Miguel Torres Carbó

Miguel Torres Carbó (1909-1991) was a Catalan wine growing entrepreneur. Despite the crisis in wine and brandy production in Penedès County during the Spanish Civil War (the winery was bombarded) and the Second World War, he managed to rebuild the family business, Bodegas Torres (founded in 1870), extend its vineyards and start to make bottled wines, creating the well known brands Viña Sol, Gran Viña Sol, Sangre de Toro, Coronas and Viña Esmeralda. He also definitively launched his wines and brandies internationally when, in 1979, he acquired new cellars in Vall Central, in Chile (Curicó), encircled by extensive vineyards, while in 1983 he also acquired 62 acres of vineyards in the Sonoma Valley (California). He also built the cellars where today the Marimar Torres Chardonnay and Pinot noir wines are made. In 1990 he was awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi.