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Pourings & Pairings 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Pourings & Pairings - Miguel
Torres with Smith & Wollensky
Smith & Wollensky is pleased
to welcome the acclaimed Torres
Winery from Spain for what is
sure to be a remarkable evening
- four fabulous wines and five
delicious courses, plus dessert.
Wine Dinner Menu:
Passed Hors d’oeuvres
Ham & Cheese Croquettes
Garlic Grilled shrimp
Viña Esmeralda
Pan Seared Monkfish
Mas la Plana “Black Label”
Single Vineyard Cabernet
Sauvignon
Rack of Lamb
Salmos Priorat
Filet Mignon
Celeste Blue, Ribera del Duero
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Torres traces
its roots in Penedes, Spain back
to 1870, and four generations
later, Miguel A. Torres serves
as its President, with members
of the fifth generation already
hard at work, keeping the family
tradition alive. The company
produces 3 million cases of wine
and 1 million cases of brandy
per year, with 60% of sales
exported to 140 |
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countries around the
world. One of the most prominent and
most widely known wine producers in
Spain, Torres made its mark with Sangre
de Toro, one of the first Spanish wines
to be distributed world-wide. Today,
they are producing elegant wines such as
the ultrapremium Mas la Plana, and has
established itself with notable
achievement in California and Chile, as
well. |
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Wine Style
The wine has
evolved over the decades,
adapting itself to consumers’
palates.
Seeking the most
authentic expression of
Mediterranean wine, Sangre de
Toro continued to be made using
Garnacha and Cariñena grapes,
but perfected methods of
winemaking and ageing allowed
emphasis to be given to maximum
expression of the fruit and oak
ageing. |
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The Red Wines of Miguel
Torres...
Our red wines represent our house
seal.
These bottles symbolise
centuries of history, our passion for
what we do and the care we lavish on our
customers. These wines cover an
ample range, made with traditional
varieties drawn from Catalanc
viticulture, grapes well adapted to our
soils and climate. We also make fine
wines with noble and international grape
varieties that have been able to adapt
with equal success to our lands. It is
through this means that we are able to
satisfy every palate.
The White Wines of
Miguel Torres...
We are especially proud
of our white wines. The type of
winemaking involved in producing this
style of wines, pure, clean and
seductive, just as we understand them
today, proved very difficult for our
forefathers to achieve. Today, however,
we know the secret and have the means to
maintain the properties of the fruit
intact, transforming them into wines
that are unique, fresh and elegant, with
the aid of the climate, the soils, the
well-tended vines and our experience. |
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Miguel Torres - Our
Mission Statement
• To
maintain our tradition as a
self-financing and independent family
firm of international scope.
• To
enable every customer to become a
friend.
• To be
world leaders in the first-rate wine and
brandy sectors, with top quality and
well differentiated products.
• To be
leaders in the design of and in the
communications involved in the
dissemination of wine culture.
• To care
for the well-being of our staff and for
the progress of society as a whole.
• To contribute
actively towards the conservation of our
natural environment. |
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Torres and the
Environment
•
There is no good wine that does
not respect Mother Nature.
•
We have adhered to this maxim
since the days of our ancestors.
Miguel Torres
Vendrell, co-founder of the
winery, affirmed that the
correct way to make wine is
nature’s way, in harmony with
the environment (“grandfather’s
viticulture”). Today, with
planet Earth more threatened
than ever, this phrase is a
commandment that we adhere to
rigidly in our wineries. |
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Miguel Torres Foundation
The
Miguel Torres Foundation was created in
1986 with the objective of reflecting
our philosophy within wine-making: To
contribute to the well-being of our
people and the progress of society at
large, and to preserve and protect the
environment in which we operate. With
this in mind, the Torres family have
pledged to contribute in the following
ways: Development within the social
field and commitment to environmental
and ecological projects. This help has
been distributed through both private
and public organisations, and by Torres
distributors who have been entrusted
with monitoring various projects. Social
Responsibility; Since 1999 we have
worked with under-privileged children
around the world and have built schools
and homes in various countries.
SCHOOLS
HAVE BEEN BUILT IN: Burkina Faso (2001),
The Philippines, United States
(California), India (Vicente Ferrer
Foundation), Chile (Curicó)
FOSTER
HOMES FOR CHILDREN: Spain (SOS Aldeas
Infantiles), Mexico (DF)
AID FOR
VICTIMS OF NATURAL DISASTERS: El
Salvador (2001), India (2001), Guatemala
(2001),
Dominican
Republic (2003)
Environmental Awareness: We strive to
protect the environment and endangered
species. Since 1993 the Torres family
have also been active in protecting
against forest fires in the Penedès, and
are patrons of the protection of
Bonelli’s eagle in Catalonia. |
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Description:
In
the mountainous area of the
Upper Penedès the more delicate
and aromatic white grape
varieties are grown.
