Escaleras de Empedrado Pinot Noir
⏳ Drinking Window
2021 - 2026
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted duck, wild mushroom risotto, seared salmon
✨ Technical Specifications
Escaleras de Empedrado is one of Chile's most daring and groundbreaking viticultural projects, born from Miguel Torres's relentless quest to find slate soils combined with a cool, maritime climate. Located in the rugged hills of Empedrado near the Maule coast, the vineyard is planted on steep, hand-built terraces of fractured black slate (esquisto) that resemble the dramatic steps of Priorat or the Douro Valley. Situated just 26 kilometers from the Pacific Ocean, this extreme site faces intense viticultural challenges, from severe spring frosts to devastating forest fires. The low-yielding Pinot Noir vines thrive in this unique soil, producing a wine of extraordinary minerality, tension, and vertical structure. Aged carefully in French oak, it represents a pioneering milestone for South American Pinot Noir, bridging Old World mineral complexity with New World fruit purity.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1870 by brothers Jaime and Miguel Torres Vendrell, Familia Torres stands as one of Spain's most historically influential and forward-thinking wine dynasties. Spanning prime estates across Catalonia (Penedès, Conca de Barberà, Priorat, and Costers del Segre) as well as Rías Baixas and Ribera del Duero, the house negotiates a mosaic of terroirs—from maritime granitic soils in Galicia to high-elevation calcareous clay and slate in northeastern Spain. Viticulturally celebrated for pioneering the Torres & Earth climate program, co-founding International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA), and advancing regenerative farming, the estate also champions the revival of pre-phylloxera ancestral varieties like Forcada. Vinification balances precise temperature control, native yeasts, and specialized aging vessels ranging from granite vats to traditional oak casks. Benchmarks such as Pazo Torre Penelas Blanco Granito, Sons de Prades, Forcada, and Esplendor Vardon Kennett reflect an unwavering commitment to site specificity, structural clarity, and sustainable viticultural excellence.
🍇 Grapes
Pinot Noir
🍷 ABV
13%