“Sommellerie today seeks honest, unpretentious wines that truly show the essence of their origin”

Xavi Nolla, sommelier and founder of enoAula

Editorial note: an interview recovered from Winerim's archive, originally published on 18 June 2024. Roles, qualifications, career references, figures, prices, relative dates, recommendations and forecasts belong to that publication, not to a check of the current situation. Assessments of services and statements about Winerim, including claims of success or profitability, are the interviewee's testimony at the time, not a guarantee of features or results.

Today we welcome Xavi Nolla, a distinguished sommelier and wine enthusiast whose career is a testament to dedication and excellence. With a solid educational background that includes a diploma from the Escuela Española de Sommeliers and studies in viticulture and oenology, Xavi has achieved distinctions in London's prestigious WSET programme and is an accredited educator for Vino de Jerez and Cava.

Throughout his prolific career, Xavi has worked at renowned wineries in Priorat and Penedés, and has been an ambassador for prestigious brands such as Grupo Codorniu and Champagne Laurenti. His experience is not limited to wine production and tasting: he has also made a significant mark in education as the founder of enoAula, an innovative platform offering courses and seminars for both enthusiasts and industry professionals.

Xavi is also the creator of the “Vins de la Memòria” project, which seeks to recover and preserve historical memory through wine. This project uses organic growing and production methods to capture the essence of landscapes and stories linked to the Spanish Civil War, reflecting his deep commitment to remembrance and sustainability.

His passion and knowledge have led him to advise high-end restaurants, working closely with chefs and service teams to create unique and memorable dining experiences. Xavi has also worked as a sommelier in Michelin-starred restaurants, bringing his experience and vision to enhance their wine offering and pair each dish perfectly.

With his extensive experience and deep knowledge, Xavi Nolla has established himself as an influential figure in the wine world. His dedication is reflected not only in wine tasting and selection, but also in his commitment to education, history and excellence in service. It is a real pleasure to welcome him for this interview, in which he will share his vision and passion for wine.

Today, in sommelier corner, Xavi Nolla, sommelier and founder of enoAula.

1. When did your interest in the world of wine begin?

Well, it all began organically, towards the end of the 90s, when I moved to Penedès. There, one of the great wine capitals of Catalunya, you start making friends and realise that the vast majority work at a local winery or are winegrowers. So conversations about the world of wine, accompanied by lovely bottles, gradually sank in and sparked my interest as a “winelover” (although that word did not exist back then). Little by little, that interest became curiosity, and that curiosity became passion, until I started studying in the early 2000s, though never thinking it would end up becoming my profession.

So now, with almost 20 years of experience, I am developing two personal wine projects. The first is the school, the enoAula training centre, which I started in 2017 but which evolved from another project begun in 2008. That means more than 15 years devoted to wine education for amateurs, but above all for hospitality staff, who make up more than 95% of our students.

My other project, Vins de la Memòria, where I make single-plot wines in different regions of Catalunya, represents my more romantic and “crazy” vision, as these are small productions that in many cases do not even reach 900 bottles per wine. Very distinctive wines that I think leave no one indifferent.

There is a third branch, professional advice, where I offer my services as an adviser and consultant to restaurants or restaurant groups, creating wine lists adapted to their needs, philosophies and concepts, implementing them in the dining room, providing wine-list training and sales techniques for teams, and so on. This work certainly allows me to stay very up to date on wines, new releases, trends and, of course, distribution. I think it is an essential service for any restaurant that wants to delegate these duties professionally and ensure that everything runs like clockwork and, of course, that it sells more and better.

2. What qualities should a good sommelier have?

I think a good sommelier should have two great qualities. One, without a doubt, is the ability to memorise (wines, varieties, regions, vintages, wine profiles, etc.) and, of course, to know how to apply that ability at work. But without a doubt, the quality they should master most is empathy and communication: knowing how to convey your knowledge while always gauging who you are speaking to, knowing how to capture attention and interest and, above all, being able to create memorable moments. There is no point knowing Burgundy's Grand Crus by heart if you cannot communicate with and reach the people in front of you.

Let us never forget that a sommelier is a “wine seller”, and to sell you have to stir emotions.

