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Torres tempts Priorat buyers with Da Vinci mystery, new Rioja planned
July 2, 2007
 Sophie Kevany and Jane Anson, in Bordeaux
Spanish producer Torres has launched a Da Vinci Code-style marketing campaign involving Carthusian monks and buried treasure, for Salmos, its new Priorat wine.
The treasure hunt, accessed via a code hidden on the wine's back label, has attracted over 200 people to the vineyard.
Only about 7,000 cases of Salmos, the Torres family's first wine from the Priorat region in Catalonia in north eastern Spain, were produced from the 2005 vintage. Production is already sold out.
Salmos, made in remembrance of the Carthusian monks who cultivated vines in Priorat from 1095 until 1835, when the region began to fall into decline, is made from a blend of local garnacha and cariñena grapes, with syrah and cabernet sauvignon. Torres bought the vineyard in 1996.
The game, which takes you on 'an adventure through Catalonia, discovering mysteries and tasting great wines,' was created by Javier Sierra, author of bestseller The Secret Supper. It takes place first in the virtual world, then in the real.
'You go into a virtual 17th century monastery to get the clues you need to start a physical trip from Barcelona to the vineyards, a bit like the Da Vinci Code.' Torres said. 'And when you get here you go to a nearby town to have a glass of wine and get your certificate,' he said.
http://www.secretsalmos.es/
Torres will soon begin production of a Rioja wine from Rioja Alavesa. 'We are contacting grape suppliers and the final blend will be of the 2006 vintage, for release at the end of 2008,' Torres said.
Initial production of the new wine, as yet unamed, will be about 20,000 cases.
'Rioja Alavesa is our next big project,' Torres said, adding that the family is still experimenting with blends from their vineyards in the Toro region, but, as yet, had no plans to make wines from there.
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