Erick J. Sandoval Solano is a Costa Rican chef, sommelier, and winemaker based in Barcelona. His ambition to broaden his horizons and learn more about food led him to explore the world. To date, he has lived, worked, and gained experience in New York, Barcelona, and other gastronomic capitals around the world; from cooking in a two-Michelin-star kitchen to making Costa Rican street food. Always inspired by his heritage, Chef Sandoval interweaves local and seasonal ingredients from his immediate surroundings with the techniques and flavor profile of his home country, creating a unique blend in each location.

After moving to Barcelona, he focused on the world of wine. He studied sommelier courses at the Escola Superior d’Hostaleria and passed the WSET 3 with distinction. In his quest for a wine that would suit the food he likes to create, he decided to make the wine himself. He partnered with Jordi Valls, whose family has been making wine in the quiet village of Sant Esteve Sesrovires, 30 kilometers from Barcelona, for nearly a century and a half. The two friends combine their appetite for flavor and terroir expression with the tradition and knowledge of Catalan winemaking. The results are natural wines known for their depth and complexity.

From his grandmothers’ Costa Rican kitchens to Europe

“Both grandmothers were great cooks who had the gift of extracting the maximum flavor from each ingredient, making the simplest things, like aged rice and black bean broth, taste like haute cuisine. That became my goal; I strive to make the ingredients shine, to be the best they can be.

I spent much of my time in my grandmothers’ kitchens, where I learned that the kitchen is the epicenter of a home. I remember the first meal I cooked; I think I was nine years old, and it was stuffed tomatoes. And that was it; I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. When I was old enough, I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Gastronomy, focusing on native ingredients, and a degree from Le Cordon Bleu.

After moving to Barcelona, I started studying wine. I have always loved its complexity and its role in pairing, but sometimes I struggled to find wines that truly matched my cuisine, so I decided to make them myself. I was fortunate to meet Jordi, whose family has been making wine in Catalonia for five generations. We clicked, and now we make wine together. We produce unadulterated wines that express the terroir, wines with enough flavor to stand up to the food I like to cook. Wines of the style I like to drink. Raw. No magic powders. Spontaneous. Dynamic. The ultimate expression of time, fiberglass, amphorae, old barrels, and stainless steel.

I am from Costa Rica, and I am passionate about showcasing my heritage, but I adapt it to where I am. I am inspired by my roots, but I take the best of each place and local, seasonal ingredients and adapt them. I turn them into something that fits that situation and environment. Like when I cook in the vineyard, it makes no sense to cook with a frozen ingredient sent from Costa Rica. I prefer to use local produce from the nearby fields and the edible weeds that grow between the vines to blend my heritage with the local nature in my dishes.”