María José Huertas: "I have never gotten drunk in life"

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His story is one of those that we love to hear. By improbable, a mix of chance and opportunity, with one of those unexpected twists that in colloquial we would attribute to an apparition of the Virgin and in cheesy to a 'deus ex machina' as the classical canons command. So come, come and see how he became

in

of

(NH Hotel Group), restaurant

in Madrid: "For by accident. I had actually studied Agricultural Engineering ».

Out of the university oven, and while sending resumes left and right, María José did what she could to earn a living until she got a real job. «I entered the Casino with a friend, as a hostess at the reception. And being there, one day I told the old director [Alfonso Lara] that I had studied Agriculture, that I loved wine, and that I had studied a lot about it ... Still today he reminds me that at that time he was looking for a sommelier to the restaurant, asking experts for advice, and I went and said: "Well, that sommelier you are looking for is going to be me."

That's how it all started. He took the Chamber of Commerce course “because he didn't know anything about hospitality, neither what a table was nor what a plate was. And that's it, from there study, taste, study, taste ... », and win, win and win prizes (including the national gastronomy) in a non-stop of recognitions that makes it very clear that wine and María José Huertas were destined for each other.

While we were in a pandemic, especially during confinement, many people established the habit of drinking wine at home every day ... Myself! Hahaha. At home, for example, I am used to drinking a lot when we get together with friends from the world of wine. Although I have not gotten drunk in my life (in tastings it spits). But when I saw myself at home, no one took my glass of wine for lunch and a glass or a glass and a half for dinner. It was a pleasure. I wonder if that dark time has served the Spanish public to illuminate their knowledge about wine ... Or at least, to drink more for pleasure, in a healthy way, in the style of the United States. In Spain, if you are at six in the afternoon at home drinking ... bad. You have to drink in company, you have to have food ...In the United States, they come home after work hours, put on their slippers and put on a glass of wine in plan: I've earned it. It is a more hedonistic way of drinking. It is that in Spain it has always been very frowned upon to drink alone, at odd hours, without food ... and more so if you are a woman. Well, that's even worse. In fact, I think the worst insult that You can still do to a woman in Spain is to call her drunk. Worse than calling her a slut, for example, totally. And that stigma still lives on. You notice it when - for example it happened to me on the way to a tasting in La Mancha - you stop in a town, you go into a bar to have a coffee and there are 15 men inside who turn to look at you. There are those who are surprised by anything. As a rule,Do people who come to the restaurant want to be surprised or do they tend to be conservative when choosing wine? 80% of our audience is foreigner and the foreign audience is always more devoted to everything, to taste, to Spanish wine, to the menu with pairing. .. As for the national, it is usually more classic, but every time you want to discover new things, wines that you have never tried. What weighs more when recommending a wine? The menu? The appearance of the people? Is it instinct? When you are not talking about money you have to look for a clue. And I don't know why, when it comes to wine, money is never talked about, except among a part of the American public, practical people who tell you: "I want a red wine with body and around 90 euros." And then I say that's it, I've got it, and I also know that I'm not going to fail. But normaly,especially if it is a Spanish client, they will never talk to you about money, so you have to go looking for a clue. For example, you ask, "What style of wine does he like?" When they say "soft" it is cheap, when they say "simple" it is cheap, when they say "light" it is cheap. It does not mean that light wines are cheap, because in the end Burgundy wines are the lightest and most elegant and one of the most expensive in the world ... But they are clues. That is enough for a Spanish-sommelier, sommelier-Spanish dictionary. ..Ha, ha, yes! It is also very easy for them to tell you: "I usually like such wine." At that moment you know where the thing is going. But the essential thing is to look for a money clue. And if not, err on the side of caution, which is what I have been all my life,shoot low and make sure no one has left here angry because of what the wine has cost them. And that is the little about which I have total certainty. And when do you know that you can offer the most expensive wine in the winery? The other day a table of South Americans came and 3,000 euros were left in three bottles. The first thing they asked for was something they knew, and this is already an important piece of information. The next one, which I recommend, is the same price style, but Spanish. And the next they asked for it because it caught their attentionand this is already an important piece of information. The next one, which I recommend, is the same price style, but Spanish. And the next they asked for it because it caught their attentionand this is already an important piece of information. The next one, which I recommend, is the same price style, but Spanish. And the next they asked for it because it caught their attention

and they drank a bottle, which was worth twice as much as the others. But from the first wine I already knew what there was. These people know what they drink, they know what they want and also they don't mind spending 800 euros on a bottle. Is your job fun? Yes! There are times when it is tiring, because in the end you are always standing ... Besides, we spend a million hours outside the company, in tastings, conferences, I have been studying for an exam all year ... In the end: o do you dedicate or do not dedicate yourself. Coming here to put four wines and go home, that's impossible. Well, that's the difference between a job and a profession. Totally. There are times when I would love to have a job, but when it comes to wine, it's impossible. What's in fashion? Lighter reds, because we already have them in Spain. With more acidity, lighter in body ...The wines of the Sierra de Madrid, Gredos ... Also the Galician reds are very fashionable. And then we could talk about the Canarian whites, the barrel-fermented La Rioja whites, all the Galician whites ... In general, I would say that it is fashionable for wines to be more elegant and more moderately woody. In fact, I am tasting the freshest and most elegant wines from the Mediterranean area that I have ever tasted. And what about the rosés? I love them. I am absolutely thrilled. Because they have improved a lot. Now they are very serious and delicate wines. More litter, strawberries, there are quite a few barrels ... They are very fashionable and super gastronomic. Is there a lot of smart-ass wines? Well less and less! The truth is that 99% of the clients who come are super grateful, kind, polite ...Said in a colder way: in what percentage do you think those people who go and say: "This wine is bad" are wrong? Let's see: if the wine is bad, it's my fault. And my face has to fall with shame. Now: if the customer does not like that wine for whatever reason -and it has happened to me-, what I am not going to do is give him a second bottle of the same wine. No sir, this wine is like that and I am not going to open another bottle (because you are going to pay for both). I'm going to make sure that you drink at ease, but we're not going to waste wine. Aurelio Morales (Cebo's chef) once told me that to eat in a gastronomic restaurant, better champagne, beer or water. I turn the idea around and pass it on to you, at the risk of being excommunicated: wine, to really enjoy it, better alone or eating? Now I speak as I do, not as a sommelier. As a sommelier, of course,harmonizing a wine and a dish is fabulous. My personal experience: when I have wanted to enjoy a glass of wine, I have seen the best movie. Or I have taken the best book. You concentrate and enjoy it very much. In fact, at home, on a daily basis I can eat with a basic wine, but that glass of wine with a movie, a book or chatting with a friend ... is priceless. Regarding pairings, let everyone drink what they like the most. And finally, what is the greatest baseless prejudice that people continue to have regarding wine? That the best white is a bad red. Every time I hear it - almost always from people of a certain age - I get rashes. And then, in Spain, and out of habit, that sparkling wine that comes out of the fridge is in the ice bucket and it doesn't matter, it seems to everyone that it's hot ...In my house I drink sparkling wines almost at the temperature of reds, because if not much aroma is lost ... And white wine, the same.

Well, nothing, let's go wine.

Here you will find the

to go out for flats, or glasses of wine, in Madrid.

The best places to drink wine in Madrid.

Sommelier word

Berria, one of María José Huertas' favorite places to drink wine in Madrid.

Find the rest here.

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