Alberto Viña

Had he followed his initial dream and practiced psychology, Alberto Viña’s career would have looked very differently today. Exciting, perhaps, but not as captivating. Instead, he followed his heart and became a successful restaurateur, commercial team leder and part of the Gin Mare crew - a gin crafted specifically with the relationship between gin and gastronomy in mind.

Hospitality - not only a lifestyle, but a way of life

Following a few summers in the Canary Islands, Viña spent his early culinary career working at various Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain before starting his official sommelier training at Barcelona’s ABaC where he worked for two whole years alongside his studies. Night after night, he was in the restaurant, opening bottle after bottle of great wine. “It really was the best way to become a sommelier,” he says dreamily as he fast forwards through long hours at various temples of the industry where he earned his accolades as waiter and sommelier before moving on to bigger things.

“In the end, you can stay at a Michelin restaurant for years and years and learn more and more about wine,” he concludes, “but if you are really going to grow, you need other experience as well.“ And with that notion, he pursued a career as culinary advisor on Barcelona’s nightlife scene, helping a multi-million grossing group upgrade their wine and gastronomic profile. “This is not the most refined experience you will have in terms of fine dining,” he convinced himself going in, “but it is something you have to do to grow personally.”

Personal growth came quickly for Viña who was soon after contacted by Yoze Torres, head of Global Premium Brands. Yoze was, at the time, hell-bent on a revolutionary idea to help a fourth-generation gin distiller create a product that embodied the spirit of the Mediterranean and could be targeted specifically towards restaurants. Alberto, who knew the industry, was perfect for the job, he thought, and thus, in 2010, the adventure that became Gin Mare was launched - with an eager, somewhat inexperienced Alberto Viña ias a member of a unique team focused on branding and marketing.

A gin built for gastronomy

The, in gastronomic circles, now legendary premium gin was crafted from eight specific botanicals that serve as the DNA of the gin - and its region. The four main botanicals were proudly displayed on the iconic bottle: lemons and oranges from Seville and Valencia, thyme from Turkey and rosemary from Greece. 

Supporting botanicals, like basil, coriander, juniper and cardamom served to highlight the aromas and flavors of the Mediterranean, while the use of Arbequina olives from Spain specifically separated Gin Mare from other premium gins. “The olives do not add much flavor,” Alberto grins honestly, “but they offer viscosity and make the gin very interesting from a gastronomic standpoint.”

“Our intention was always to brand the gin as a gastronomic experience. To create a better gin experience in restaurants,” he explains “To make great cocktails,” he continues erratically, “was merely a byproduct of this magnificent gin. To really beautify gin and bring this overlooked spirit into a restaurant ambiance that was our real goal.”

Looking back, it seems perhaps not that much of a revolutionary idea or achievement, given the current hyper-popularity of anything gin-related. However, a decade ago, the quest was not only groundbreaking but, quite frankly, somewhat a gamble in a world that was shaken by a global recession.

Champions of Change - building the Gin Mare brand

If people had to choose between bars and restaurants on economic grounds, Alberto and the team would argue as part of their marketing plan, let us try to bring cocktails into restaurants and work seriously with presentation and wow-factor to make them part of a luxury dining experience.

 It was a clever gamble that paid off, he admits, but never a simple marketing stunt. Instead, it was a deliberate effort to work closely and seriously with star chefs like Àngel León and the Adria brothers, to create beautiful, artisan cocktails and gin-based dishes for a fine dining environment. To really work with every aspect of image and presentation of quality gin - from Gin Mare’s iconic bottle over branded glassware to garnishes and presentation. To have the gin rightfully perceived as a beautiful and fitting part of a restaurant experience.

This new way of thinking, he says, is what first blasted Gin Mare onto the scene. “But, in the end,” he rather ironically admits, “what carried the effort home, was not the line-up of superstar chefs. It was the line cooks who popularized the experience. The whole concept of drinking gin from large, wide glasses that embodies the modern gin experience,” he reveals, “was born from the restaurant kitchen.”

Restaurant kitchens, Alberto explains, are often far from the romantic image that is painted of them. They are often hellish hot, hectic places. Chefs, during shifts, do not merely sip a small glass of water, they grab the biggest glass they can find and drink from it in large, hearty gulps. And this tradition, he smiles, carried over into the way they enjoyed their post-shift Gin Tonics.

