Ferran Centelles

Coming Up

Wine work is built in the dining room before it is built anywhere else, and Ferran Centelles came up through that discipline. WSET gave him the formal base, then El Bulli (2000–2011) gave him a decade of service, tasting, and repetition at a table that demanded precision. From there, the work widened into teaching, communication, and leadership, with elBullifoundation, JancisRobinson.com, WSET, and Spanish wine specialist and wine educator roles extending the same basic task: make wine legible, useful, and exact.

Where They Are Now

At elBullifoundation, the work is educational as much as it is editorial. As wine director, Ferran Centelles is part of a structure that treats wine knowledge as something to be ordered, explained, and passed on with method. That same clarity runs through his work as a Spanish wine specialist at JancisRobinson.com and in his ongoing ties to WSET, where structure and international scope are part of the brief. Teaching sits at the center of that practice. “I have been a wine educator since I was very young, and personally I get real pleasure out of teaching.” For Centelles, instruction is not an add-on to hospitality; it is the through-line. “Having worked for many schools and organisations, I really value the structure, depth, international approach and organisation of WSET.” That preference for system and rigor explains why his work has carried weight in both institutions and specialist circles. The same logic shapes Sapiens del Vino, one of his key projects. “I am responsible for the Sapiens del Vino project, a full encyclopaedia written following the Sapiens methodology (provided by elBullifoundation).” Centelles describes it as a tool for the floor as much as for study: “We aim to gather all the knowledge that a wine professional working in a restaurant needs in order to understand wine.” It brings the work back to the restaurant, but with the accumulation of study, structure, and translation that the field requires. His scope also reaches outward through roles as ambassador of Star Wine List, WSET Certified Educator of Barcelona Wine School, and judge of International wine competitions. Taken together, those positions show a career built around assessment, explanation, and standards, with Ferran Centelles moving between service, education, and evaluation without changing the underlying craft.

Signature

Ferran's signature dishes include Wines, Sapiens del Vino, and Wine Sapiens.

In Their Words “I am responsible for the Sapiens del Vino project, a full encyclopaedia written following the Sapiens methodology (provided by elBullifoundation).” “Having worked for many schools and organisations, I really value the structure, depth, international approach and organisation of WSET.”

Honors

Ferran's honors include Outstanding Alumni Award (2019), National Gastronomy Award (2011), and Best Sommelier in Spain, Ruinart Challenge (2006).