The Prestigio Rioja Prize jury panel unanimously decided to grant the award to the Latin American artist Eva Longoria, for her exemplary life devoted to advocating the Latin cause and also for the great recognition she has achieved within the performing arts since her participation in the television series ‘Desperate Housewives’. Her international recognition makes her a superb ambassador of our values in the world, just like Rioja wine within Spanish wines.
A Latin by birth, but considering herself «75% Spanish», Eva Longoria conquered Hollywood with her cheerful, seductive and festive personality —three traits that fit in perfectly with Rioja wine. But beyond this, her life is deeply committed to philanthropic activities related to Latin causes. Her time away from the cameras is devoted to issues such as immigrant social integration and the inclusion of women in working life. Her struggle led her to produce the documentary The Harvest, which reflects the situation of 500,000 immigrant child farmworkers in the United States.
She also has her own Foundation, the ‘Eva Longoria Foundation’, which seeks to help the social integration of disadvantaged people, some of whose actions the D.O. Ca. Rioja participated in. This is the case of the charity gala held in London this week, where the Control Board has provided a collection of six wines from great old vintages (1951, 1964, 1970, 1973 and 1978) donated by Rioja wineries for an auction where they were sold for 50,000 pounds, which will be earmarked for the Foundation’s charitable purposes. One of the current owners of the Arsenal FC, the businessman Farhad Moshiri, was awarded the valued lot.
The Prestigio Rioja Prize is an initiative of the Control Board of the D.O.Ca. Rioja, a pioneer in identifying wine with culture. Its purpose is to reward individuals or institutions whose activities in sporting, scientific, or business fields who have contributed to disseminate and enhance the culture and ways of life of peoples, such as ours, for whom vines and wine are part of their idiosyncrasy, culture and history.
The 18th Prestigio Rioja Prize will be given to Eva Longoria in Spain next year at an event attended by panel members, previous award winners, authorities of the three autonomous communities where the D.O.Ca. Rioja is present and a broad representation of the wine sector, institutions and media. Previous prizes have gone to other artists, including Antonio Banderas, Alejandro Sanz and Sara Baras, and noted personalities including Ferrán Adrià, Ana Patricia Botín, Theresa Zabell, Carlos Sáinz, Pedro Duque, Cristobal Halffter, Isidoro Álvarez, Valentín Fuster, Plácido Domingo, Eduardo Chillida, Mario Vargas Llosa, Francisco J. Ayala and Federico Mayor Zaragoza.