“It made a quite an impressive show,” he grins. “When guests saw chefs sitting in the dining room after their shifts, gulping from these wide, oversized glasses filled with ice and Gin Tonic, they quickly embraced and copied the idea! It was a great experience, really, and it happened rather by accident,” Alberto reveals with a smile and a wink. “All we had to do was work with it, embrace the idea and make it grow.” And as they did, the Gin Mare spirit grew with it - but not without effort.

Introducing Gin Mare to the world

“As it turns out, creating with the team a new brand was a lot of work,” Alberto continues with a sigh and a smile, thinking back to his early days of trying to pitch the new concept. “At first, I thought going to Spanish cities like Seville and pitching Mediterranean spirit with a gastronomic gin angle was quite a challenge,” he grins widely, “then I was told to do the same thing in Asia!” 

“Young, eager and full of confidence, I boarded the plane to Hong Kong and Singapore to help kick in the door ,” he reminisces, “ and this I did for four years. I was basically trying to sell the idea to cultures completely unfamiliar with the very basics of what we were trying to do.”

“I am from the Mediterranean, I would proudly say. I embody Mediterranean culture and vibe,” he laughingly mimics his then confident sales pitch. “That is great,” his friendly but utterly confused prospecting customers would reply in return, “where and what on earth is that?” And that is when he realized - for the first time - that they did not have the faintest frame of reference about the Mediterranean region or the product and lifestyle Gin Mare represented.

“I was confused,” he confesses, “It was such an abstract. At the very same time, in Italy, a famous pop group was looking to use our brand in a music video. In Europe, everybody understood the concept of gin and where Gin Mare was coming from,” he explains. “In Asia, they had no idea what I was talking about. This is when I realized if I wanted to conquer new and foreign markets, we had to create a sort of Gin Mare showcase.” 

“So on my very next trip, I brought two suitcases worth of props to show and tell exactly what I was talking about,” he says with a modest smile. And with time, these suitcases became a standard kit to explain the concept of Gin Mare. It contained everything from olives, oranges and herbs to proper glasses, a tutorial on how to use ice and even a map. Things that really helped paint the soul and vision behind Gin Mare and make it tangible to people across the world.

Gin Mare Capri - a brighter future

With years of effort and dedication, Gin Mare’s reputation grew, as did Alberto’s and he found a new role in the company. He became less of a salesman but instead managing regional director and the face of the brand in the culinary scene. Offering support to his ever-growing sales team was still a priority, but building the brand and creating new and better experiences quickly became the reality for the man who dedicated his life to embracing the Mediterranean way of life and showcasing it in new innovative ways.

And that innovation continues today. More than a decade of hard work and dedication has led to the creation of a bright, new future for the brand with Gin Mare Capri. The first new addition to the Gin Mare family was crafted to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Gin Mare and pay tribute to the Italian island of Capri, another epicenter of Mediterranean life.

More refined than the original version, Gin Mare Capri also serves as a more environmentally friendly alternative - created from recycled glass materials and without the use of paper and plastic in the packaging. However, Gin Mare Capri, according to Alberto, is about more than crafting a sustainable, premium gin. It is also about drawing attention to Gin Mare’s environmentally conscious projects like those of clearing the region’s beaches of plastic.

“We have an agreement, a commitment to the community, to remove plastic from the area,” he explains. “To help preserve our beloved region. With time and new ways of thinking, we also plan to create something for the brand with that plastic. What exactly, we may not know yet, but we will find out.”

This way of thinking, of becoming the change you want to see in the world along the way is not new. “It goes back to the very beginning of our journey”, Alberto explains. “We have always challenged the status quo, and we have not always known the way from the beginning. We set out to make a gastronomic gin product - and we did it. We said we wanted to change the world of gin - and we did it. Next, we said we wanted to become more sustainable - and we did that as well. Our brand has always been about more than hollow promises.”

“We may not have the biggest, most innovative product line-up, but we are always working on something. There is intention and action behind our words. The brand was built on intentions and we have kept it going for years. Now, with Gin Mare Capri, it is time to reinvent again and become even better.”

“To me, that is the way it should be. My story was always one of passion,” he smiles humbly. “My job was always more than a job. It is a lifestyle. Under our motto ‘Challenging Attitude’, my team and I still continue to work actively to challenge and change the world around us. For the better.”