This family tree represents those Torres family members that have been active in the business since the company was founded in 1870.
1832-1910
Miguel Torres Vendrell worked in parallel with his brother, Jaime, while the latter was in Cuba, taking charge of the vineyards their family had cultivated in Catalonia since the 18th century.
In 1870, when his brother, Jaime, came back from Cuba, they founded Bodegas Torres.
These were years of hard work to ensure the name of Torres would cross borders, with their wines reaching Cartagena de Indias, Santiago de Cuba, Veracruz, Bremen, Hamburg and Saint Petersburg.
A calm, resolute man, his work was soon recognised, with Torres wines winning prizes in the Expositions of Philadelphia (1876), Paris (1878) and Barcelona (1888).
Together with his brother, Miguel, he lived at a time of great excitement and upheaval, both in terms of business and adventure, the time of Gaudi's Modernist Barcelona. This atmosphere gave the Torres wines the role they deserved in a society that appreciated the art of living.
1909-2004
Honorary president of the winemaking family firm Bodegas Miguel Torres, she played a highly important role in rebuilding and developing the winery from 1939 onwards. She worked closely with her husband, Miguel Torres Carbó and up to 1989 personally looked after the markets of Eastern Europe: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and Yugoslavia. She also regularly attended the Duty Free and SIAL trade fairs in Paris, always in charge of public relations, as well as being present at the most relevant acts on the Barcelona social calendar. She spoke English, French and German fluently.
In June 1993, the President of the Catalan government, the Right Honourable Jordi Pujol, awarded her the “President Macià” Medal of Work.
As long as her health permitted, she continued to take an active role on the company's executive board.
1843-1904
The origins of Torres date back to the 19th century when Don Jaime Torres, an enterprising man with great initiative, emigrated to Cuba when he was just eighteen years old.
Cuba helped him to accumulate the financial support to set up Bodegas Torres. Nine years in that country brought Jaime Torres a small fortune with which he returned to the Penedès region in 1870 and founded “Torres y Compañía” together with this brother, Miguel.
1969
Mireia, born in 1969, is the daughter of Miguel Agustín Torres and Waltraud Maczassek. She has a sister and a brother: Anna is a doctor and Miguel is executive president of Miguel Torres Chile. As they are all Miguel's children, they learned about wine and vines straight from their father, while their mother passed on her sensitivity for fine arts.
She started her professional training at the Sarrià Chemical Institute, one of the most prestigious in Barcelona, where she graduated in 1994, in Chemical Engineering, specialising in Analysis.
In 1995 she enrolled in the “École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier”, where she studied oenology and viticulture. After work experience in wine production in Spain, she was awarded a diploma in Oenology and in “Agronomie Approfondie mention viticulture-œnologie”.
In 1997 she worked in the R&D&i department of Derypol (a resin and flocculant company).
In 1999, she joined the company firm at Vilafranca in the analysis laboratory, carrying out projects related to the study of aromas in wine. In 2000 she took charge of the company's R&D&i area, whose results over the years, and thanks to the great team of professionals that go to make up the firm, have led to huge success, both in terms of international publications and also in creating new products.
In 2001 she started the Nerola project and, from 2004-2010 held the position of Technical Director, being in charge of producing and managing wines from the wineries in Vilafranca del Penedès, Rioja, Ribera and Priorat.
Mireia Torres Maczassek is currently General Manager of Jean Leon and Torres Priorat.
Mireia is married and has 2 children.
1945
Marimar Torres has been involved in the wine business all her life. Born in 1945 in Barcelona, Spain, she is fluent in six languages and holds a degree in Business and Economics from the University of Barcelona. She is also a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program, and studied Enology and Viticulture for a year at the University of California at Davis. At Marimar Estate Vineyards & Winery, she directs the activities at the winery and in both vineyards, the Don Miguel (named after her late father) in the Russian River Valley and the Doña Margarita Vineyard (named after her late mother) in the Sonoma Coast region.
Prior to her involvement in the Sonoma operation, Marimar traveled extensively promoting Torres wines, first in Spain as the company’s export director and later in North America, when California became her home in 1975. At that time, shipments of Torres wines to the U.S. totaled 15,000 cases; ten years later they reached 150,000. To achieve this was not easy, though; especially in the beginning, Marimar was confronted with the common notion that the wine business was no place for a woman. Eventually, her tenacity and business acumen helped her overcome this bias, and she became the best-known ambassador of Spanish wines in America.
In 1986, Marimar began planning the Don Miguel Vineyard, a 56-acre property in a cool microclimate ideally suited to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Today the vineyard encompasses 81 acres, of which 30 are planted with Chardonnay and 30 with Pinot Noir. Another 20 acres of a new property in the Freestone Valley (Sonoma Coast) are also planted to Pinot Noir.