3. What is the most unusual place where you have organised or attended a wine tasting?

Well, as you can imagine, after more than 15 years leading tastings, I have had the opportunity to hold them in numerous spaces, which have not always been the most suitable for tasting wine, hahaha. The same goes for attending them…

But I will always remember two very special tastings. One I held on a sailing boat out at sea was truly memorable, although not at all comfortable. Talking about Mediterranean wines surrounded by the sea breeze, seeing the land and vineyards in the distance, was undoubtedly a spectacular experience both for those attending and for me. The other was inside a large earthenware vessel. Yes, you read that right: an amphora about 5 metres in diameter hidden in a cave in Mallorca. I suggested a tasting by candlelight with Gregorian chants in the background… imagine…

4. What are the current trends in sommellerie?

If we mean the human side of sommellerie, I think the trend is increasingly towards a much warmer, more human approach, without so much elitism or absurd displays of knowledge in front of the customer. A humble but professional, empathetic and friendly face is what really brings you closer to consumers and creates the trust needed to enjoy the recommendations or gastronomic games proposed. As for the wine side, and following that same line, sommellerie today seeks honest, unpretentious wines, wines that truly show the essence of their origin, their varieties or the people behind them.

I know I am not discovering anything new, but it is very important to reinforce this trend so that new generations of sommeliers do not fall back into the old mistakes of arrogance and “wine-centrism”. Even today we see newly qualified students entering the market with an inflated sense of their importance because they are sommeliers, forgetting that the first thing they should be is humble, as their professional journey has only just begun.

5. Tell us about your favourite wines: a white, a red, a rosé and a sparkling wine

I am not really one for making recommendations, because my tastes are not always the same as those of the person I am interacting with. So I always ask about three or four things that help me understand their preferences and level of “openness”, so I can recommend more successfully. But I understand that this invitation is open to what I like or would like people to discover, so here goes:

  • A white? Without a doubt, and it is not because it is one of the wines I make, haha, but I cannot pass up the chance to recommend the old-vine Garnacha Blanca, laMemòria from Vins de la Memòria. An extraordinary wine of which I make only 790 bottles, from grapes grown at more than 500 metres above sea level in one of the most special places in Terra Alta, in the far south of Catalunya. A wine I vinify in a large chestnut-wood cask and refine for 8 months. Broad, deep, fresh and emotional… I will say no more.
  • A rosé that has always stolen my heart is El Pla dels Àngels from Cellers ScalaDei in Priorat, an extraordinary Garnacha Tinta showing sublime elegance, accompanied by fleshy fruitiness, a fresh palate and plenty of interplay of textures.
  • For the sparkling wine, I will not deny my weakness for the Corpinnat sparkling wines from Llopart, and Ex·Vite is undoubtedly one of the jewels hidden in their cellars. Old-vine Xarel·lo and Macabeo that sleep for more than 96 months, yes, 8 years, stacked in the cellar before reaching the market as an exceptional brut that leaves no one indifferent.

Editorial note: although the question asks for four categories, the original answer includes only a white, a rosé and a sparkling wine. It contains no red wine recommendation.

“What is a good wine? Not every wine appeals to everyone, not even the ones I like most”

6. What should someone with little experience of wine look for when choosing one to accompany their meal? In other words, what basic rules should a diner know to choose a good wine?

A complicated question, I think. Basically because, if someone has little experience of wine, we can make the mistake of recommending wines that may be beyond their understanding and therefore their enjoyment. So I always like to say that the basic rule for buying and choosing a wine is to go to a specialist shop and never to the supermarket, and there, with a budget of more than €12, let the person in charge of the wine shop or the sommelier advise you. Nothing more.

7. Debunk a myth about wine and pairing it with food

Since the idea that white wine is only for fish and red wine only for meat has already been discussed at length, I am going to challenge the very concept of pairing.

Let me say up front that I am a firm defender of pairings or harmonies (let us not upset anyone), but we should bear in mind that purely technical and sensory pairing is only within reach of people who can distinguish the positive or negative changes caused by a wine interacting with a dish or product. In other words, although pairing exists, it is a highly subjective and emotional concept. So if there is no one to explain and make the case for it, the level of enjoyment or understanding can be zero. The word pairing has been badly mistreated in recent years, and in many cases a wine tasting serving four cold cuts or small dishes without coherence or harmony has been called a pairing. That wears down the concept and its appeal, which, after all, is the last creative resource left to a sommelier in the dining room.

8. What requirements must a wine meet to be a good wine?

The first thing is to ask: what is a good wine? Not every wine appeals to everyone, nor will the ones I like most be the ones you might like most, and both can be great wines. This is where we must set aside our preferences and judge a wine for what it is, beyond its style, brand and, of course, price. So I think a good wine is one that is honest about its origin and variety, that shows no considerable imbalances or faults (perfection is boring), and that, of course, has not needed to be “made up” by the winemaker to achieve a good product. Everything starts with the raw material, but also with the winery's interpretation or desire to intervene. Less is more.

