Torres producing 'illegal' wine?
Miguel Torres is continuing to make wine from grapes grown on
illegally-planted vineyards - a claim denied by the producer.
A production facility operated by the Catalan wine and cava company Miguel Torres is continuing to operate as normal three and a half months after the Catalan authorities began legal proceedings against the company on the grounds that the site was illegal.
According to a report from Europa Press, an inspection of the plant on the Mas de L'Aranyo estate revealed that it was illegally producing wine from vines planted there. The Catalan authorities said that Torres had not sought permission to plant 42 hectares on vineyards at the site, and that as such it was not allowed to produce or commercialise wines from grapes grown on the estate.
The regulations governing such cases are quite clear - any vines which are planted without official authorisation have to be pulled up - and Torres was informed of this on 22 May, according to the report. Torres said that the Mas de L'Aranyo estate covered a total of 800ha, of which most were planted with cereal crops and olives, and that it had sought and received official approval to plant the 42ha of vineyards.
The report said that Torres believed that the dispute was really about the fact that Juneda, where the estate it based, does not fall within any of Spain's existing Denomination of Origin areas, although it is currently in the process of applying to join.
