Best Sommelier

Henry Vásquez arrived in Ecuador from Venezuela fresh out of university with a degree in Business Administration, convinced his future lay within a large corporation. IBM caught his attention. He remembers seeing its offices on Avenida Diego de Almagro and thinking that might be where his career would begin. Fortunately for those who now discover wine through him, life had other plans.

His first job was at a wine boutique that no longer exists. He was selling something he barely understood and it bothered him: if he was going to offer a product, he needed to know what it was. He took a couple of courses, and that decision changed his life.

Vásquez knows wine with the depth you would expect from a long career as a sommelier. Much of it developed within Grupo Z: at Zazu, with its emblematic vertical cellar and at ZFood, where he works today. But technical knowledge explains only part of what he does so well. For Vásquez, wine does not end in the bottle. Wine is hospitality. “It makes you feel good. It changes the experience. A good wine is a living essence,” he says, with a generous smile.

At ZFood, that philosophy finds the perfect setting. The cellar is open, visible, within reach. Across from it, seafood counters overflow with the bounty of the sea: fish, lobsters and species from everywhere including the Galápagos. Turn around and you are facing bottles from around the world. Vásquez makes the most of that meeting point. He approaches, asks, listens. He does not overwhelm people with vintages or appellations. He talks about food, tastes and preferences, slowly awakening curiosity.

He has even preferred to work without a conventional wine list. He knows that, for many people, an endless catalogue of grape varieties and prices can become a barrier. He prefers conversation: knowing when to approach and when not to; recognizing the connoisseur, the curious guest, as well as the person who believes wine “isn’t for them.” His work is about showing that wine need not be elitist or complicated, but a universe broad enough to welcome anyone.

His cellar has been built that way, bottle by bottle, over the years. Every label has a reason for being there and a dish it can enhance. Vásquez has tasted the food, knows its flavors. He understands pairing as part of the culinary experience. And he knows none of this works on its own. As a leader, he sees hospitality as a collective effort. Kitchen, dining room, bar and cellar all need to be connected in order to fulfill a mission that is easy to explain but difficult to execute: making someone feel good.

That is where his real gift as a sommelier lies. Knowledge can be studied. Sensitivity can be refined. But bringing someone closer to wine without intimidating them and helping every guest enjoy the table more because of it requires something else: humanity, intuition and the natural talent of a great host.