Due to her European heritage, emphasis on the vineyard is a natural concept for Marimar; the wines, made entirely from estate-grown grapes, are truly an expression of this unique terroir. The first release, a 1989 barrel-fermented Chardonnay, debuted in April 1991 to great acclaim. In 1992, a 15,000-case winery was built and the Estate’s first Pinot Noir was produced.
Marimar’s dedication to the family business, however, has not come at the expense of other pursuits. An authority on Spanish cuisine, her first book, The Spanish Table: The Cuisines and Wines of Spain, was published in 1986. Her second book, The Catalan Country Kitchen: Food and Wine from the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean Seacoast of Barcelona, came out in April 1992.
Marimar lives in Sausalito, California with her daughter, Cristina. Her hobbies include skiing, horseback riding, jogging, biking and piano.
Family pride and integrity have enabled Torres to blend centuries-old traditions with the latest innovations to produce outstanding wines known the world over. Marimar herself has become a symbol of this heritage.
1865-1932
Juan Torres Casals, the man behind the distillation of brandy, represents the third generation of the Torres family. In 1928, he started to make brandies aged in oak casks.
Among the key work carried out by Juan Torres were also the maintenance of the overseas markets and the strengthening of sales in the Spanish market.
His work was recognised by receiving several prizes at the 1929 International Exposition of Barcelona.
Today, asking for a Torres 5 or a Torres 10 in a restaurant is, for many, a reflex action they associate with ordering a brandy. The brand has become synonymous with the product.
1974
Miguel is the son of Miguel Agustín Torres and Waltraud Maczassek. He has 2 Sisters, Mireia, Torres Priorat and Jean Leon General Manager, and Anna who is a Doctor. As Miguel's children they have learnt about wine and vineyards from him, and their mother has passed on her creativity as a painter.
Miguel studied Business and Management at the ESADE University in Barcelona - considered one of the best universities in Spain. He also studied oenology at the Rovira i Virgili University, in Tarragona.He specialised in International Marketing and also studied at the Kennan Flager Business School in North Carolina, USA. After that he worked at DANONE in the Marketing Department and then moved into a field closer to wine but still quite different: the perfume business. As he says, the perfume business has a lot of things in common with wines as both are selective and prestigious products.
He worked for almost 3 years as Brand Manager for Carolina Herrera New York perfumes, a fashion brand belonging to the Antonio Puig Perfumes Company, with headquarters in Barcelona, a company that also owns Paco Rabanne, Nina Ricci and other prestigious worldwide perfume brands. He was a member of the launch team for the 212 MEN fragrance and worked on the updating of classic perfumes.
After that, he was appointed general director at the Jean Leon winery, (part of the Torres Group since 1995). He accepted in April 2001. His first decisions were focussed on the winery and the quality of the product.
In 2004, he accepted the position of Marketing Director of Miguel Torres S.A., responsible for product development, communication and new launchings, including the projects of Ribera del Duero (Celeste), Priorato (Salmos), Rioja (Ibéricos) and Natureo (dealcoholized wine). These recent projects have contributed to the organic growth of the Company and the expansion in other Spanish appellations.
Miguel Torres Maczassek is currently CEO of the Torres Group.
Miguel also speaks fluent Catalan, Spanish, English and French, and knows a little German and Japanese.
He has three children.
1988
Born in 1988, Cristina is the only daughter of Marimar Torres, from whom she has inherited her love of the vineyards and vines of Marimar Estate in California.
Cristina has a degree in Economics from Princeton University, one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the United States.
She also studied abroad at the University of Melbourne (Australia) and has worked at Miguel Torres Chile and at Pol Roger (Champagne, France), thus developing her experience in the wine industry.
After obtaining her undergraduate degree, she worked as the Brand Ambassador for Marimar Estate, receiving visitors and clients, coordinating and planning Club Marimar events, strategizing the marketing of wine distribution in collaboration with sales teams and promoting the wines throughout the United States.
Currently, she is working in San Francisco at ShopStyle, a division of Sugar Inc. She contributes to several marketing projects and promotional campaigns that combine fashion and e-commerce.
Cristina speaks Catalan, Spanish, English and French fluently.
1935
He is responsible for the company's institutional relations and also runs exports.
He concluded his studies in Marketing and Sales at the ESADE Business School in 1957 and in Company Management at IESE Business School in 1969.
His qualifications also include several training courses on basic oenology and wine-tasting at Bordeaux University.
In 1958 he started a period of professional training, working at the company Comercial Anónima de Drogas Industriales and subsequently set up, with his own resources, the company Suministros Plásticos para Embalaje, whose products he exported to several European countries.
In 1976, he took over the firm Sociedad Torres Import, S.A. specialising in importing leading brands of wine, spirits and delicatessen foods into Spain.
In 1984, he joined Miguel Torres, S.A. and is currently its Vice-President.
He is a board member of the EU Wine Committee, the Spanish Wine Federation, the Spanish Spirits Federation, the Association for the Mediterranean Diet, Calidalia and Lien de la Vigne.
He has three children.
