Born and raised in Mexico city, Andres arrived in the USA as a teenager, and have worked in restaurants ever since, working his way from busser, server, manager, and Sommelier since 2014.
Andres’s wine passion began in 2009 when he was a server at a famous Italian restaurant called Arcodoro, in Houston. His first love was Italian wine, specially Barolo, after a special guest poured him a small sample of the 1996 Barolo he had purchased that evening at work.
One of Andres’s best friends was a certified Sommelier , and back in 2011, he convinced Andres to take the level 1 Introductory Exam, and passed it in August of that year. 2 months later in Austin, he took the huge challenge to take the Level 2 Certified exam, which usually takes a year to prepare. With his friends’s help, Andres Passed the Level 2 Certified Exam.
A few years later, the former Chef of Arcodoro ( Giancarlo Ferrara) told Andres that he was opening his own Italian restaurant named Amalfi, to which Giancarlo invited Andres to have his first Sommelier job for whole year.
After that, Andres worked at Caracol, for the James beard award winner chef Hugo Ortega, specializing in Mexican wine. In 2017, Andres competed in the National competition TexSom Best Sommelier. Out of 25 competitors from all over Texas, Andres took First Place, and became the first Mexican-born to win this Competition. Later in November of same year, Andres won the Title of Houston Iron Sommelier, also becoming the first Mexican-born to win this Award. After 3 years trying, In 2019 He finally passed the difficult Level 3 Advanced Exam, which to this day, he has been the first on only Mexican to ever pass it in Texas.
In 2021, He was offered a Head Sommelier job at the Michelin-Star restaurant Le Jardinier, where he worked for 4 years, then he was offered the Sommelier position at MAD, another restaurant of Michelin-Star chef Luis Roger. Early February of 2025, Andres accepted the job offer with us at Zanti River Oaks, where he works as the Sommelier and overseeing the Bar Program.
