"More than saving money, I think I will already earn it"

Communicator and sommelier Meritxell Falgueras (Barcelona, 1981) grew up among wines, bottles, and labels: “I remember my grandmother, my mother, my father, everyone working in the shop and me doing my homework behind the boxes”. Her first job was also at the family business, the Celler de Gelida, in Sants: “During the summers, with my brother, we had to wrap bottles so that the old labels, from before the war, would not get damaged”.

Today she is the fifth generation at the head of a shop with more than 5,000 references. But her activity goes far beyond the family business. Falgueras has turned her double vocation –letters and wine– into a career that combines communication, training, consulting for restaurants and hotels, tastings, and events. “While I was studying humanities, in the afternoon I was training to be a sommelier”. She also completed her training abroad, with stays in Italy, France, England, and the United States.

At only 25 years old she won the Golden Nose of Catalonia, in 2006, and in 2011 she was recognized as sommelier of the year. She has published six books and in 2021 she obtained the award for best wine education book at the Gourmand World Awards for #ConVinoConTodo. “My motto is to talk about wine almost without talking about wine”, she explains. That is why she also addresses culture, current affairs, and feminism.

Falgueras points out that it is difficult to distinguish who is making money in the wine sector. “The peasantry, in the end, is the most important thing”, she states, and recalls that farmers depend a lot on the vintage. “And restaurants double or triple the price of wine, but they also do it with fish”, she highlights.

In his case, he is also dedicated to creating gastronomic menus for restaurants: “It is something my father did, he made the menu for El Bulli, for example, and which I have now continued by advising hotels and restaurants”. It is the most profitable part of his profession, although it forces him to move constantly. He has just finished conducting training sessions in Canada and has planned stays in Mexico and the USA.

The consumer's perspective

The sommelier asserts that a expensive wine is usually synonymous with a good one, although that is not always the case: “My job is for the quality-price-pleasure relationship to be the best”. “In fact, a 100 [currency unit] wine is not ten times better than a 10 [currency unit] one”. The additional cost may reflect a more careful selection, a specific harvest, or a more artisanal production. But, when it comes to very high-priced wines, other factors come into play. “What does a 20 to 1,000 euro wine have? There are few bottles and people willing to pay for it, and a storytelling, a brand, or a story behind it”.

As a creator of wine lists, she knows that the consumer's gaze usually goes straight to the prices: “The best-selling wine is the second cheapest”. The first one can make the customer feel too stingy; the second one conveys the feeling of having chosen a good quality-price ratio.

When it comes to spending money in a restaurant, Falgueras also has clear priorities: “I prefer to invest in a wine rather than spend it on a lobster or on products that I know I can buy at my neighborhood store”. In her case, she calculates that the expense between food and wine can be situated at 50-50.

Regarding personal finances, she asserts that saving while separated and with two children is not easy: “More than saving, I think that I will earn it later”. The main family expenses are linked to the children's education. The rest is an investment in quality of life, travel, theater, and cultural activities.

Falgueras is also the founder of Dones del Vi, a collective that brings together professionals in the sector, from oenologists and winery owners to journalists and sommeliers: "When I was studying, there were only two girls. Now I teach and there are more women than men." Even so, there is still a long way to go.

Now she is facing another family and civic challenge: her father, Antoni Falgueras, will be the town crier for the 2026 La Mercè Festival. She will accompany him at this moment: "I take on the challenge with great responsibility. It is a great opportunity, we hadn't even put it on our letter to the Three Wise Men." "We want to give a voice to the authentic shops that make Barcelona a different city."