1968
Born in 1968, Arnau is the son of Juan Maria Torres. He has a brother, Juan Pablo and a sister, Marta, with whom he shares his passion for the world of wines, although he is the only one who decided to follow his father’s footsteps and focus his professional life on the family business.
Arnau studied for five years at the Agricultural College of the Maresme and later specialised in viticulture and oenology at the Mercè Rosell School of Oenology and Viticulture in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia.
He also embarked upon marketing studies at the Superior School of Marketing in Barcelona (ESMA), thus steering his professional career towards the world of marketing and communication.
He has been part of the Torres Wine Tourism and Events Team since 1991.
1947
Waltraud Maczassek was born in Frankfurt am Main.
As Miguel A’s wife, she collaborated with her husband during the years in which the company expanded. She initiated and directed exports to Germany for more than 25 years.
She currently divides her time between the family business, assessing the design committee, public relations for the German market and her passion for painting, which has led her to give several exhibitions in Barcelona, Berlin, Wiesbaden, Oslo and Geneva.
She studied Fine Arts in Wiesbaden, Germany.
She studied colour, composition and landscapes at the Escuela Libre del Mediterráneo, in Majorca.
She has a degree in Fine Arts from the San Jorge University of Fine Arts in Barcelona – research credits.
From 2002 to 2004, she was the director of the Espai d’Art at the Centro de visitas in Pacs del Penedès
Throughout her versatile professional career, she has done painting, engraving, sculpting and photography.
Waltraud’s main source of inspiration is nature, which is a constant feature in her work. The variety of colours and the use of mixed technique are other characteristics of an artist who does not cease evolving and seeking new pictorial languages.
The reality of the Mediterranean is present in her work, which possesses great communicative energy, both in what she openly states and shows us as well as in what she suggests. The expressiveness of her interior landscapes and the warmth of the tones of the shapes reaffirm her form of contemporary art from a particular perception of reality and her figuration. Evidence of this can be found in the works that decorate the most special areas of Torres, such as the Bodega Waltraud for wines from the estate.
She has shown her work both individually as well as collectively in various galleries in Spain as well as internationally (Berlin, Wiesbaden, Oslo, Geneva, etc.).
She has recently travelled through the United States and Spain presenting her work in collective exhibitions.
1941
Born in Barcelona in 1941, Miguel A. Torres is the second son of Miguel Torres Carbó and Margarita Riera.
In 1957 he began his studies at the University of Barcelona (Chemical Sciences), and in 1959 he moved on to the University of Dijon (Burgundy), where he specialised in Oenology and Viticulture.
In 1962, he joined the family business, and currently serves as the President and CEO of the company.
In 1967, he married Waltraud Maczassek, who then took part in sales management for the German market.
His proven passion for his work as an oenologist led him to take an interest in every aspect of viticulture, bringing him to enhance his professional preparation through travels, studies and reading. This culminated with the 1977 publication of his first book, Viñas y Vinos (Vineyards and Wines), which is now in its seventh revised and updated edition in Spanish and English).
Following this book, he wrote Vino español, un incierto futuro (Spanish Wine, an Uncertain Future), which was published in 1979, as well as five other books (published between 1982 and 1987).
In 1982, he decided to extend his viticulture and oenology education at the University of Montpellier (France), during a one-year sabbatical.
In 1996, he was honoured by the Chilean government as Grand Official of the Order of Bernardo O’Higgins, in recognition of his services to improve relations between Spain and Chile, as well as for his contribution to wine development in Chile.
In 2002, he was awarded “Decanter Man of the Year 2002” by the prestigious magazine Decanter.
In 2005, he received the “Personality of the Year” award for Innovation, by Wine International magazine.
In 2010, he received the “Meininger Verlag” (given by the German magazine Weinwirtschaft) and “Livets Goda Hall of Fame” (in Sweden) awards, as well as the International Wine Challenge “Lifetime Achievement Award”, in recognition of his career.
In 2011, the Drink Business Green Awards honoured Miguel A. Torres with the “Lifetime Achievement Award” in recognition of his contribution to the promotion of eco-friendly wine-making practices.
He has three children.
1909-1991
Miguel Torres Carbó, a good natured, friendly man devoted to his vines, was the driving force behind Torres wines the world over.
Although he had to endure the crises caused by the Civil War and the Second World War, with great tenacity he was able to reconstruct all the Torres family's heritage that had been destroyed.
He extended the vineyards and started to make bottled wines, creating the well-known brands of Viña Sol, Gran Viña Sol, Sangre de Toro, Coronas and Viña Esmeralda.
Another great boost to brandy, Miguel Torres made a huge effort to achieve a high quality brand.
His entrepreneurial spirit is remembered today through anecdotes, such as when the young Miguel Torres took advantage of his honeymoon in the United States to promote and sell his bottles of wine. Miguel Torres returned to Spain with loyal clients in America, representing an important force in the expansion of Bodegas Torres.
