Theworld50best Exclusive 2025 / The Award-Winning Colombian Sommelier Transforming The Liquid Landscape / By 50 Best Editorial / theworlds50best

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Theworld50best Exclusive 2025 / The Award-Winning Colombian Sommelier Transforming The Liquid Landscape / By 50 Best Editorial / theworlds50best

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In a world where sommeliers are synonymous with wine, Laura Hernández Espinosa is breaking the mould, creating drinks pairings as diverse as Colombia itself. Now, while continuing to innovate at renowned Bogotá restaurant Leo, she’s preparing to launch a new cocktail series at her bar, La Sala de Laura. She offers a glimpse into her vibrant liquid universe.

Laura Hernández Espinosa speaks with the confidence of someone who has climbed a mountain, reached the peak, and is not afraid to look back down at the challenging ascent.

Newly crowned winner of the Beronia Latin America’s Best Sommelier Award 2024, she is working harder than ever to change perceptions of how food and drinks can work together.

Even though her international fame is relatively recent – she first put her name on a project, La Sala de Laura, in 2021 – Hernández Espinosa has been honing her craft for nearly two decades.

Head sommelier since 2009 at Bogotá’s Leo, a mainstay of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, she began her training three years earlier while studying international relations and political science.

For nearly 15 years, she has also directed FunLeo, a non-profit association founded by her mother, chef Leonor Espinosa, which works to preserve Colombian gastronomic traditions and communities.

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The Beronia Latin America’s Best Sommelier Award celebrates the boldness and creativity of Hernández Espinosa

It’s this explosive fusion of heritage and passion that has resulted in her most recent recognition. “I’ve been very stubborn with the idea of a liquid universe where wine doesn’t have the only starring role,” she says.

“I love wine, but Colombia is not a viticultural or an oenological country – our latitude doesn’t allow it. So I started pairing [food] with more than just wine.”

Her mother’s infectious passion for Colombian biodiversity, reflected in Leo’s tasting menu, propelled Hernández Espinosa’s creativity. She debuted with Territorio, a series of seven distillates based on Colombia’s ecosystems, and expanded the restaurant’s pairing options to include fruit fermentations, cocktails, gastronomy-inspired drinks and speciality coffees.

This bold approach challenged wine traditionalists, and she often faced pushback, but her commitment to innovation didn’t waver.

When she opened her bar as part of Leo’s relocation in 2021, Hernández Espinosa flipped the pairing concept on its head, starting with the cocktails and designing food matches for them. In 2024, La Sala de Laura made its entrance into The World’s 50 Best Bars, taking the No.44 spot, and it’s in this space that, on 15 January, she’ll launch a new cocktail series.

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In 2024, La Sala de Laura debuted in The World’s 50 Best Bars list 

Arcana is a conceptual menu available for one year only, akin to a temporary exhibition or limited-edition music album. “I love the tarot, not as a divination tool, but as a way to study human civilisation through archetypes,” she explains.

Inspired by psychologist Carl Jung’s archetypes, Arcana connects universal symbols from the tarot to Colombia’s biodiversity, creating cocktails that take guests on a journey through the human psyche.

The upcoming menu will feature El Ají, a chilli-pepper-based cocktail mixing tequila, Albor tamarind distillate and a homemade Colombian chilli cordial, with wild vanilla tincture, sour orange and coriander oil. “The chilli symbolises intensity, surprise, awakening and a sense of energy, movement and vitality.

So, in the tarot, it’s The Fool,” she says. Through this lens, El Ají becomes a reminder of the importance of living the present moment boldly, encouraging drinkers to venture beyond their comfort zones with curiosity and courage.

La Sala de Laura offers a one-hour-45-minute cocktails and snacks experience, alongside a shorter six-course pairing. “Most cocktails are not made to be paired with food – they tend to be too sweet or too acidic. What we do here is create cocktails specifically designed for pairings,” she explains. The dishes, of course, are conceived by Leonor Espinosa, The World’s Best Female Chef 2022.

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Hernández Espinosa creates cocktail pairing menus inspired by Colombia’s rich biodiversity

Although the term ‘sommelier’ struggles to encompass the variety of her role, Hernández Espinosa remains passionate about the drink she has spent years convincing people to move away from. “Wine is actually the beverage I drink most,” she laughs. Her curated wine list at Leo includes 120 references, each selected for its unique story and craft. “Wine is art. It’s the interpretation of soil, soul, grape and tradition.”

Standing atop her mountain, Hernández Espinosa reflects on how far she has come and what lies on the horizon. “My contribution to sommellerie is broadening the spectrum to a whole liquid universe.

For a sommelier from a country that doesn’t produce wine, receiving this award is an incredible recognition and proof that my stubbornness was justified. Colombia is full of bioculturality, and that has to be part of the way we conceive it: not just in solid but also in liquid gastronomy.”

Arcana will be available at La Sala de Laura from 15 January 2025 until the end of the year. Hernández Espinosa’s innovative pairings at Leo can be enjoyed year-round.

Discover the full list of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024

Discover more fantastic hotels, restaurants and bars with 50 Best Discovery, and start planning your next adventure.

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© Future Publishing TRIP TRACK A.Ş COMPANY INC, ISTANBUL,NEW YORK,ALMATY ,All rights reserved. TURKIYE and U.S.A Wales company registration number 1964433 Thank You For Your Constant Love And Support This Past Year. Here's To Another Amazing Year. SEDAT KARAGÖZ / INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL OFFICE TRIP TRACK A.Ş ISTANBUL / TURKEY / LEVENT / POL CENTER + 90 0212 942 82 80 +90 541 732 90 64 sedatkaragoz@wmwnewsturkey.com TONY BAR & JENNIFER BAR / New York EDITORIAL OFFICE / 797 / 7th Ave, New York City, New York 10019, U.S.A DEUTSCHLAND UNTERNEHMENS KOMMUNIKATIONS LEITER WERNER SCHMIDT / GERMANY EDITORIAL +49 177 8664756 schmiwe09@gmail.com JANBOLAT KHANAT / FOUNDER / GENERAL DIRECTOR/ REGIONAL MANAGER + 7 702 230 42 17 (whatsapp) KAZAKISTAN / ALMATY OFFICE JANBOLAT KHANAT / ISTANBUL PHONE / +90 507 838 84 38 / KAZAKISTAN EDITORIAL
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