Agustín Trapero toured Rioja Alta with Cornelio Dinastía.

The renowned sommelier Agustín Trapero, ‘Best Sommelier of Spain 2023’ by Gourmet magazine, and president of Top 100 Sommeliers Spain, travelled to Rioja Alta to get to know its wine wealth, accompanied by the team of Bodegas Cornelio Dinastía.

On his tour he was able to see the old vines of the most representative native varieties of Rioja, Tempranillo and Garnacha for red and rosé and Viura located in the Golden Mile, between San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Ábalos, Briones and San Asensio, cultivated respecting the ecosystem as much as possible to get the best fruit and following as far as possible the principles of Organic Agriculture that provide differential parameters to Traditional Agriculture. These vineyards are the most important of the 30 plots that make up the Cornelio Dinastía vineyard, planted in gobelet and with an approximate surface area of 35 hectares.

In the same way Agustín visited the facilities of Bodegas Cornelio Dinastía where he could know by David García Mazariegos, commercial director of the winery, the process of elaboration of their different wines, and taste them, although he already knew the winery and had their wines in their menus he could taste Vega Vella Garnacha Blanca in concrete egg, Vega Vella Autor (Tempranillo) and Cornelio Emperador Reserva 2019 (Tempranillo), defending the sommelier the high quality and personality of all of them.

Agustín was born in wine-growing territory, in El Tiemblo, his first connection with wine came from his grandfather. At a very young age he decided to leave the peace of the province of Ávila to travel to the United Kingdom in 2001, where he decided to start writing his future by embarking on a career in the world of wine. In that breeding ground, with the best wine lists in the world, he worked in restaurants in London and hotels in Oxford, until he arrived at the five-star Macdonald Randolph Hotel, to which he dedicated six years of his career. His knowledge soon began to bear fruit, winning The Academy Food & Wine’s ‘California Wines’ competition in the UK, as well as first place in The Academy Food & Wine’s ‘New Zealand Winemakers Competition’ in the UK. His curiosity and desire to learn led him to spend time in vineyards with winemakers in Burgundy (Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret), Ribera del Duero (Bodegas Laveguilla) and Chianti Classico (Fattoria Le Corti Principe Corsini). This was followed by an exciting stint in 2011 at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck**, and at Launceston Place restaurant as Head Sommelier. In 2012 he completed an internship at the world-famous three Michelin-starred restaurant El Celler de Can Roca (Girona).

Also in that year he obtained the WSET Diploma and The Court of Master Sommelier Advanced. He is currently preparing to become a Master Sommelier. He has received many awards, including the Tatler Best Wine List Award for his wine list and The Best Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine. His return to Spain led him to head the wine programme at the Four Seasons Hotel Madrid*GL for years. He is currently involved in different projects as a beverage consultant and wine specialist for top restaurants and luxury hotels as well as wineries, as well as travelling abroad to attend international wine conferences and juries. In 2023, Agustín was awarded ‘Best Spanish Sommelier of the Year’ by Gourmet Magazine.

109 media outlets reflected the visit in their publications.