When the Englishman, settled in Cádiz, Thomas Osborne Mann founded the Osborne wineries, at the end of the 18th century, Carlos III reigned in Spain; This Monday it was Felipe VI who presided over, at the headquarters of El Puerto de Santa María, the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the company that, over the years, has put its stamp on liquors, wines, hams and other gastronomic products, in addition to having become, thanks to its billboard, with the silhouette of a bull, one of the most recognized brands in the world.
At the gates of the NATO summit, the King went to the Osborne wineries this Monday accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, to attend the first commemorative act. The acting vice president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juan Marín, (in which it will surely be one of his last public acts), in the absence of the acting president, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, due to a trip, has been in charge of receive him, in addition to the mayor of El Puerto de Santa María, Germán Beardo and the delegate of the Government in Andalusia Pedro Fernández, among other authorities.
The visit consisted of a tour of the facilities of the Bodega de Osborne El Tiro and later his attendance at the Bodega de Mora where he signed one of the centuries-old casks, located next to those that, in his day, his predecessors named after him Juan Carlos I and Alfonso XIII. Ignacio Osborne, president of the company, and Fernando Terry, CEO, have accompanied the King presenting the different stages through which the company has passed throughout its 250 years of life, a story in which the bicentennial firm has been a witness decisive events: the first Spanish Constitution, proclaimed in Cádiz in 1812; the labor movements, the first and second world wars, the Spanish civil war, the Franco regime, the oil crisis, the transition, the modernization of the nineties, digitization and globalization and more than one pandemic.
After his visit to the wineries, the King went to the Reinoso Mendoza palace, the former seat of the El Puerto de Santa María town hall, where he held a meeting with the municipal corporation. At the gates of the town hall, in addition to the citizens who were waiting for the King, a group of demonstrators protested the visit, which the rest of the attendees repelled with shouts of "Get out, get out".
After the meeting with the municipal corporation, the King returns to Madrid where this Tuesday he will receive the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and at night he will offer a dinner at the Royal Palace to the Heads of State and Heads of Government attending the 32nd NATO summit.
Meanwhile, the Next on Top awards ceremony is being held in the wineries, recognizing future leaders who are standing out in the world of gastronomy in the categories of chef, sommelier, mixologist and gastronomic institution. Osborne celebrates its 250th anniversary, of which the Cádiz-born chef Ángel León is an ambassador, being one of the one hundred oldest active family businesses in the world and having consolidated its portfolio of reference brands in Spanish gourmet products in the world, among which are , among others, the Iberian products Cinco Jotas and Sánchez Romero Carvajal, Riofrío caviar, Carlos I brandy, Nordés and Gold gin; wines from Bodegas Montecillo and Jerez en Rama, Domingo vermouth, Nordesiño, Piper-Heidsieck champagne, fine Quinta, Flor de Caña rum, Tía María, Cavali vodka and Santo Grau.
In addition to being one of the companies with the longest history in the world, Osborne is popular thanks to the bulls, designed by Manolo Prieto, which for years marked out the Spanish roads announcing the Veterano brandy. In 1988, after prohibiting the installation of billboards on public roads so as not to distract drivers, Osborne obtained a "pardon" for several bulls whose silhouette is now free of markings, and can still be seen in different parts of Spain. In 1994 the Congress of Deputies declared these figures "cultural and artistic heritage of the peoples of Spain". The Osborne bull was also a character in the movie "Jamón, Jamon" starring Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz.
