Torres: from wines to clothing

The Catalan powerhouse wine company Torres has launched their own line of clothing, Torres Nature Collection.

According to an article in today’s La Vanguadia newspaper, the winery group, which saw total sales rise by 9% in 2007 to 200 million euros, will sell the clothing line exclusively at the shops at their wineries and winebars. The items on sale will include shirts, jackets, windbreakers, hats and other items made from natural materials. 25% of the profits will be donated to help save the Bonelli’s Eagle, the largest bird of prey in the Penedes region, which also the home of the Torres winery. So, on the face of it, Torres Nature Collection appears to be something more than the typical winery polo shirt.

Other Torres news includes the recent opening of their new winery Bodega Waltraud, a 12 million euro investment for which work was begun four years. The winery, named for the wife of company President Miquel Torres is located on the Pacs de Penedes estate and has been designed to be as ecologically friendly as possible with a strong emphasis on wine tourism. But, according to Miquel Torres Maczassek, Director of Marketing for the group and son of the current present, the new winery will be a working winery for the best Torres wines from the Penedes and Conca de Barberà regions and not just a “grand wine cathedral.”

Next year will see the release of the first Torres wine from the Rioja D.O.C. with some 600,000 bottles now in the aging cellars. This will be followed by the launch of Perpetual 2005, a new, high end wine from the Priorat D.O.C.