For the third year in a row, Grans Muralles 2017 (DO Conca de Barberà) from Familia Torres has achieved the highest distinction at the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards 2021, placing it among the 50 best wines in the world. The flagship Familia Torres wine holds on to its Best in Show title with 97 out of 100 points, a distinction only attained by 9 Spanish wines in a competition featuring more than 18,000 entries from 56 countries. Mas La Plana 2017, one of the family-owned winery’s flagship Penedès wines, also obtained 97 points (and a platinum medal), its highest score ever in this wine competition.
In reference to Grans Muralles 2017, the judges made a particular mention of its Mediterranean profile, and “huge density and amplitude of fruit, aroma-saturated acidity and plentiful fine tannins” on the palate. The flagship wine originates from a historical vineyard nestled along the walls that protected the monastery of Poblet during the period of the Reconquista. The soils here are deep and rocky, with gravelly layers of slate and granite, which are perfect for growing red varieties. First made in 1996 as a blend of indigenous varieties, it became the first wine to exemplify the recovery of ancestral varieties – a project Familia Torres initiated in the early 1980s – by including the Garró grape, followed a few years later by Querol.
The judges describe Mas La Plana 2017 (DO Penedès) as a red that is “textural and long with fine silky tannins and tidily-integrated acidity”. Mas La Plana is a red from Penedès, the oldest wine region in Catalonia, with a history spanning 2,700 years and home to Familia Torres. The wine originates from a Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard where the vines are almost 60 years old, well balanced, and deeply rooted in soils composed of integrated layers of gravel, sand, and clay.
Another Familia Torres wine that did well at this year's edition of the Decanter Awards is Reserva Real 2017 (DO Penedès), which won a gold medal and 95 points. Like the aforementioned wines, it is also part of Familia Torres's Antología collection. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot, this red hails from a 4-hectare vineyard in the subzone of Costers de l'Anoia which boasts exceptional llicorella slate soils. The competition judges emphasized its “complex, layered and refined palate with well-integrated oak”.
The Decanter World Wine Awards is one of the most respected international competitions, organized by the prestigious British magazine Decanter. The wines are judged by industry professionals in blind tastings held in London during the month of June. In the 2021 edition, the judges awarded 179 platinum medals (wines with 97 points or more), 635 gold medals (95–96 points), 5,607 silver medals (90–94 points), and 8,332 bronze medals (86–89 points), in addition to the highest distinction reserved for the 50 wines voted Best in Show.
To see the results of the Decanter World Wine Awards 2021, click here.
