06 November 2024 / Edit Szabó
You have a lovely name. How did you get it?
My mum's name is Eva Makovej, and she was born in Gyula, while my dad, Antonio Giraldo, was born in Colombia. My dad came to Hungary on a scholarship in the 1970s to study viticulture and oenology at the University of Horticulture. My mother went there too and that's how they met, incidentally they lived in Szüret Street. After graduating from university they moved to Colombia, I was born and raised there, that's how I got the name.
When did you first come to Hungary?
We came to visit relatives a few times when I was little, but the first time I spent any extended time here was when I decided to move to Hungary for a while after I graduated from high school. That was in 2008, when I didn't speak any Hungarian at all. I went to the Gundel Károly Hospitality School, studied to be a cook and got a job as a cook at the Búsuló Juhász Restaurant. That was my after I graduated from high school. That was in 2008, when I didn't speak any Hungarian at all. I went to the Gundel Károly Hospitality School, studied to be a cook and got a job as a cook at the Búsuló Juhász Restaurant. That was my first job. I had a good time there, but eventually I went back to Colombia.
Why?
Because I was still young, only 22, and I missed my family very much. My dad worked as a consultant for a wine company and held wine tastings almost every night. Since I had nothing else to do, I went to these events with him and quickly realised that I was much more interested in the world of wine than cooking. Besides, my dad was a wonderful storyteller about wine regions and winemakers, he had so many interesting stories, it was a pleasure to listen to him. After a while, I started teaching at a cookery school and started studying wine at the same time.
Where did you learn?
Where didn’t I? I wanted to take every course. When I was training to be a chef, my dream was to work with three-starred Michelin cuisine, and when it came to wine, I decided straight away that I wanted to be a Master Sommelier. I completed WSET courses, those of the Court of Master Sommeliers and many other courses that came my way. I learned everything in English, and when I couldn't develop any further in the Colombian wine community, I moved back to Hungary. I’ve been living here again since 2018.
You mentioned that your parents met at the University of Horticulture. Does your mother also work with wine?
She's retired now, like my dad, but before that she was a food engineer, doing quality control on local spirits and wines. It's strange to think, but when I was a kid in Colombia, at best there were five people with a wine-making degree, and two of them were my parents. There was always wine on the table in our house, and my father was always learning and training. As a teenager, I was rebellious, of course, and I had no intention of continuing my parents' profession, but secretly I had to admit that what they were doing was pretty cool.
How did your life in Budapest start in 2018?
I managed to persuade my girlfriend to bid farewell to her promising career as a lawyer in Colombia and come to Budapest with me, so I wasn't alone. I started working at Tasting Table, I was there for the first three years, and I loved the fact that I only had to work with Hungarian wines. It was then that I realised that people who don't live here have very few opportunities to learn about Hungarian wines, because the literature available in English is all out of date. At the Tasting Table, we held daily English tastings, I enjoyed getting a better grasp of the system, while preparing for my Advanced Sommelier exam.
Did you pass?
Yes. I became an Advanced Sommelier and decided to find myself another job where I could be close to international wines again. That's how I ended up at Félix.
And your wife, meanwhile?
She studied for a Master's at ELTE and has been working for an international company for three years. We are now expecting our first child. It looks like it will be a girl, Marianna, and she will be born in April.
So now you are an Advanced Sommelier. What will it take to fulfil your dream of becoming a Master Sommelier?
It's a four-level test, I'm currently at level three and waiting for the exam date to start level four. I've been told that I might get a chance next year, but that doesn't mean I'll pass. This year’s exam has just taken place; forty people attempted it, but no one passed. I'm sure it won't be easy!
In the meantime, you'll get some practice at the various sommelier competitions...
