The best Catalan sommeliers have, for years, had a woman’s name. The Galician Marta Cortizas Fernández, from the El Celler de Can Roca restaurant in Girona, was proclaimed last night in Lleida as the best sommelier in Catalonia in 2024. Anna Casabona, commercial delegate of Juvé
Speaking to La Vanguardia’s Comer channel, the excited new best Catalan sommelier stated that “every effort has its reward.” She recognizes that this is “a very difficult contest, which requires a lot of study and concentration.” But beyond personal success, she affirms that the most important thing is that the entire team that has participated in this contest is “wonderful.” She adds that “all of us who compete are a family, and winning is superfluous.” Marta Cortizas, born 32 years ago in A Coruña, but adopted by Pontevedra, has also stated that she receives this recognition with the desire to “value myself and believe in myself more.”
This year’s edition of the competition organized by the Catalan Association of Sommeliers (ACS) has been very competitive and of a high level. Some participants claim that the initial exam they had to face was very difficult. Up to 12 candidates have participated.
During the morning session, all candidates had to face a theoretical exam of 60 questions, comment in writing on a blind tasting of two wines (an Italian white made with the Müller-Thurgau variety from Alto Adice and an Argentine red Malbec) . One of these two wines was required to be described in a foreign language. There was also other evidence of a commercial nature. They were asked, for example, what QbA (short for the German wine category Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete) means or what breeds of duck are used to obtain foie (mainly Barbary and Mulard).
Only three participants went on to the grand finale in the afternoon at the Auditorium of the University of Cervera, where the tests were of a practical nature and their resolution or defense was done orally before a professional jury. A service test, the decanting of a bottle of wine, the commented blind tasting of two wines (a sauvignon blanc and a New Zealand pinot) and identification of three products, the correction of an erroneous wine list or the making of Ordering and pairing a figurative service were some of the challenges that the finalists had to overcome. The organization has stated that “all this, in a final full of emotion and pressure, before the jury and the public.”
The professional jury was made up of Anna Vicens, president of the ACS; Josep Pelegrín, teacher, best sommelier in Catalonia 2014 and 2015 and best sommelier in Spain 2016; Sandra Barrachina, sommelier and owner of the Cabana d’en Geli restaurant; Ferran Vila, best sommelier in Catalonia 2018 and best sommelier in Spain 2022; Ester Rocaginé, sommelier at the Cal Agneta de Cervera experience company; Carles Aymerich, best sommelier in Spain 2009 and semi-finalist for best sommelier in the world in 2010; and Juan José Ceresuela, sommelier at the Nobadis restaurant in Cervera.
In the evening, the Els Comdals restaurant welcomed the Night of the Sommelier with a sample and tasting of wines with up to 22 wineries from the DO Costers del Segre and a dinner paired with local products prepared by Jesús Gimena (L’Espurna de Lleida), Sergi Ortiz (Antic Forn de Cervera), Francesc Molins (Cal Xirricló de Balaguer), Ignasi Bustamante and Adrián Zahino (El Celler Montsonís), Àngel Segura (Els Comdals de Cervera), Albert Marimón (La Cava de Tàrrega), Sergi Aritzeta ( El Truc de Agramunt), Gonzalo Ferreruela (Ferreruela, Lleida) and Juanjo Ceresuela (Nobadis de Cervera).
During the evening, and before announcing who was the best sommelier in Catalonia in 2024, the ACS presented the awards that are awarded each year by vote of the entity’s members. The lifetime achievement award went to winemaker Tomàs Cusiné, which awards the best communicator to Amaya Cervera; The best initiative in the world of wine went to the Fundació El Llindar, with the best wine tourism offer the Mas Llunes winery from the DO Empordà was awarded and the Divinum restaurant from Girona was awarded the best room. At the same time, Mag Lari was named honorary member of the ACS.
