The Dream of a Girl that Fermented into the Best Sweet Wine of the Mediterranean: M de Alejandría

Reading 'Manual for Dreaming' these days, a book gifted to one of my children, it talks about 28 people who shared something in common: the great dream that enriched their lives, nestled in their hearts and minds since childhood. All of them identified, nurtured, and fed that dream until it became a reality.

Among its pages is the recently deceased Jane Goodall, a scientist who discovered the closeness of chimpanzees to our species after spending her childhood and youth surrounded by animals, dreaming of going to Africa and writing about the species living there; Nikola Tesla, who managed to light entire cities using the power of Niagara Falls; the dancer Anna Pavlova, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, tennis player Gabriela Sabatini, Nelson Mandela, Grace Kelly, Maria Montessori, or Agnes Gonxa, a young woman who felt an increasing attraction to religious life and even changed her name to Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

To this list, and keeping the distances, many more people should be added who from a very young age had a dream, pursued it, and achieved it. And of this, Cristina Rodríguez knows a lot, the Alicante native born in Casablanca (Morocco), with roots in Monforte del Cid and Callosa d'En Sarrià and settled in Teulada Moraira, who has achieved her aspiration: to have her own wine, 'M de Alejandría', with M for woman and M for moments, an ice muscatel that is already reaping the successes of the project that began in 2014 after seeing how every Christmas Eve as a child, her father eagerly awaited the visit of a friend who gifted him a bottle of wine from his harvest.

After the appropriate tasting, the wine was kept to accompany the Christmas meal. The little girl never missed any of those visits and always said to herself: "one day I will have my own wine to share moments with my friends." And so it was.

These days, Alicante Gastronómica has crowned this muscatel in the IV Contest of the Best Wine of the Mediterranean 2004, with the gold medal for the best sweet wine and also awarded it the grand gold, best of the Mediterranean 2024. And it did so just on the tenth anniversary of the project realized by a girl who grew up with the dream of producing a unique and indigenous wine from the Marina Alta.

Today, her daughter, Cristina Tro, leads the project, having absorbed from a very young age her mother's passion for producing a special and coveted wine among exquisite diners at the finest tables in Alicante, Valencia, Madrid, France, and the Nordic countries, among many others.

These new awards, promoted by Alicante Gastronómica and the Association of Sommeliers of the Province of Alicante (ASPA), were presented at the Alicante fairgrounds after the jury, composed of professional sommeliers and oenologists, evaluated with "rigor the quality of each wine, a reflection of a job well done and a wine culture that is part of our Mediterranean identity."

The person responsible for granting this recognition was the president of the Alicante Chamber of Commerce, Carlos Baño, who in his speech praised "the effort, passion, and excellence of the wineries and winemakers who participated in the last edition." A total of 130 contestants, from the denominations of origin of Alicante, Valencia, Castellón, Yecla, Jumilla, Bullas, Ribera del Duero, and Rioja, showcased "the best of our land and our sea."

Baño expressed his appreciation for making it possible for the "wine of the Mediterranean to continue being a source of pride for all."