-
Wine
(from the Latin
vinum
): alcoholic beverage made from the juice of grapes squeezed and naturally fermented.
-
Logy
(from the Greek,
logia
): study, treaty or science.
Before crossing the threshold, the composition of his name already gives some clues.
And the letter finishes explaining it.
Vinology
is a
Wine Bar
, but also something else.
Its doors are open to have a good time.
And also to
learn about a culture that almost everyone practices and few know
.
Behind it is the sommelier and professional taster
Pilar Oltra
, who has launched herself into creating this particular space after years walking down a path she entered when she was just a child, in her
native
Argentina .
In Conde de Aranda, 11, in a place with an air of another era -very old exposed brick walls, recovered beams and antique furniture-, this bar has just opened where, in addition to tasting -and discovering-
infinite varieties from all corners from Spain
, you can have some delicatessen, buy some wine or cultivate your mind in the
courses and tastings
that Oltra herself offers in the local winery.
«In the workshops six wines are tasted and we talk about their production, their historical and cultural context, their area... and also about the temperature at which the glass should be, how long it can be kept... Things that can be used in practical life", says the sommelier.
The wine is carried by this adopted Madrilenian in the blood (understand me).
“I learned to walk in a vineyard.
I always had a lot of connection with this world, "
she says.
She is the third generation of her family to be in this business.
Her grandfather, a Madrilenian who emigrated to Argentina, created her own winery in the 1950s;
her father followed her footsteps there;
and she, from Spain,
after training in some of the most prestigious schools in the world
, has decided to continue with her legacy but with her own vision.
As a young man he did not see the path clearly, he says, but a time of study in France ended up opening his eyes.
"Sometimes you have to see things from the outside...", he admits.
«
In the summer he went to harvest in Burgundy.
I worked in prestigious wineries there while I was studying and I learned a lot
», says the taster.
When she finished her Business studies, she went to Mexico, to export French and Spanish wines.
It was there that he began to take classes, which he finished more seriously in the capital, where he moved for a year and... he has been there for more than 20.
«Madrid has always fascinated me, since I came on vacation with my grandparents »
he says.
Here, he worked in Marketing and Communication for a group of wineries, but realized that this was not what he wanted.
«What I liked was telling the wine in a simple way, bringing it closer to the consumer»
, and «teaching to associate it with other moments».
10 years ago she created Vinology as a brand to distribute wines and offer courses and tastings.
More than 10,000 people have learned from her
and she has had such illustrious clients as Inditex, Iberia, El Corte Ingles, Orange, Telefónica or Iberdrola.
The pandemic paralyzed the events, but a centennial house in Pozuelo with
one of the oldest vines in Madrid
- more than 100 years old - fell into their hands.
There, to La Parra, he moved with his family and there, with the restrictions on the surface, he began, for the first time in his own place, to offer tastings.
"I cooked, I set the table, I designed the experiences," he says.
"I don't know how it went viral,"
he adds.
"People told me: Why don't you open at all hours?' But I couldn't, it was my house."
Thus, Vinology has become a Wine Bar that invites the consumer to travel through almost all the farmlands of our country to discover the wines of those winemakers who try to recover
native varieties
while respecting the nature and history of each wine.
Sommelier's favourites.
"I like to drink a wine and have it tell me about its origin, its land, that is capable of transporting me to the Canary Islands, Cádiz or Galicia".
The idea, he points out, is
that everyone leaves there having known "a new land, a wine or a winemaker"
.
"Spain has such great wealth that we are unaware of and it seems important to me to spread the culture of wine," he maintains.
And in Madrid?
“There are real gems
.
And, in addition, it is the only capital in the world that has wines.
And very good."
Expert word.
DNA
- He was born in Argentina but has been in Madrid for more than 20 years.
- He has known vineyards and unique wines in his travels around the world
- He has studied at the WSET, the most internationally renowned center
- He is on his way to obtaining the Master One, which only 300 people in the entire planet have
- From Vinology it intends to promote the cultural value of artisan wine and make it closer and more accessible
Conforms to The Trust Project criteria
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