Torres Winery

Barrels of Cava

Vina Esmeralda

On the way home from our Valencia field trip, IES bought us to the Torres Winery in the Penedes region outside of Barcelona.  The Torres Vineyard is a traditional Catalan cava producing winery.  Our bus drove through the fields and pulled up to the main building.  It was an overcast day and the vines had just been clipped so the fields looked barren and dead.  Our group gathered in the lobby and we were escorted into another room where we got to try a glass of cava.  The cava we tried was called Vina Esmeralda.  It tasted young and fruity, dry but floral.  After everyone tried a glass we were escorted to a tram.  We all loaded into the tram cars and were driven around the winery listening to a recording that explained the process of producing and bottling the cava.  This was the first time that I had ever been to a vineyard or a winery so I was interested to see how the wines were produced.  The recording explained that the vines are clipped every winter so that they can bloom in the spring.  This explained why all of the vines looked dead on the drive in.  The tram took us through the factory and we learned how the grapes were crushed and fermented and how impurities, such as sediments were removed from the bottle.  This was one of my favorite experiences in Spain because we got to see the inner workings of a winery and try a glass of cava that was originally from the Penedes region.  I was especially interested in this field trip because my father owns a wine store and I was able to talk to him about cavas, the Penedes region and the Torres wine specifically.