sommelier raised in Rocinha, he sold bags and was a waiter before entering the wine business

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The greatest memory of Ceará is that the house was in front of the railway tracks. The arrival in Rio of the current resident of Barra da Tijuca was supported by relatives in Rio das Pedras for two months, until a studio with just a tilting window was rented by his mother in Rocinha, the community where he lived until the age of 20.

Increased sense of smell and taste

Working as a housekeeper, Dionísio’s mother would leave the house and return very late, always with her sleeping children. Responsibility for the children fell on the neighbors, who knocked on the door several times a day to check if everything was okay, as well as on the older sister, who was 6 years old at the time.

— Seeing all of my mother’s distress, I started to jump out of the window. Not to cause damage, but to try to sell candy or something. I even went up to these dumps to dismantle sofas and help transport furniture to people’s homes inside the favela. I was creating skills that life required me to acquire, but my mother didn’t know that – he remembers.

The adventure was only discovered when Rita found the refrigerator full of yogurt bought by her son strange. She had to be calmed by the neighbors, who defended little Dionísio, confirming that he worked in the street. Even with this clarification, the mother asked what she could do to keep her son calm at home when she was not there.

— “Sacolé, so I can sell it” — replied the son, presenting a solution that would bring customers to Dionísio, and not the other way around.

Once he gained his mother’s trust, the next step was selling ice cream on the beach, when he was around 8 years old. From the walk, she observed him, afraid that the boy, who did not know how to swim, would fall into the sea. From that time, Dionísio remembers the shame when he found the girl he liked. Despite this, he continued, “because he really needed it.” And always tasting what he sells, a family “heirloom” which will be very useful to him in the future.

— When I was born, my grandmother (Maria Tereza) was already blind. He lost his sight because he worked in a cotton factory (in an unsanitary environment). She must have smelled everything. God takes one thing and gives another. I studied a lot, I trained a lot, but in this olfactory and taste part, he has a certain gift — observes Dionísio.

Another “legacy” is your name. The inspiration does not come from mythology: the honored Dionísio was Dona Rita’s best friend, a man described as affectionate and who also did not like alcohol, like most of the family members.

— My mother didn’t understand why, on all subjects, I was called the god of wine. It was when I went to explain to her who Dionysus was, from Greek mythology, and she started laughing – the sommelier was amused.

Before understanding wine, Dionísio tried his hand at life as a footballer, playing for the youth teams of Flamengo and Nacional de Montevideo. After six months of frustration in Uruguay, his return to Rio included a stint in the army at the age of 18, before beginning his career as a waiter.

He helped his mother, who then opened a bar where she sold baião de Dois, mocotó and sarapatel, a menu that was successful in the northeastern community that lives in Rocinha. Among his customers were employees of Guimas, a trendy restaurant in the Fashion Mall, in São Conrado, which eventually became Dionísio’s new job.

At 19, he received a book on wine from a friend at the Brazilian Association of Sommeliers (ABS). There he learned the correct way to present the drink and how to open the bottle, for example, which caught the attention of Guimas’ owner Chico Mascarenhas, who asked where the employee learned that.

– “I’m sorry, did I do something wrong?” — Dionísio was afraid at that moment.

But in fact, the boss recognized the talent and offered the waiter at the time an oenology course at the Brazilian Association of Restaurateurs, with the famous sommelier and winemaker Celio Alzer, who died in 2020. The next step was to participate in a regional competition, with a score of 10 in theory and a poor performance in the practical part, such as blind tasting. He then decides to study even more, up to ten hours a day after work, as well as tasting wine.

— I didn’t like wine, because the first alcoholic drink I put in my mouth was a glass from a carboy. And I spent the whole night causing trouble for my mother, recalls Dionísio, who began tasting the customers’ remaining bottles. — Until the day I no longer had a single wine on the Guimas menu.

Already appreciating wine, he completed an internship with winemaker and sommelier Danio Braga, founder of ABS, at Locanda della Mimosa, in Petrópolis.

— He demonstrated great aptitude for his work, very elegant service with good presence, talkative and efficient — praises Danio.

Since then, Dionísio has been a double Brazilian champion in disputes between sommeliers (1999 and 2002), champion of South America (2004) and the country’s only qualifier for the 2000 and 2004 world championships. In Greece (2004), the best in the world was the Italian Enrico Bernardo, but he emerged as the “most charming” of the competition. The program also includes a partnership in five restaurants and a curatorship in supermarket wine cellars.

— The evolution of this professional lies in the knowledge of both sides of the coin, sale and purchase, (in addition to) knowledge of the needs of retail businesses — adds Danio about Dionísio.

After being part of the Zona Sul supermarket team, he was announced on the 25th as Guanabara’s new wine consultant, during a dinner at the Fasano Hotel, in Ipanema.

In his new role, he formed a team of 52 people who now work with the public. Four of the 28 stores have an exclusive daily service, while other professionals are distributed to meet demand in 14 others. Dionísio also circulates between units, as a surprise.

The selection he made includes 300 labels of wines and sparkling wines, from countries such as Portugal, France, Chile and South Africa. The next project is to develop a Brazilian sparkling wine to be sold only in supermarkets.

— The entry of Dionísio adds technical knowledge, refined sensitivity and passion for this universe — says the marketing director of the supermarket, Albino Pinho.

For Dionísio, this is another stage in his trajectory, certainly glamorous, but essentially “work-oriented”.