Honorary Academician
Experimental Sciences
Date of admission: March 11, 2019
Admission speech: «De la Tierra a la Luna»
Reply speech: Dr. Juan Francisco Corona Ramón, PhD in Economic and Business Sciences
Distinguished career: Sommelier and co-owner of El Celler de Can Roca, he is a world reference in the art of wine and service, noted for his poetic sensibility, his educational approach to oenology, and his emphasis on the connection between wine, memory, and emotion
JOSEP ROCA
- Head Waiter and Sommelier at El Celler de Can Roca.
ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY
- Director of the Specialisation Course for Sommeliers at the University of Girona.
- Lecturer in the Degree in Tourism and Oenology at the University of Girona.
- Author of several books translated into numerous languages.
- Regular wine columnist for La Vanguardia.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
- National Gastronomy Award – Best Head Waiter.
- National Gastronomy Award – Best Sommelier.
- International Academy of Gastronomy Award – Best Sommelier.
- Gueridón d’Or Award – Best Head Waiter.
- Recognised by international critics for achieving “an almost infinite associative harmony between dishes and wines”.
- Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
- Awarded the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts.
