When I tasted Miguel Torres’s distinctive Chilean superblend of cabernet, carmenère, tempranillo and monastrell, I was intrigued by the name Conde de Superunda (the 2000 vintage is £24.95, Harrods), since the “Count of Tsunami” seems a strange name for a wine. The title was conferred on Manso de Velasco, the Spanish governor of Chile, after his role in recovering ships and rescuing survivors of a tidal wave caused by the great earthquake of 28 October 1746, which wiped out almost all 5,000 inhabitants of Callao. But although honoured by Ferdinand VI with the title of Viceroy of Peru, the 74-year-old Velasco was on his way home to Spain when he lost the siege of Havana to the English, was court-martialled for his pains and dispatched to Granada in disgrace.

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