Josep Roca is the self-professed ‘wine waiter’ of three-star Spanish restaurant El Celler de Can Roca that he shares with chef siblings Joan and Jordi. He was named World’s Finest Sommelier in July this yr within the inaugural prize launched by World’s 50 Finest Eating places. He’s the creator of Tras las viñas. Un viaje al alma de los vinos (Behind the Vineyards. A Voyage to the Soul of Wines) printed in 2016.
‘I used to be virtually born into the world of wine as a result of, from a really younger age, I used to be the one in control of filling bottles with wine from the barrels for use on the menu of the day at my mother and father’ restaurant Can Roca. I’ve at all times been fascinated by the world of wine, the aromas coming from the barrels within the cellar of our mom’s kitchen. I’d go down that wood staircase and it was a mysterious area, whose scents would lure me in…’
‘My earliest wine reminiscence is one which I loved aged 10, after I’d go fishing with my older brother Joan and our uncle to Cala Rostella, a bay near Cala Montjoi – the identify may ring a bell, as a result of El Bulli restaurant was once primarily based there. It was a white made by our uncle’s household, from the world of Calonge in Baix Empordà, in Girona.’
‘One thrilling area for me proper now could be our very personal Empordà, due to the generational change in viticulturists, the way in which the territory is being brilliantly interpreted, and the way they’re capitalising on the three Cariñena and three Garnacha varieties in white, gray and pink. However part of my coronary heart can also be set in Jerez, Priorat, Jura and Auvergne.’
‘Probably the most particular bottles I’ve loved is a Domaine Pierre Overnoy Vin Jaune from Arbois-Pupillin, Jura, with Pierre Overnoy’s household at house, with mates. It isn’t simply the wine, it’s the prelude, the trail of studying, the particular person, what that particular person represents and what it means for me to be near a legend who I esteem and admire. Sharing it with folks with whom you treasure means filling your soul with interior happiness due to the soul of a novel wine.’
‘At house, I at all times have Jerez, Champagne, Riesling and wines from Empordà chilling within the fridge.’
‘At El Celler de Can Roca I take pleasure in recommending wines from our territory to company and, primarily based on the data they share with us, we will refine, specify and analyse in larger element the most effective options for that particular second.’
‘With the intention to guarantee excellent hospitality at El Celler, there are three guidelines I adhere to: hospitality begins earlier than the client asks for it; contact with an individual is a chance to enhance your life; and unimaginable implies that you haven’t but discovered the answer.’
‘I’m grateful to be named the World’s Finest Sommelier 2022 by the World’s 50 Finest Eating places. Behind this prize and within the restaurant, there are hours of effort, ardour and complicity with winemakers whom I love. I attempt to information folks in the very best method in order that they take pleasure in wine and all of the folks behind it.’
‘My recommendation to the subsequent generations is to make their ardour their occupation. In wine there’s a area of fullness for all times, embracing the tree of life, the tree of science, and having fun with the worth of time, senses and emotions, with just some drops of wine.’
