The other day I noticed a local chef endorsing a set of wine glasses in one of our local newspapers, and at first I wondered why, or perhaps more specifically, why a chef? Certainly in the UK or the USA wine glasses would probably be promoted by a wine expert or wine journalist, a group of people who have now become well-known personalities in their own right. So why would the Galician press want to use a local chef (despite his Michelin star)?….. and then it dawned on me!

In the UK there are many wine journalists that regularly appear on television, whereas here in Spain, to the best of my knowledge, they simply don’t. The same applies to TV chefs. Cookery programmes in the UK are now so popular that some top chefs are never off our screens, and the States also has quite a number of famous TV personalities from within the food industry. By contrast there is simply no such thing as a celebrity wine critic here in Spain – yes, there are a number of well-known writers (such as José Peñin for example), but we simply don’t see them appearing on our TV screens, and therefore they are not familiar faces to the public at large.

One final thought. In the food industry it is often the chefs themselves, in other words the people who actually cook the food, who achieve fame and notoriety on TV, whereas in the wine industry it is rarely the winemakers, but more often the journalists and writers who become the familiar faces. Strange but true.

The other day I noticed a local chef endorsing a set of wine glasses in one of our local newspapers, and at first I wondered why, or perhaps more specifically, why a chef? Certainly in the UK or the USA wine glasses would probably be promoted by a wine expert or wine journalist, a group of people who have now become well-known personalities in their own right. So why would the Galician press want to use a local chef (despite his Michelin star)?….. and then it dawned on me!

In the UK there are many wine journalists that regularly appear on television, whereas here in Spain, to the best of my knowledge, they simply don’t. The same applies to TV chefs. Cookery programmes in the UK are now so popular that some top chefs are never off our screens, and the States also has quite a number of famous TV personalities from within the food industry. By contrast there is simply no such thing as a celebrity wine critic here in Spain – yes, there are a number of well-known writers (such as José Peñin for example), but we simply don’t see them appearing on our TV screens, and therefore they are not familiar faces to the public at large.

One final thought. In the food industry it is often the chefs themselves, in other words the people who actually cook the food, who achieve fame and notoriety on TV, whereas in the wine industry it is rarely the winemakers, but more often the journalists and writers who become the familiar faces. Strange but true.