Torres Milmanda Chardonnay, Conca de Barbera DO

Description

Torres Milmanda Chardonnay is Miguel Torres’ top white wine, it is 100% Chardonnay from Conca de Barbera DO.

Torres found that their historic 15 hectare highland estate of Milmanda, dominated by the castle that gives it its name, is where Chardonnay finds the most favourable conditions of all their vineyards. Milmanda was part of a route of medieval castles that gave shelter to Christians during the time of the Reconquista. In the 12th century peace came to these lands and vine-growing began anew.

The Conca de Barbera DO is a Spanish wine-making Denominacion de Origen (DO) located in the southern part of Catalonia, between the provinces of Tarragona and Lleida, in the basin of the Francolí and Anguera Rivers. The vineyards of Conca de Barbera DO are protected from the sea by the mountains and have been traditionally known for its white wines. It achieved official status in 1985.

Torres Milmanda Chardonnay is a single vineyard wine. The vines were planted in 1980 at an elevation of 500m. There Milmanda vineyard has deep silt-rich calcareous clay soils that are
moderately well drained and have a very high water holding capacity. This encourages balanced
vegetative growth in Chardonnay and produces wines that are very varietally expressive and well
suited to barrel agsing. There are also reddish marl formations dating from the Oligocene period. The grapes are harvested by hand with a manual selection of grape clusters. After the harvest and pressing the wine undergoes 100% barrel fermentation followed by 50% malolactic fermentation. The wine is aged in 300 litre barrels (60% new oak) for 4–6 months. This is followed by 10 months of lees ageing in vats.