths out the cab sauv’s intensity. I paired this wine with cheese and charcuterie at the last virtual wine tasting I hosted, and it went with everything on that board: genoa salami, olives, brie, and OMG was it good with double-smoked cheddar 🤯

Where to buy

As mentioned, Torres wines are widely exported around the world, so they are generally easy to find.

In Ontario, this Gran Coronas Reserva is a Vintages Essential at the LCBO ($19.95).

In Quebec, it is available at the SAQ for $19.95 (and currently $1 off!).

Everywhere else, I doubt you’ll have to look too hard to find a Torres wine.

Have you tried a wine from Catalunya or Penedès, and if so, what did you think of it?

Happy wining!


Still curious about Catalan wines? You should definitely read Susannah’s super in-depth preview post.

Don’t forget to check out the amazing articles by my fellow bloggers and join us under the #WorldWineTravel hashtag on Twitter, Saturday, February 27 at 11:00a.m. EST to chat about this fabulous region and its wines.

My other posts on Spanish wines:

18 Comments

  1. Martin D. Redmond

    Thanks for the introduction to Torres and this Cab! It sounds wonderful!

    • Mel

      It was indeed wonderful!

  2. Nicole Ruiz Hudson

    It’s so good to know about their environmental efforts. I’ve definitely had the wines, but wasn’t aware of that aspect.

    • Mel

      It’s interesting how with each new theme, we learn something new about each winery or area. Thanks for reading, Nicole!

  3. Linda Whipple, CSW

    I’ve always been impressed by the Catalan spirit (and no, I don’t understand the language either!). It’s good to see a big producer taking a leadership role in environmental sustainability.

    • Mel

      I agree. Torres definitely seems to be taking big steps towards positive change!

  4. steveofthegrape

    Now I need to find some reds from Catalunya! Nice read!

    • Mel

      Agreed! Thanks for reading, Steve.

  5. advinetures

    We are certainly familiar with Torres wines and have enjoyed their wines. We haven’t tried this one yet and sadly doesn’t seem to be at the BC Liquor store. If you haven’t tried it Marimar Torres has a winery in Sonoma (Marimar) and her wines are terrific!

    • Mel

      Yes! Through my research for this post I did discover that their Marimar winery is named after one of the Torreses (that just looks weird…). Not sure if the Marimar wines ever come through the LCBO, but I will definitely be keeping a lookout!

  6. Lynn

    I so admire the Torres family for the environmental route they’ve taken and the guidance/information they share. Amazing the business remains family owned. Impressive all the way around!

    • Mel

      Yes! I find winemakers tend to be environmentally conscious in general, but the Torres family really goes the extra mile.

  7. Andrea Lemieux

    I had no idea Penedès was the first to use cold fermentation equipment! Thanks for all the great information!

    • Mel

      Right? There’s lots of great info on Penedès on the Torres website!

  8. culinarycam

    Thank you for all of the GREAT information! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for a bottle.

    • Mel

      Thank you for reading, Cam! The wine is delicious – hope you find it!

  9. robincgc

    I love it when the big guys jump onboard to be environmentally conscience. Thanks for putting all the various names for the varieties, those Catalan names for grapes do make wine in the region a little more complicated to figure out. The wine sounds delicious and at a great price point!

    • Mel

      I am a bit obsessed with all the different names for the same grape varieties (I love all things words, language, and etymology). Catalan is one of those languages that I just don’t get – usually I can pick up bits and pieces knowing French and Spanish, but being in Barcelona made me realize that Catalan is WAY out of my wheelhouse. I wonder if I can start learning it on DuoLingo?!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

© 2024 Wining with Mel

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑

%d bloggers like this: