Víctor de la Serna was the great one-man band of wine in Spain, in addition to leaving a legacy that touched diverse realms: a journalist to his core, co-founder of a leading Spanish newspaper, an incisive and incorruptible food critic, a devoted basketball enthusiast, and more. A man of culture, complexity, and multifaceted talent, Víctor was also my friend and mentor, which is the most important side for me and a cause of desolation and sadness since the fateful news arrived. But Víctor was a most relevant person in the radical transformation that Spain’s world of fine wine experienced over the late-20th and early-21st centuries. It would be unforgivable if, by focusing exclusively on the story of my personal experience, I missed the opportunity to make known some of his many achievements.
Víctor anticipated the transformation that the Internet would bring to wine communication worldwide and recognized the chance to transcend the provincial perspective that dominated Spain’s wine scene until the late-20th century. His linguistic prowess and cosmopolitan outlook—nurtured during his youth in Geneva and New York—were instrumental in this vision. He was the first Spaniard to earn a master’s in journalism from Columbia University, a distinction he wore proudly. With this vision, he created Elmundovino, a pioneering platform whose extensive archives remain accessible through the website of the newspaper El Mundo. Under his leadership, a team of solid experts (Asenjo, Gutiérrez, Ibáñez, Riis…) crafted a body of work that offers a reliable chronicle of Spanish wine’s evolution and appreciation over
This Article was originally published on World of Fine Wine