Moscatel and Gewürtztraminer
form the basis for Viña
Esmeralda, an exceptionally
delicate and strikingly fragrant
wine.
Wine and Food:
Excellent with shellfish (a
sublime match for an avocado and
shellfish salad, for instance),
as well as with fish, fresh
melon with cured Spanish ham,
pâtés, poultry or pork in a
sweet and sour sauce.
Tasting Notes: A
voluptuous, exotically perfumed
nose, with deliciously
well-defined primary aromas
(some floral notes, roses,
lilies...), complemented by
secondary aromas derived from
the wine’s controlled
fermentation. Silky and sappy on
the palate.
Awards: 90/100
points Guía Campsa 2010 (2007
Vintage) (Note from Dreyfus,
Ashby, the importer. This is one
of our favorite wines to pour at
parties. It seems to please
almost everyone!)
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Origin: In this
small (29 ha.) vineyard only the
most select Cabernet Sauvignon
grapes are grown. These are used to
make strictly limited quantities of
Torres’ most prestigious red wine,
now known to connoisseurs all over
the world. In the Paris Wine
Olympiad, the 1970 vintage triumphed
over some of the most famous wines
in the world, including Chateau
Latour. This success has been
repeated on several other occasions,
with Gran Coronas Mas La Plana
notching up numerous other
international awards.
Wine and Food: A
perfect partner for the finest meat
and game dishes.
Tasting Notes: Deep
dense cherry colour, with a touch of
mahogany. Wonderfully intense
bouquet typical of this vineyard:
hints of cranberries, cherries and
truffles, with an incense-like
quality developed during ageing in
wood. Full, elegant and pronounced
aftertaste, befitting a wine of this
quality.
Awards: 92 Points –
Wine Spectator - 2004 Vint. (Top 100
Cellar Selections of 2008!) , 92
Points – Wine Enthusiast - 2004 Vint.
91 points – The Wine Advocate - 2003
Vint., 90 points – The Wine
Spectator - 2003 Vint. |
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Description:
This Wine is a homage to the
monks of the courageous
carthusian order, who arrived in
“Priorat”, in 1095, where they
cultivated vines. In 1835 a
violent crowd destroyed the work
of a lifetime and sacked the
monastery, events which later
culminated in the auctioning of
church lands known as the
“Desamortización de Mendizábal”.
In 1996 the TorreS Family began
work on the planting of
vineyards on the slopes strewn
with the hard, black slate-like
“Licorella” stone.
Origin: Made by
the Torres family and coming
exclusively from our vineyards
located in the municipalities of
Porrera and Lloar, Salmosc is a
Priorat wine that manages to
achieve an unparalleled balance
between power and elegance.
Wine and Food:
Game and red meat dishes
(16-18ºC).
Tasting Notes: Dark in hue and
almost opaque, it is fragrant
and mineral on the nose while on
the palate it is luxurious and
oily, but also silky and with a
long finish. This darkly
coloured wine is reminiscent of
jam and liquorish, over a smooth
spicy and toasted background,
which comes from The French oak
barrels. Salmos. A present day
wine that speaks to us of the
past.
Awards: 91
points – The Wine Advocate, 90
Points – The Wine Spectator, 90
points – Wine & Spirits, 90
Points – Wine Enthusiast, 93
Points - Wine & Spirits (2006
Vintage) |
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Ribera del Duero
- The Duero Valley’s history can
be read in its vineyards. It is
said that cold nights and warm
days in the higher parts combine
perfectly with mountain breezes,
and evoke memories of early vine
growing from the 12th century.
It is here, on these higher
lands that our grapes slowly
ripen, absorbing the aromas of
the region in the silence of the
night. Patiently waiting for the
day when a dream shall be
realised: to become a Ribera del
Duero worthy of its name.
Description; Celeste is an
opulent wine brimming with
fruit, body and color: as unique
as the night sky in the Ribera
del Duero.
Origin: At 895
metres altitude you can almost
touch the stars and shape the
clouds. The dusk air is intense
with fragrance. And the sun
lights up the land in all its
splendour. Here, at a height of
895 metres, Celeste is born, the
Torres family’s first Ribera del
Duero.
Wine and Food:
Serve between 16-17 ºC. Owing to
its fruity and tannic
characteristics, this wine pairs
well with a great variety of
meat dishes including roasts and
small game.
Tasting Notes:
Intense blackberry color. Spicy
and intense nose, with liqorice
and black pepper hints on a base
of well ripened fruits
(blackberry and cherry). On the
palate, very fruity at first
with ripened tannins, also
persistent and full bodied.
Awards; 90
Points - The Wine Spectator
(Note: The 2003, 2004 & 2005
have all received 90 points from
the Wine Spectator)
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