9. Steps we should follow to taste wine at an amateur level

Here I am going to answer in an entirely pragmatic way. As an educator and director of the enoAula wine school, I will always say that the first step an amateur should take to taste a wine is to undertake some form of training that allows them to understand the general context of wine. There is no point having the steps explained if you cannot interpret them, no point looking for aromas in a wine if you cannot relate them to an origin, a climate, a way of making or understanding wine. I insist: training is essential. No matter how many wineries and tastings you have attended, you need to organise concepts and give them coherence.

10. The wine that has surprised you most recently

I am easily surprised, for better or worse, but when you taste thousands of wines a year, the one that surprises you always does so because it really stands out from the generic and from global standards. The surprise factor goes beyond quality, and in most cases I link it to a variety, region or way of interpreting winemaking. That said, one of the wines that has surprised me most recently is a classic: Pazo de Señorans Selección de añada 2013. A jewel we were lucky enough to taste with the Paadín team from the Guía de Vinos de Galicia at a tasting about ancestral Galician varieties and their potential. And the truth is that I was absolutely amazed by the enormous potential of a wine already more than 10 years old that retained absolute freshness and dynamism, combined with incredible elegance and complexity that it had gained over time. An explosion of ripe citrus fruit, balanced, subtle and deep, combined with the tertiary notes characteristic of age, but all brought together in a “philharmonic” harmony. A unicorn wine, as it is no longer on the market, that makes you rethink drinking certain white wines young: patience and a cellaring philosophy can sometimes take us to heaven.

11. The best value-for-money wine you have tasted

Impossible to answer this question; better to skip it 😉

“Winerim offers not just the digitalisation of the wine list, but a record and comprehensive control of all your wines, and that is an enormous step forward”

12. A traditional paper wine list or a digital wine list?

Those of us from the “old school” have always trained and worked with paper wine lists, and we cannot deny that they have a romantic side. But it is also true that the evolution not only of technology, but of wine styles, customer profiles, gastronomy and the geographical range of wines makes keeping those lists up to date very complicated and laborious, especially if you work with a substantial number of wines. I think the opportunity Winerim offers, not just to digitalise the list but to keep a record and comprehensive control of all your wines, ordered and categorised, is an enormous step forward that allows you to work faster and make better use of time, which is extremely valuable in a sector such as hospitality.

Personally, given my work as a restaurant adviser, Winerim has prompted my definitive move towards a digital list. Thanks to its super-intuitive software, I had a very good command of it within a few days, and you go on discovering incredible customisation options and possibilities that will surely keep increasing over time.

13. How does Winerim help you in your work?

Winerim mainly helps me save time creating wine lists, but also to have a much clearer structure for what is being proposed, offer waiters an ally in selling wines and, of course, update wines, prices and so on quickly.

As I mentioned, when you delve into its software, you find categorisation, design and statistics tools that help you create truly distinctive lists, fully personalised for each client.

I now recommend Winerim to all my clients, encouraging them to take that digital step towards something current and profitable. I think this tool in the hands of a trained dining-room team is the infallible combination for the success of any restaurant that loves and appreciates wine.

14. Finally, a piece of advice for any wine lover

I hope this does not sound like an advertising pitch, but I unquestionably and wholeheartedly advise every wine lover, whether a beginner, already initiated or advanced, to get some training. Being educated is essential to understand the essence, concept and meaning of wine. It is no longer enough to say “I know what I like and what I do not”. We need to know why we like it, understand winemaking methods, types and styles, understand a label in its entirety and understand a winemaker or sommelier explaining a wine to us. Training is essential, and I am not talking about studying for higher-level qualifications. I am talking about starting at the beginning, organising concepts, understanding through logic and reasoning through what you have absorbed.

Let us not think that visiting lots of wineries or attending lots of tastings means we already know about wine. On the contrary, what we have is a bombardment of information, mostly commercial, that we do not know how to organise or make use of, not to mention the “armchair-expert know-it-all attitude”, hahaha. You know…

So I encourage every winelover to overcome that fear of knowledge and set out on the beautiful path of learning about wine: an endless journey whose ending you should not long for, but whose every step you should enjoy. This is precisely what we offer at our enoAula wine school: starting to walk in the easiest, most accessible and empathetic way. We look forward to seeing you!