"Cava is a versatile, modern, refreshing drink", sommelier at Queviures Serra

He comes from the automotive industry, where he was in charge of quality procedures and the inspection of parts and warranties, but in just a few years he made a career switch to immerse himself in the world of wine, people and landscapes. After training as a sommelier at CETT, for the last two years Columbian Alexis Chica has headed Queviures Serra, an establishment over a hundred years old in Barcelona's Eixample district, now a centre of pilgrimage for wine and bubbles. In fact, among the many matches it offers is Cava with Catania sweets, showing off Catalonia's rich food and wine repertoire and dialogues of affinity and geography. This new era made possible by David Rubert and Albert Cabanas involves much more than the determination to preserve a long-established grocer's shop, feeling a need to make it a place for relations, without frills, where what matters is still the relationship with customers: "How are you?" or "So where did you go on holiday?" Alexis Chica selects wines with them in mind, admitting that they pay special attention to Cava. "It's versatile, it's modern and very often it has a refreshing spirit," he says. Trying it in a historic place has a lot in common with the path followed by the drink over the years. A conversation with the head sommelier of Queviures Serra is a chance to explore this.

Tell us about your journey to the world of wine, Alexis.

I came to Catalonia because in Columbia I couldn't find the way to reinvent my career. I had an uncle who lived in Sant Carles de la Ràpita and he was about to leave his apartment. I went to live there. I started out serving oysters and glasses of Cava. Then I went to the Galician tavern Foxos in Viladecans, where the owner, Emilio Vázquez, gave me the chance to be a waiter and get a training. First at Hoffmann, where we tasted seven wines and seven dishes every Thursday with Lluís Barba. I thought if this was studying, I liked it very much.

So my link to wine began at Foxos. And how did it carry on?

I remember an event at Vila Viniteca, a Música del Vi, after spending the day in there and seeing so many people: smart people, glasses, regions and vineyards... By the end of the day I was looking for a course as a sommelier. After looking into different options, I enrolled at CETT, and that's where I met Ferran Centelles, who was a teacher. Everybody said he was very good, but he didn't impress me much at first. But it didn't take him long to win me over, and from then on I considered him the person I wanted to base my knowledge on. In fact, it was a friend of his who was looking for a sommelier to reopen Queviures Serra, and that's where I came in. I was sorry to leave Foxos, because they'd given me everything, but I followed by career and now we still get on very well.

What is Queviures Serra today?

It's an old grocer's shop that has cut out over 70% of its range of products but found one thing to excel in, which is wine. We have 380 different ones to try or buy. And we don't charge any extra for the service. We aim to be a place for good food, where people can meet up; wine is accompanied by Catalan products and gourmet classics. Our catalogue is 33% Catalan wine, 33% from Spain and 33% from other countries. But wines from here make up our shop window, as you can see from outside.

What's the biggest challenge?

Well, I can say that after two years we already have our customers and we like to think of them when we add wines. Thinking of a wine for a person. In any case, I've realised that people don't drink what I like, so we have a wide range of wines by the glass: 10 reds, 10 whites, a sparkling one and a rosé. We don't have more bubblies or rosés because we want to serve them in a perfect state and they oxidise very easily. I sometimes choose wines that I think will sell and then I see that others I didn't have so much faith in are the successful ones.

What presence does Cava have?

I must say, it stands out a lot. Sparkling wine is the glass we sell most. We serve about 250 glasses a month. Bear in mind that apart from the quality, it's also suitable for celiacs, because it doesn't have any gluten. And we explain this too, because we want customers to know and be able to drink safely.

Do foreign customers - and there are a lot of them here - like it, too?

Most of the glasses are for foreign customers. They ask for Cava straight away. In fact, we have an activity together with Airbnb Experiencies, which offers its users the chance to taste five essential wines at Queviures Serra - and one of them is Cava. They taste a white grenache (instead of a riesling), a xarel·lo (instead of a chardonnay), a trepat (instead of a pinot noir), a grenache/carignan (instead of a wine from Bordeaux) and a Cava (instead of a Champagne), which we accompany with chocolate Catanias. Then they drink out of a porró and they leave very happy.

How do you rate this drink, so deeply-rooted in Catalonia?

Cava is highly versatile and we focus on it a lot. And it sells very well at Queviures Serra; they often drink two bottles, because it's considered a modern, contemporary drink and has a refreshing spirit. We have Cava Guilera as an entry-level wine and it's a gift. They ask us if it really costs that. Because it's worth more than it costs. And the chance to drink it in a historic place like ours is also a plus.

What relationship do you have with customers at Queviures Serra?

We're not a restaurant with tablecloths, but there is frequent contact, on a day-to-day basis, and it's very close to the figure of the waiter, asking how the week is going, where they've been on holiday and so on. It's a very close relationship and often they're confident enough to say, "Give me whatever you want."

What does a sommelier need, to be good at his job?

I think it's very important to get trained, to serve properly, for customers to discover things. But it must be an act of humility; you have to listen to the person in front of you. You have to be cautious, give clear, up-to-date information every day and have a vocation for service. And never, never let it come to conflict or confrontation, but always find the way to offer, connect and understand.