Visit Madrid and the prime spot to stay right now is the Four Seasons, where Agustin Trapero is in charge of everything you might wish to drink when you are there.
Serving wine at one of the top spots in Madrid has to be a great job. Agustin Trapero is the man with that responsibility, and he relishes it. He loves his customers, and he knows what they want.
“I can see a transition in consumers going to more elegant and less extracted wines,” he says, “I can see that people are starting to give up a bit on oakier and more concentrated wines.” He continues, “Sparkling wines, especially Cava, are booming right now.”
Born in Spain, Trapero spent most of his working life in London – moving from The Great Foster Hotel, Surrey and The Randolph Hotel, Oxford where he rose through the ranks to position of Head Sommelier. In 2009 he moved to the Andaz Hotel in the heart of The City of London.
He explains that he became a sommelier “a bit by chance”.
“When I moved to the UK, I couldn’t speak any English at all, so I started to look for a job in Spanish restaurants…. That was my first contact with the hospitality industry. Along the way, I worked with different people in different places, and I always found the sommelier role the most fascinating.”
This is evident when you look at the awards that he has won; Tatler Best Wine List Award and Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator Magazine. His passion for knowledge and good service is reflected by the fact that he is now studying for the Court of Master Sommeliers exam to become one of the few Master Sommeliers in the world.
Trapero finished his stint in the UK at Launceston Place and The Fat Duck before moving back to Spain to work at the famed El Can Roca.
Now firmly established at the Four Seasons Madrid he is at the centre of what is happening in Spanish wine.
“It’s so exciting to see new and less well-known wine regions in Spain making their way through, like Txakolis, Vinos de Madrid or even the red wine from Rias Baixas are really producing super and interesting wines.” Trapero explained, “However, personally I love Cebreros DOP, a wine region just born in 2017, in the heart of Sierra de Gredos. It’s really beginning to make a great impact on the wine world.”
And what are his drinking favourites? “I am very seasonal in my preferences for drinking wine,” he admits, “like having my rose wine from Côtes de Provence during the summer. Or a heavier Monastrell from Jumilla for winter time”
“As we are in spring now, I am having a very nice Spätburgunder from Rebholz producer in Pfalz (Germany), a Grosses Gewächs wine with a super silky texture, I just love it. And of course, Champagne all year round!”