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  • Country ranking ?

    118
  • Producer ranking ?

    7
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    2020-2035

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The Story

Mas La Plana is a 29-hectare vineyard located in the heart of Penedès. The Cabernet Sauvignon vines were planted by Miguel A. Torres back in 1966. The vineyard has very deep, dark and yellowish brown soils. The topsoil is rich in sand and stones while the subsoil is gravel.

In the Paris Wine Olympiad, the 1970 vintage triumphed over some of the most famouswines 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.

Appellation: DO Penedès (Mas La Plana vineyard, Alt Penedès, Catalunya)

Year vines planted: 1964-1979

Surface area: 29 ha/72 acres

Elevation: 225 m

Slope: 0-5%

Orientation: South East

Yield: 4,593 Kg/ha. Grape clusters are selected manually

Soil: Deep, yellowish grey-brown alluvial soils that are well-drained and have a moderate water holding capacity. Made up of alternating layers of gravel, sand and clay.

Percipitation: Annual average rainfall (historical): 549 mm

Temperature: Annual average temperature (historical): 14.3ºC

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Vintage 2017

SPAIN 2017 Vintage  /Extreme weather was seen across the wine world in 2017 and Spain was no exception. For most Spanish regions there were one or more climatic challenges to contend with including spring frost, drought, untypically high summer temperatures and occasional hail storms. Then, mercifully, the going got easier as more typical weather arrived for the August and September ripening period and generally very favourable harvest conditions. 

Frost hit areas where it rarely does in Spain – many areas of Galicia were affected with only Rías Baixas getting off lightly. Castilla y León, with its wide stretch of regions from Ribera del Duero to Bierzo, often sees some frost but this year it hit with a vengeance. Jerez was one of the few areas to escape and the central area of Castilla-La Mancha only suffered frost damage in isolated areas. 

The long drought and a very hot early summer period tested some varieties, especially non- indigenous ones. Older vines and bush vines with deep roots coped better with the extreme weather and soils with good water retention were a bonus. 

The harvest was generally low-yielding and early, having been brought forward by an early bud break. But the length of the harvest varied and thanks to fine weather growers could wait for the best time to pick waiting for each area to reach maturity. In some cases where there was a secondary growth on vines after the frost, the result was a later growing cycle and vines reaching maturity at more typical dates. 

Grape quality was often reported to be high with healthy bunches of smaller berries showing intense flavours and excellent ripeness. As always, those offering the best wines from this vintage are likely to have selected their grapes carefully. 

While yields are down in 2017, this harvest comes after more generous ones for many Spanish regions in recent years and this should safeguard against supply shortages. 

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

<10 tasting notes

Tasting note

color

Deep, Cherry Red and Clear

ending

Long and Lingering

flavors

Cranberry, Pepper, Toasty, Smoky, Earthy and Balsamic

nose

Wide, Complex and Seductive

recommend

Yes

taste

Average in Acidity, Warming, Medium tannin, Complex, Developing, Medium-bodied, Elegant, Fresh, Perfumed and Dry

Verdict

Impressive

Written Notes

Dark purple colour with slightly violet hue. Refined nose with excellent aroma reminiscent of wisteria and peonies, in the background ripe plums, black cherries. E26:E80, Very expressive nose with ripe mulberries and elderberries, hints of gingerbread spices and liquorice, a very delicate floral touch in the background reminiscent of peonies. With some oxygen hints of ripe plums and black cherries. On the palate wonderful structure, depth and length, ripe berries and fine grained tannins, really impressing. 

  • 96p

Good looking normal size bottle and in an perfect condition. Colour is cherry red, and looking clear, deep and youthful . On the nose it is wide, seductive and complex. The taste is fresh, elegant, perfumed, and dry, warming, with medium tannin, and average in acidity, medium-bodied, with complex structure and developing. On the palate it is layered and has cranberry, toasty, pepper, balsamic, earthy and smoky flavours. The finish is long and lingering. This wine is impressive. I paid around 30-50€ a bottle. Perfectly stored bottles are still very worthy and will last well for another 20-30 years and decant at least 30min before tasting. Good value for money. I do recommend.

  • 94p

One of two Penedès reds in the Familia Torres Antologia range (their top five Spanish wines). Tasted from a 37.5-cl sample bottle. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from parcels planted in 1961, 62 and 63 in the middle of the DOP. The first vintage was 1970. The vineyard lies between two rivers, which means that there are two very different soils in the vineyard. On the upper side, a warmer soil, poorer, less organic matter resulting in more concentrated smaller berries, smaller bunches, more tannins, more concentration. The lower side has more alluvial, sandy soil, and the vines are bigger, the berries are bigger, there is less tannin, less concentration, more fruit, more freshness, more acidity. Overall it has a very diverse, deep soil with many layers, moderate water-holding capacity, high calcium carbonate and moderately coarse texture. They have been slowly changing their approach here, with a lot of focus on regenerative viticulture: ‘One of the important things about Torres is the curiosity’. Building wildlife corridors, bird and insect boxes, bee hives, livestock grazing during winter, horse ploughing, natural ponds and the use of electric tractors. They’re making massive investments in building the microbial life of the soil and organic matter. Vintage 2017 was a ‘strict’ year – very dry especially at the end of spring and they had to work the canopy carefully to protect the grapes form the sun. A blend of Cab Sav plots, picked at different times and vinified parcel by parcel. They use oak fermenters for small tannic bunches and stainless steel for the bigger bunches. 15-25 days of skin contact. 18 months in French oak barrels, 60% new. pH 3.4, TA 5.6 g/l. They now use much less new oak, and use bigger containers (foudres of 1,000 to 3,000 litres).


Rich yet refined. Wears its oak like a royal musketeer wears his cloak. Flair and flare, daring and drama but real grace. Muscular yet nimble on its feet. Dark, dark fruit loaded with gunpowder and smoke. Incredibly elegant, despite the power and bravado. You could not get anything more Spanish yet unequivocally Cabernet Sauvignon. 

  • 90p
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Information

Origin

Catalunya, Penedès

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