by Carolina Londoño
Goodbye to salt and lemon. In Tierra de Vinos, sherry, sparkling wine and red, rosé and white wines are the products that take over the palate of diners who attend one of the newest restaurants in Mexico City.
Thanks to its excellent work, Tierra de Vinos won in 2006 and 2007 the Award for Excellence granted by Wine Spectator, a publication specialized in the world of wine. This award was given to this Mexican restaurant for having one of the most outstanding wine collections in the world.
Located in the largest capital of the planet, this restaurant is today a leading company in the food and beverage sector of the Aztec country, where visitors can choose from 10,000 types of wines from the main wine regions of the world such as Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Spain, United States, France, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa and Uruguay.
As an additional service, the diner has the opportunity to choose the wine of his preference supported by the advice of a group of expert sommeliers who will recommend the right type of drink for each dish. In addition, the restaurant has its own program of courses and tastings, with different levels according to the needs of each client. These workshops range from basic wine tasting courses to specialized courses in winemaking.
"With a lot of effort, training, training and favorable prices is that the team that works in our restaurant has managed to position the culture of wine in a country like Mexico, a country rooted in the consumption of native drinks such as Tequila," says Sandra Fernández, director of the Wine Library of Tierra de Vinos.
History
Raised in a family of ancient winemaking tradition, since seventeenth-century Spain, the founders of Tierra de Vinos were linked to the world of wine as producers, winemakers and bottlers. The love of this drink and the curiosity to learn more about its richness and variety, drove the opening of Tierra de Vinos in 2002, a place where everything revolves around the knowledge, tasting and learning of this ancient drink.
The founders of Tierra de Vinos say that their table never missed a glass of this drink. As children, family gatherings revolved around wine and, therefore, as adults they wanted to relive these pleasant meetings in their own restaurant, accompanied by Mexican and international diners who also share their taste and love for wine.
"It is a place without formalities or poses, where you can be at ease and at the same time receive professional attention," say the founders on their website www.tierradevinos.com. And now, with only 5 years in the market, Tierra de Vinos uncorks more quality wines than any other restaurant in the Mexican country, has the best price ratio, quality of and selection of the entire nation (10,000 bottles on display in each branch, 440 labels from the main wine regions of the world), its distributor manages the cellars of more than a hundred Mexican companies and restaurants and its tasting school and courses related to wine and its culture has taught more than 500 courses and has served more than 15,000 people from all latitudes.
In addition, in this five-year period reviews have been published that exalt its quality and excellent service in national and international media such as Condé Nast Traveler, Elle, Catadores, Quién, Bon Vivant, Playboy, Líderes de México, Quattro, among others.
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The place
This restaurant has two locations in Mexico City, located in the Durango and Santa Fe areas. The headquarters in Durango has 450 square meters of extension, and that of Santa Fe, 750. It has 100 employees characterized by their extensive knowledge of wine and its culture, and has services such as bar, executive rooms, courses, pairings and custom letters, home and online deliveries. In addition, Tierra de Vinos has had the presence of expert winemakers who share with diners their extensive knowledge on this subject.
According to Sandra Fernández, director of the wine bar of this restaurant: "The cuisine of Tierra de Vinos is a simple cuisine, which seeks the pure flavor of each ingredient, avoiding deceptive combinations." Thanks to this premise is that the restaurant now has a national and international prestige, and its dishes prepared based on the wine essence are the perfect accompaniments to the glass of wine.
The dishes most desired by customers who visit Tierra de Vinos, according to Fernández, are: baked beef breast with candied potatoes, sea bream (very desired fish in Spain), salted cow rib, salted fish, chick with truffle salt, jabugo (Spanish ham) cut by hand, table of imported cheeses and cream of Manchego cheese.
And it is that the variety of dishes that this restaurant has is one of its most obvious strengths. In addition to those mentioned by Fernández, the diner can choose between several options in hot and cold entrees, and main dishes with a wide gastronomic variety. In the menu of this prestigious restaurant are included from tomato salad in different versions with pairing of floral dry or fruity white wines with high acidity, Chenin Blanc type, to main dishes such as Catalan Sausage with Garlic and Parsley Beans and Red wines with medium tannin especially Tempranillo, Salmon stuffed with Parmesan Cheese with Balsamic Reduction with Red Wines of Pinot Noi strain and Civet of Boar with Cambray Chives with powerful red wines with good alcohol content.
And to drink, Tierra de Vinos has a menu that includes the most select of this drink worldwide. Among the multiple options offered by this Mexican restaurant, Fernández recommends "the more than 350 wines brought from different places around the world, especially our novelties that include signature wines such as Michel Rolland, Paul Hobs, Peter Sissek, Roberto de la Mota, Hugo d'Acosta, Jose Luis Durand and our selection that includes wines such as 3V, Doña Paula, Lat 42 de concepto and Uno de Concepto".
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For customers who want to bring the best of wine to their home, Tierra de Vinos offers the possibility of buying everything from the latest in wine to glasses, decanters, thermometers and corkscrews.
Every month, Tierra de Vinos offers its customers the latest products related to wine. As novelties, this restaurant offers Wine Nose in 24 essences, of 54 aromas, and French of 6 aromas. In addition, it offers books in several languages on the subject, such as dictionaries, guides and magazines. Purchases can be made through their pages www.tierradevinos.com or in their stores in Mexico.
Challenges
The owners of this restaurant know that it is not easy to manage a market that from the beginning seems not to be popular in their country. In fact, as Fernández says, "we have suffered very important setbacks in these years, such as the increase in competition, much of it unfair, the lack of supply, recent fluctuations in the euro and the dollar, and the high taxes and barriers when it comes to obtaining marbetes (maquilas for wine bottles).
Another difficulty is the high prices that generally must be paid when consuming a bottle of wine "is something that we have to know how to overcome," says Fernández. However, since its foundation, Tierra de Vinos has taken into account two fundamental pillars when carrying out its management as a restaurant: The quality of the kitchen service and its wide range of wines. "Pairing is the common denominator of these two aspects," says Fernández.
The director of the enoteca also clarifies that the difficulties that arise thanks to cultural clashes are changing, thanks to the willingness to accept and enjoy customs coming from other lands that Mexicans gradually acquire: "Despite being a traditional country, Mexico now has a great openness, a great sensitivity and a great acceptance for different gastronomic cultures. I believe that the strategy of success of our restaurant is and will always be to maintain a novel proposal that distinguishes and differentiates from our competition".
Today, Tierra de Vinos is a restaurant that proudly presents an outstanding reputation nationally and internationally. According to Fernández, the key to its success derives from several competences that each of the members of its work team has today: "Tierra de Vinos has triumphed because as a team we all have a very strong passion for what we do, a very clear vision of how to achieve our objectives, eager to continue working and fighting for a topic like wine that fortunately ceased to be a fashion and is now beginning to be a custom among Mexicans."
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