Milmanda 2012, a Bodegas Torres icon wine, was the white wine chosen for the official state dinner that brought together Cuban President Raúl Castro and US President Barack Obama as part of the latter’s historic visit to the island, on March 21. The Torres family’s elegant Chardonnay from the DO Conca de Barberà accompanied the first course, a golden cream soup seasoned with Caney rum and garnished with ham slivers.
For Miguel Torres Maczassek, general manager of Bodegas Torres, “having our Milmanda wine chosen for this historic event fills us with pride. It acknowledges the work that we have done at this exceptional vineyard in Conca de Barberà over the years.” He goes on to say, “My family has a special connection to Cuba, because my great-great-grandfather Jaime Torres spent the best years of this youth on the island. Upon returning to the Penedès, he founded the winery in 1870 with his brother Miguel. We have felt an emotional connection to Cuba ever since and have witnessed how wine culture has developed on the island.”
The main course featured Cuban-style oven-roasted suckling pig with tamales and traditional plantain chips on the side. It was paired with Vega Sicilia Único 2007 by the hundred-year-old family-owned winery, which, like Torres, belongs to the Primum Familiae Vini association. At the state dinner, held at Havana’s Palace of the Revolution, President Obama was accompanied by his family and a delegation of about 40 members of the US Congress.
Milmanda is a complex and elegant wine in the style of a great Burgundy white. The wine is fermented and aged on its lees in French oak for 12 months.The 2012 vintage has received gold medals at international competitions like Chardonnay du Monde and The Drinks Business Global Masters 2014, as well as being named Best Crianza White Wine 2015 by the Spanish Association of Wine Writers and Journalists.