One wine, two cultures
To enter the U.S.A. market and become the best selling white wine in the country, Pinot Grigio Santa Margherita had to pass a pairing test with one of the least elaborate yet most typical Italian dishes: traditional spaghetti with tomato sauce.
This seemingly simple pairing brought to light one of Santa Margherita’s greatest strengths: the ability of its wines to “communicate” with the work of chefs, no matter whether they are professionals or just cooking for the family.
In the past fifty years, this ability hasn’t waned; on the contrary, the company’s overall appreciation for the many cuisines in the world has increased, magnified by the success of Expo in Milan.
One of the cuisines that stands out particularly from the many dishes that are showing all their value at the exhibition is South American food. This cuisine uses local produce and mixes it with Spanish gastronomic tradition which has been slowly influenced by the traditional foods of European and Asian immigrants . An example of this is Peruvian cuisine that uses an array of amazing products ranging from fruit from the Amazonian forest and the Andes, and fish from the Pacific ocean.
One of the new, great interpreters of this cuisine is chef Diego Munoz from “Astric & Gaston” in Lima, one of the 50 finest South American restaurants. His culinary carrier started in 1998 when he toured the world’s finest international restaurants. In 2012 he returned to Peru where he renewed the cuisine of the already well-established restaurant of Acurio, moving it up from position 42 to 14 in the list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in just three years.
Santa Margherita and Diego Munoz worked together hand-in-hand, pairing Peruvian specialties including Ceviche Chalaco, potato and crab pie, rice with Andean pumpkin and maize desserts, with four exceptional wines: “Metodo Classico Brut Rosé Athesis” Alto Adige Doc di Kettmeir; “Luna dei Feldi”, Alto Adige Doc 2014, Santa Margherita; Chianti Classico Riserva Docg, Vigneto di Campolungo 2010, Lamole di Lamole; “Moscato Rosa Athesis” Alto Adige 2011, Kettmeir.
This teamwork was recently performed at Expo during the “Un vino, due culture” (one wine, two cultures) dinner/tasting event dedicated to the new narrators of taste, i.e. wine and food bloggers whose opinions are becoming more and more respected by foodies.
