Torres San Valentín Semi Dulce 2024

San Valentín is a Torres wine with a family story, created by Miguel Torres Carbó as a Valentine's Day gift for his wife Margarita Riera. It is a single-variety Parellada from D.O. Catalunya, made in an off-dry, semi-sweet style. Parellada is the most delicate of Catalonia's traditional white grapes, grown in the region's higher, cooler vineyards where it ripens slowly to aromatic fruit at moderate sugar, which is why the finished wine sits at a light 10.5 per cent alcohol. To hold that freshness the grapes are fermented cool in stainless steel, and the fermentation is stopped while some natural grape sugar remains, leaving a soft sweetness balanced by the grape's acidity rather than any added weight. There is no oak. The colour is pale straw. The nose is fragrant, with green apple, ripe peach and pear over white flowers and a touch of honey. The palate is light and off-dry, its gentle sweetness lifted by fresh acidity into a clean, aromatic finish. Serve well chilled at 8 to 10 degrees. It works as an aperitif, with fresh fruit and lighter desserts, and as a foil to mild spice.