Yes, and this is really important. You know, I didn't know that such competitions existed until after I had passed my advanced exam, when Máté Horváth called me and said that there was a Balkan Sommelier Challenge coming up, and that there should be a Hungarian competitor, but he didn't want to compete anymore, and would I like to try. Why not, I thought. But first I had to win the Hungarian championship. At that time, the Hungarian Sommelier Club (MSC) and the Hungarian Sommelier Association (Masosz) organised their national competitions separately. The two competitions were held a week apart, and I competed in both. The stars were aligned, my knowledge was up to date, I won both, and in the Balkan competition, I managed to take second place.
This was the best performance ever achieved by a Hungarian sommelier in an international competition. Two months later, I was competing at the World Championships in Paris, against 68 of the world's best competitors. Some people had been preparing for this event for years, and after a few months of preparation, I entered and finished in the middle of the field, in 31st place. I'm not happy with the result, I don't yet have enough experience and routine, but you can work on that, so I'll keep competing.
This year, Budapest hosted an open championship, meaning that Austrian, Polish and Serbian sommeliers were able to compete alongside the Hungarians. Did this pose any difficulties for you?
I was not unfamiliar with the situation, because I had already participated in an open competition in Poland in 2023, so I knew some of the field and roughly what to expect. However, I have to say that our recent competition was very high quality, professionally run and well organised with good tasks, while Continental Budapest proved an excellent venue. In a strong field I managed to be the best among the Hungarians, and I am proud of that.
Which task did you fear the most?
Blind tasting, of course, but I don't think there's a single person who doesn't get worked up about that. You stand with a microphone in your hand, and you have a total of three minutes to analyse a wine in depth. And then there are times when all the wine speaks to you really clearly, almost sings, but if you're having a bad day, you can really suffer. It's a bit like the Olympics: you prepare, you practise, but it doesn’t matter if you knew it yesterday, it's what you produce at that moment that counts.
Where did you do better than usual?
In the theory, which is what I was hoping for, because I'm going to the European Championships on 11 November, and I've been preparing for months. I want to make it to the final, but that will only happen if I answer the theory questions well, so I'm trying very hard to memorise the most obscure sub-regions of even the smallest of wine regions.
There are several tasks in the competition that must be completed on time. Are you good with timing?
I try to be on good terms with it yes. Timing is important, but it's not all-important, you have to work fast, but you can't rush, because every move you make is scored by the judges. It's like a dance: you have to mark every step even if the rhythm is fast. If you want to do well in the competition, you have to know the rules of the game and play it smart! The competition result is decided by the points you get, so you need to know where you're willing to lose points in order to gain more points in another task.
Who was your toughest opponent?
The Austrian sommelier, Suwad Zlatic, who also won the championship. I was the best Hungarian. Suwad has been competing for ten years, he has already comer third at the European Championships, he is very well prepared and very experienced and is very good with timing and points. And among the Hungarians, my two very dear friends Norbert Budai and Péter Kovács are my biggest opponents. We are very close, we go on wine tours together, and when we meet in the final, it's always a close race.
In such a competition, is it knowledge or state of mind that counts?
Both are equally important, which is why the Swedish team has, for example, a psychologist and a dietician in addition to a wine coach. They receive a lot of support from local professional organisations and do everything they can to succeed, so it's no wonder they always finish in the top rankings. By the way, there are many competitors around the world who work only part-time, or don't even work, concentrating solely on competitions.
You work as a brand ambassador for Sauska. How do they support you?
My working hours are flexible, and this is a great help, because I can arrange my day to fit in a training session before or after work. I would definitely get extra time off if I asked for it, because the owners are my enthusiastic supporters and are also very proud of my achievements.
So on 11 November, you'll be travelling to Belgrade to represent Hungary at the Best Sommelier of Europe, Africa and Middle East 2024 competition. What are your expectations?
I hope to make it to the final, but I won't be disappointed if I don't. Even getting to the semi-finals would be a great achievement and anything can happen there. I'm not considered a favourite and that's good because I can play the surprise card. I feel I'm in good shape and I hope I can show what I'm capable of.
