Torres Gran Sangre de Toro 1997

The 1997 Torres Gran Sangre de Toro is a blend of 75% Garnacha and 25% Carinena that has spent a year in small oak barrels. This special bottling of Sangre de Toro, or "bull's blood", sports a deep, intense ruby robe with mahogany highlights. Aromatically, the wine is classically elegant with the scent of blackberry, cherry and jam over a cachet of spices, redolent with clove and black pepper with underlying hints of toasted oak mingled into the soul of the wine. The palate is big and sensual, with round tannins that reveal the fruit of the wine as it airs. Enjoy this wine at cool room temperatures after a half hour of airing.

Stuffed peppers, game stews, casseroles, ragout, goulash and spicy meat dishes all make excellent pairings with the 1997 Torres Gran Sangre de Toro. Pork and baked ham, as well as black bean dishes with rice, also, make wonderful accompaniments to this immensely pleasing offering from Torres, Spain's First Family of Wine. Enjoy the Gran Sangre de Toro, too, with a most pasta or meat dishes, as well as with cheese.

The Torres family has made wine in the ancient Catalan town of Vilafranca del Penedes, since at least the 17th century. Yet, it wasn't until 1870 that Don Jaime Torres officially established a winery and began the house of Torres. Today, Torres wines are known around the world, as "the best Spain has to offer". Presently, Torres is headed by Miguel A. Torres, the president and winemaker of this exclusively family-owned and managed winery. Trained in both Spain and Bordeaux, Torres has guided his family's winery to the top echelon of wine producers, not only in Spain but worldwide. Through a combination of deep traditional roots and innovation, Miguel Torres manages to turn out a dizzying array of white and red wines from both traditional Catalan grapes and the very best clones of imported varietals. Consequently, Wine & Spirits Magazine named Torres the International Winery of the Year in 1999, while others continue to heap accolades such as, "the most important winery in Spain," upon this estate. Torres produces a delicious 100% Parellada, an ancient white varietal, under the Vina Sol label. The winery also turns out considerable quantities of Sangre de Toro, a blend of Garnacha and Carinena, as well as Coronas, from the indigenous Tempranillo varietal. Moreover, there are Reserva bottlings of each of these wines, demonstrating considerable variations on the basic theme. The most notable among them is the splendid Gran Sangre de Toro. Torres also offers many more traditional and experimental blends. In all, a staggering two million cases of premium wine flow each year from the estate's 2,300 acres of Penedes vines, prompting many international critics to compare Torres to France's Baron de Rothschild or California's Robert Mondavi.