Pep Plaza: "I would like to have a glass of wine with Pedro Sánchez or Guardiola"

The actor Pep Plaza (Mataró, 1972) has shown his face (literally) and lent his voice to many of the biggest names in Catalan and Spanish culture, politics, and sports. The man who has been Pedro Sánchez and Pep Guardiola, Joan Pera and Albert Om, is also the protagonist of El substitut, a show he premiered at the Teatre Borràs in 2023 and continues to perform this summer in various locations. But Plaza has not only dedicated himself to the stage; his work as an insurance salesman also led him, unexpectedly, to wine, a world he already knew from childhood.

Part of his family had vineyards.

— An aunt of my mother, in Castellví de la Marca [Alt Penedès]. I have photos with my uncle's tractor, with the vineyards… Later, my grandparents rented a house –Cal Borni–, also in the municipality of Castellví. All the family lunches, there, were held in the cellar, with the press and that characteristic smell of the farmhouses of Penedès: of the must, of the wine.

Do you remember making wine once?

— He was very small, he must have been 5, 6, 7 years old, but I remember taking out boxes and helping, being more of a nuisance than a help.

Playing.

— We used to play hide-and-seek in the vineyards, and there was a pond and we would swim in it. I also remember the trucks coming to pick the grapes, and then we would go to the cooperative and watch them unload and press them. I have many memories of being with family – my aunt, my aunt's children, my mother's cousins – surrounded by vineyards.

Did you notice much contrast, coming from the city?

— I didn't feel strange at all. On the contrary: I experienced it as if I would like to stay there, as my habitat. I've always been more drawn to this than to the city. I'm from Mataró, now I live in Arenys, and I wouldn't live in Barcelona for anything in the world; I've never liked the big city.

In the episode of Els meus pares from 3Cat, their mother explained that, with their grandparents, they used to go mushroom picking.

— One of many things. From a very young age, I spent my weekends with my grandparents: we would go to the mountains, to the forest... The first camping trips I took, before going with the youth group and with school, were with my grandparents: with the Canadian tent, doing wild camping, as my grandfather used to say, in Platja d'Aro, Castell d'Aro... Now it's unthinkable, but I grew up with this, and it stays with you.

Later he worked in a wine distributor.

— I wanted to dedicate myself to the world of entertainment, but I had to do a job that would allow me to make a living. I did gigs for companies, children's entertainment, karaoke... Once, while doing entertainment for Agrupació Mútua [which is now part of AXA], they proposed that I sell insurance. I said no, but they called home and my mother said: "Yes, yes, she will call you." And so far: I still have this portfolio.

And the wine?

— While I was selling insurance to many types of people – self-employed, families, business owners – I came across a distributor from Les Franqueses del Vallès. He must have taken a liking to me and said [he imitates his voice]: “Listen, wouldn't you want to sell wines and cavas?” And since I had my mornings free, I said yes. I spent almost five years selling wines, cavas, and select products: foie gras, duck breast, products for high-end shops and restaurants. The company distributed wines from all the DOs in Spain and some Australian, some French, some beaujolais when the new wine season arrived… 

Do you feel like you know this world from the inside?

— Since I left, many new references and denominations have emerged, and I'm missing things, but I feel like I have a grasp on them. For example: I used to sell Mas Comtal rosé, Jané Ventura rosé, Príncipe de Viana rosé. And you had to sell a young wine, with a nice rosé color. If you saw it had an onion skin color, you'd say: "This one is already past its prime, it's oxidized." In contrast, now what's sold is onion skin color.

Why did he/she leave?

— I remember one day I was in the dressing room of the 7th Night, selling cases of cava for Saint John – a promotion of the type: buy 10 and I'll give you 2 – , and Manel Lucas told me: “But what are you doing, you weren't coming insurance? I told him that I also sold wines... But there came a point when I could no longer cope.

Did you meet many people from the Catalan restaurant scene?

— I entered many restaurants. I was lucky enough to speak with the sommelier of Racó de Can Fabes, with the one from Sant Pau, and to participate in visits to look for new wines, to serve Riedel glasses… I had a lot of contact with chefs, with the people from 36 Cadires or Hispània. In fact, now my daughter – who is studying to be a nursing assistant – has been working there for a month and is delighted, she is discovering a different world. She is already starting to open wine bottles correctly.

Would you say you have a good palate?

— I'm not an expert on the subject, but there are things I grasp quickly: I can detect a Macabeo, a Xarel·lo, or at least that it has a lot of it. The other day some friends of mine were amazed because, without looking at the label, I said: “Guys, this wine is carbonic maceration”. Sometimes I'm wrong, but many times I get it right, and that's nice.

He explained that, if he can, he buys the bottles in magnum format.

— For example, there is a white wine that I love, Finca Els Camps, macabeu [DO Penedès], which I can also find in magnum. When I go to someone's house, I prefer to bring a magnum or two, rather than three or four loose bottles.

Why?

— I suppose some sommelier or even the owner of the company must have told me [imitates voice]: “It’s better you bring the magnum, because the bottle opens, it evolves, and you don’t have to open another one that starts from scratch”.

Now that you were doing an imitation: with which of the characters you have imitated would you like to have a drink?

— With many I have already done some, such as Joan Pera or Albert Om, whom I have the good fortune to know. But I would like to do one with Pedro Sánchez or with Pep Guardiola.

And would you let yourself be recommended the wine or would you prefer to choose it?

— I would prefer them to recommend it to me; perhaps they would surprise me.

I'm not sure what Pedro Sánchez would ask for. 

— I see a lot of Rioja or Ribera, classics, although perhaps I am mistaken and he tells us: “A Terra Alta”.

And Pep Guardiola?

— A Priorat or a Montsant.

The documentary Els meus pares ends with a heartwarming scene: at the table, with wine and singing. Was it common?

— Always. After a meal there were songs, jokes, stories that grandpa told, and everyone to see who told the biggest one… At the time I went to my grandparents' farmhouse, it was already a serious matter, because they started to empty bottles of cava, and here they really told big ones, and then came the big nap, and in the evening the snack… In the documentary we remembered what we always did: we sang with Txell [Sust] Islands in a river… My mother was very fond of this documentary, she watched it from time to time. It's lucky to have this graphic document of her.

His mother also appears in the show El substitut.

— My mother has left us a very big mark, and to be lucky enough to be able to do theater and still have her on stage... It's inevitable to get emotional. There's a scene that she and I share, which is recorded, and people laugh a lot at her lines, and they applaud her. It's beautiful to be able to end the show with these ovations for her. Despite the misfortune of her leaving us, I've had this luck.

It's a great tribute.

— Her way of making humor about everything – about life, about death – has accompanied our whole family. Unfortunately, she has left us, at 80 years old and with a very sharp mind. But that's how things are. It hurts, but all that we have lived, all the memories you have, are still beautiful. A glass of cava made her happy, and if possible, on a festive day, some grilled prawns. Even though she is no longer here, we toast to her, and we always will.