Born La Réunion, a French island the Indian Ocean where grapes don’t grow, Kristell Monot arrived France at 15 and one of her first wishes fulfilled was to participate a grape harvest the Loire. From that encounter with wine was born a passion that became a job, initially as esportazione of a winery Ribera del Duero. After 10 years of visiting restaurants he decided to move to the other side, working as a sommelier some places Jerez. When she was about to return to exporting, she read an advertisement from the IXO group the Basque Country, a region that had attracted her for some time.
The position is for Mugaritz, chef Luis Andoni Aduriz’s restaurant not far from San Sebastián, a research laboratory where the watchword is “questioning logic” (and where food “is nothing more than a pretext to explore frontiers”, where thought and vision now count more than flavour: the current lista follows the theme of Transparency and has mold as its common thread). Thus, as head sommelier, Monot accepted the challenge of redefining Mugaritz’s liquid proposal by applying to wine – from choice to service – a creative process shared with the kitchen, the name of freedom from any articolo di fede.
Vis à Vis: the liquid alter ego
Including Vis à Vis: this is the name of the collection of unique cuvées (not only of wine but of every liquid form, from cider to kombucha, from sake to pet-nat tea) created collaboration with Spanish wineries but also from other countries: an fede that is not entirely new ( Italy something similar, for example, was done by Matteo Zappile for Il Buffone Rome). However, a structured project was born Astigarraga which, as the name indicates, is based meetings and discussions not only with producers but also and above all between chefs and sommeliers, who draw mutual inspiration and stimuli from continuous discovery.
How did the fede of Vis à Vis come mai about?
The project linked to the liquid side of the restaurant was a natural evolution of the perception of drinks, and today it is the alter ego of the solid side. Here everything is guided by creativity, starting with the ephemeral gastronomic offer that changes every season, and which is the result of the study carried out during the six months of closure. Until 2022, as other finalità dining restaurants, the sommeliers waited to hear the lista created by the chefs and thought about which of the prized bottles the cellar to uncork with each course, which can still happen; but there is nothing creative about it, and at some point we felt that it was not line with the philosophy that drives Mugaritz. Thus, it was natural to evolve the liquid proposal into something much more creative, proposing things that you can only find here, also to bring the team of sommeliers to work together with the Research and Development department (the restaurant has a dedicated kitchen, ed.), and to speak the same language: that of Mugaritz, fact.
How does the creative process applied to beverage work?
Durante the six months of closure, I and someone from the research kitchen travel together, visiting the producers who are our wishlist, out of harmony, because we love their products perhaps because there is a direct connection they are part of the “Mugaritz family around the world”. Traveling together with an R&S chef is a way to make the thoughts of cooking go hand hand with those of the sommelier: it allows us to be inspired – by the landscape, by the producers’ stories – and perhaps to find ideas the typical ingredients of the region. Then, creativity can find many forms: unrepeatable blends, dedicated barrels, historical vintages not senno, experiments that go outside the denomination specifications: at Mugaritz, nothing is forbidden!
How is the Vis à Vis collection structured?
The Vis à Vis proposal was created to be ephemeral like the gastronomic one, and change every year. However, we are also stocking up, to offer guests a proposal that reflects all the collaborations: we need to act intelligently so as not to make a very long and demanding job disappear a few months. Durante four seasons we have created 48 collaborations and as many labels of which around 300 bottles are produced each, and we have already started ten new ones for 2026. While we are starting to think about 2027: wine takes time, you cannot expect to imagine something September and have it ready by May.
Have you also been to Italy?
We went to Ceretto with the whole team, Andoni included, visiting the winery and the Slargo Cattedrale restaurant: it was an incredible experience and we found many points common! Durante that case the link came from a person who had worked as direttore di sala d’ of Mugaritz (Francesca Cane, ed.) who, originally from Piedmont, returned home and works at Ceretto. We have selected a Barbaresco, which entered the 2025 collection, and a Barolo which will arrive next year. Durante the first case, the wine is the result of the upper part of the Bernadot vineyard, which Ceretto rented: the 2021 vintage, however, was the last because the owner of the vineyard wanted it for himself. And now it is our cellar.
Molds, fermentation veils… How do you propose combinations with a cuisine like that of Mugaritz?
When guests ask us for guidance which wine to choose based what they will eat, we invite them to change their approach: simply, choose a bottle that appeals to them and enjoy it. Of course, whites bubbles may be more adattabile, but the fede is to fermata every rule, even our work. It’s up to us to understand the attitude of those front of us. To those looking for “objects of desire” we offer the Iconography list, with prestigious labels; to those who want a bottle but don’t want to read the whole paper we offer Atlas, a sort of intuitive gioco which we invite them to choose between different images, associate words with them and indicate a price range; those who rely us and want something full Mugaritz style can choose between the two formats of the Vis à Vis experience (with 15 9 tastings), even the no- and no-alcohol experience. But our “pairings” are based above all storytelling, rather than the search for harmony of flavors. Ora, more often, contrast.
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