The daughter of two restaurateurs, Sophie studied hotel management and learnt about wines in one of the best wine terroirs in the World: Bordeaux. She discovered the world of journalism by mere chance, nevertheless, today we can read her columns in various publications of both national and international interest. “To talk about wines and beers, one has to know about them. It is mandatory to make the difference between what is good, and what you like, since it’s not always the same”. Of French origin but raised in Mexico City, Sophie recognizes that if there is something she’s savvy about, it’s good food and wine.
Her first steps into the food and beverage industry date back to her childhood, but she became more seriously invested after several jobs in Paris, England, Switzerland, and even Mexico. She was then given the opportunity to work with wineries such as Romanée Conti or Veuve Clicquot, but chose, together with her father, to market wines herself and pave her own way with the Grandes Vinos de Francia brand.
22 years later we could say she has gone through it all. She remembers the horrid 1995 crisis Mexico went through, when she has said she literally sat in thousands of dollars waiting for the markets to calm down, since many distributors went as far as removing wines that were in foreign currencies from their lists.
Now, she combines activities. Part of her time is spent working on the marketing of wine. She spends some of her time running a hamburger stand in the Mercado Independencia located in downtown Mexico City. She also has her dear red wine Pau Pijoan, which needless to say, besides her participating in its production in Ensenada, Baja California, she also markets as an exclusive label. And last, but definitely not least, her gastronomy columns. She remembers that “some time ago, the only ones who talked about restaurants were the owners of said restaurants. But the ethics become doubtful when one is judge and jury”.
Once upon a time, Sophie would sign her columns under a male pen name, Renzo Miller, who is now history. She has her preferred restaurants, who are pardoned anything, even though, she highlights, there is still a lack of responsibility on the part of many actors in the food and beverage industry. Time passed by quite quickly. Our talk came to end, but Sophie doesn’t leave before advising us to always pay for our food, since “giving an honest opinion when you are invited will always be difficult”.
Spanish