Marimar Torres might come from one of the most popular wine making households in Spain however, when she started making wine in California in the 1980s, she was flying solo. To mark her 77th birthday, here’s the story of how Marimar Torres, among the great ambassadors of Spanish wines in North America, came to blaze the wine making trail in Sonoma at a time when ladies in red wine were scarce.
Marimar Torres.Photo: www.ajaphoto.com”Seven is mylucky number,”Marimar Torres
told me, eyes sparkling, when I visited her household house in Sitges, outside Barcelona, a couple of days prior to her current birthday:”So I’m very delighted for 77!”. Marrying a wealthy guy Marimar Torres was born in 1945 in Barcelona
, Spain, the youngest of 3 kids and the only lady. While her bros were primed from an early age to presume the reins of the household red wine business, developed in 1870, the future set out for Marimar was a different one.” My daddy desired the best for me which indicated marrying a rich
man– preferably one from an aristocratic red wine family– so I would have a simple life,” she remembers. However, Marimar’s had her sights set elsewhere. Although her wish to study an MBA was
not approved by her parents, they did eventually allow her to attend service school. By the time she graduated, she was also proficient in 6 languages, consisting of Spanish, Catalan and English.Marimar Torres with her daddy Miguel Torres Carbó in the 1970s. Image courtesy Familia Torres Taking a trip to the United States At this point Torres ‘red wines
were starting to take off across
the pond and, one summertime,
looking for to lure his daughter far from a planned vacation with her friends, Marimar’s daddy welcomed her to accompany him on an organization trip to the United States. The trip was a success, as was the one that followed, and
it was shortly prior to Marimar offered to take a trip alone. The United States was deemed too hazardous so, instead, she was sent to Canada.”And, oh boy, I did quite well!” she admits.
It goes without saying that the wine organization was not
viewed as a suitable location for a lady in those days, although Marimar Torres believes this misconception may have provided her an edge.”I have actually always said that, if a female is great, she’s better. If
she’s bad, she’s even worse, “she says, adding that, in some ways, she had it “easier “.”An easy sell “” The monopolies were all run by guys. And there I was, a female in her twenties, who understood what she was discussing, and that made it a simple sell,” she continues.
Sales of Torres white wines to Canada began to pick up substantially. Seeing how well she was doing, Marimar’s father consented to permit her to continue promoting the family business across North America.
In 1973, Marimar satisfied the man who later on became her hubby– the wine critic and journalist Robert Finigan– while on a trip to San Francisco. 2 years later, the pair wed and Marimar relocated to California, much to the discouragement of her household.
“My father stated it was an error which the marriage wouldn’t last a year. However, in truth, it lasted four!” chuckles Marimar Torres.
Torres and Finigan divorced in 1979 and, in 1981, Marimar Torres encouraged her daddy to make a little investment in California. She admits she came close to basing herself in Napa Valley.Marimar Torres in the
vineyard in the 1990s. Image courtesy Marimar Estate Making red wine in Sonoma”With the money I had I might have purchased 18 acres in Napa or 56 in West
Sonoma– so I chose Sonoma. And I’m so pleased I did, “she exclaims. At the time, West Sonoma was nearly unidentified as a red wine
area however Marimar worked with a viticulturist who ensured her the land was fit to planting vines– and Pinot Noir in particular. Back in Spain, meanwhile, her household was not convinced and informed her there was inadequate money to develop a winery. However, they added, she could still make white wine without one. The first vintage from Marimar Estate was a 1989 barrel-fermented Chardonnay, launched in 1991
. In April that year, Marimar took a trip to Spain to visit her daddy and brought him a bottle of her brand-new wine. “We should have a winery in California!””He attempted it and said it was the very best white wine he had actually ever tasted,”Marimar Torres says.”He relied on my mom and said
,”we should have a winery in California!”. The following month, in May 1991, Marimar’s daddy Miguel Torres Carbó died. His widow, Margarita, honored her late other half’s
dreams, encouraging her kids to purchase their sister’s task in California. In 1992, a 15,000-case winery was constructed and Marimar Estate’s first Pinot Noir was produced. Today, the 56-acre Don Miguel Vineyard, which Marimar started planting in 1986, includes 81 acres, of which 30 are planted with Chardonnay and 30 with Pinot Noir. Also planted to Pinot Noir are 20 acres of a 180-acre home in West Sonoma County, in between Freestone and Occidental, called the Doña Margarita Vineyard.Marimar Torres and her daughter, Cristina Torres, in California in 2020. Image courtesy Marimar Estate Marimar Estate today Throughout the years, Marimar’s white wines have actually received plenty of honors. Most recently, Marimar Estate
La Masía Pinot Noir 2018, the first red wine produced by Marimar Torres in California in 1992, was picked as one of the 12 finest white wines by the International Pinot Noir Masters 2022, an annual contest arranged by the British publication The Drinks Service. For Marimar Torres, nevertheless, prizes are not a top priority.” We do not present our wines to competitions since the wines that get the greatest scores are the
big, strong fruit bombs, “she admits, adding:”I make red wines I like to consume.”Throughout the years, Marimar Torres has become one of the leading ambassadors of Spanish red wine in North America. She continues to run Marimar Estate alongside her daughter, Cristina, born in 1988, who has actually acquired a love of white wine and vineyards from her family.