Hey There

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My name is Andrea Luyo and my interest in wine and culture began at a young age in Mexico City. I have traveled to many different countries to experience different wines and regions. I am currently a Certified Sommelier in Wines & Spirits, (II Level) by Court of Master Sommeliers and Wine & Spirit Education Trust. My free time is spent reading about wines and taking as many courses as possible.

 

My godfather is an Italian Benedictine Monk, “Padre Irineo.” When I was a child, he would allow me to taste the aromatized Italian wine that he would bring to my parents’ home. I remember him telling such amazing stories during his visits. He talked about different foods, wines, exciting cities, interesting people, and new languages. He said, “You have to learn English because that's the key to every country.” I thought to myself, I want to grow up and travel to all those places he spoke about. I want to see everything he saw... and more.

 

I moved to Puerto Vallarta at the end of 1999. I began to work for a place called “LA PETIT FRANCE” as a bartender, owned by the late Chef Don Nacho Cadena. He was a brilliant Chef who dedicated his life to making people happy, not just with his food, but with his attention to detail. A frequent customer in that restaurant, EL Arq. Escalera, introduced me to the professional education of wines. EL Arq. Escalera was kind enough to give me my first “Le Nez Du Vin” (wine aroma education kit) as a gift so I could learn the different aromas of wine.

 

In 2005, EL Arq. Escalera inspired me to move back to Mexico City to earn my “Professional Sommelier Diploma” by Tepeyac University, led by Don Pedro Poncelis. That is when my formal education began.  I also subscribed to “The Intercontinental Wine Club” for a year to be able to taste some of the rarest, most expensive wines. I practiced service in the famous restaurant “Alfredo di Roma” with Don Poncelis. With the inspiration of Pedro Poncelis and other great sommeliers, I became fascinated with the incredible world of wine that I will never stop learning about.

 

In 2007, I came back to Puerto Vallarta to work for Café des Artistes. I learned about food, flavors, and presentations with the famous Chef Thierry Blouet. In 2008, I traveled the North American West Coast from Victoria Canada to San Diego, California to visit over 30 wineries. That year, I also travelled to France to visit Paris and the Bordeaux Futures.

 

While in Bordeaux, I joined a wine tour by the hand of famous French Distributor, visiting  both side, the left bank and right bank wineries like Chateau Margaux, Chateau Latour, Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou, Chateau Lascombes, Chateau Palmer, Chateau Cheval Blanc, and Chateau Angelus, just to mention some of the more acclaimed Chateaus. I had the privilege to meet Corinne Mentzelopoulos-Petit, Chateau Margaux’s owner. I had also the pleasure to walk around the medieval city of Saint-Emilion. It is truly a picture-perfect French town with beautiful architecture, delicious food, and the sweet smells of wine, making it an extremely attractive place to spend an amazing time.

 

After traveling through France, I took a train to Italy to visit Milano, Firenze, Pissa, Sienna, and Rome. In Firenze, I was able to visit the monastery where my godfather, Padre Irineo, spent some of his time. The Monks and Priests there remembered him and were happy to welcome me. Everyone I encountered in Italy were very pleasant people. All the culture, museums, history, food, and wine made it my favorite place to visit.

 

In 2009, I moved back to Mexico City where I worked for the restaurant Au Pied De Couchon, a restaurant that has over 2,400 different labels from all around the world. I had the pleasure of working there for 6 months until I was fired for spilling a drop of wine on a white tablecloth while serving one of the managers. I could have complained about their decision and fought to keep my job. Instead, I took that as an opportunity to try something new and a learning experience to improve my service. I have trying to not spilled a single drop of wine since that moment.

 

The next place I worked was for a restaurant in Polanco called “OCA". It was a new restaurant owned by Karen Wix and Chef Vicente Torres. It was one of the most attractive restaurants at the time. They offered 5 to 8 courses in wine pairing dinners. The wine cellar had around 280 different labels, 80 of them were Mexican wines. Their service of wine and food was extremely strict, clean, and neat.

 

While working at OCA, I had to pause my career to become a mom. The scariest and happiest moments in my life were to become responsible for a new life. After a 2-year break, starting a family with 2 daughters, I went back to work for Vina Concha y Toro & Digrans Mex, a wine distribution company. There, I taught people about wine and how to taste it. I traveled all around Mexico helping people understand wine. I educated food runners, waiters, bartenders, managers and even bank owners. I worked with different chefs to design menus where we can pair their food with our wines. My job was to teach, taste food and wine.

 

It seemed that I had the perfect job, but I was still eager to learn and grow. I have been working, studying, and teaching all over Mexico. I was now up for the challenge to continue my career and grow in another country, the United States. Something was missing in my life; my knowledge was never going to grew up if I stayed on the same place. so, I put my eye on USA. After I traveled all around my country trying to find what I was missing, I got married and I moved to San Diego. I got couple of bartending jobs until I found an amazing place and became part of the team of this amazing Wine, Beer & Cheese Concierge. Under the hand of the knowledge owner Michelle.  Who has a great selection of wines, with about 500 different labels from all around the world, and the best part is We can taste most of them thanks to the wine flights that changes every week. This is my first job I am not bored.

I never thought that being a sommelier could be that fun.

I took couple of courses here and there just to gain knowledge and I want to share with everyone everything I have been learning. that is why I wanted to create this website to help people to learn about Spirits, Beer, Wine & Food.

 

IF YOU DON'T SHARE WHAT YOU KNOW, IT WILL BE WORTHLES

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Andrea Luyo

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