Italian food is one of the passions of Marques de Casa Concha winemaker, Marcelo Papa, who recommends his favorite pairings for you to try at home.
Marcelo Papa is the Technical Director for Concha y Toro, but he has also been the winemaker behind Marques de Casa Concha for over 21 years, painstakingly caring for all the details of its production, which is why we can say that he is one of the people who best know these wines.
On Winemaker’s Day, we sat down to talk with Marcelo Papa about his love for Italian food, and had a chance to ask him about his favorite pairings with Marques de Casa Concha. These are the three delicious suggestions you must try.
Burrata Salad
When it comes to Italian food, this fresh and flavor-packed Burrata Salad is one of Marcelo Papa’s favorites thanks to its simplicity, but also its high-quality products. Here, the star of the show is burrata, a cheese similar to mozzarella but creamier, made from buffalo milk, and one of the traditional products of Puglia. “You can buy burrata at the supermarket, and serve it with red tomato slices, fresh basil, salt, and lots of olive oil. It’s a very simple dish that goes really well with Marques de Casa Concha Chardonnay thanks to its freshness and the creaminess of the burrata, which like this Marques de Casa Concha Chardonnay, is both cool and delicious,” says Marcelo Papa.
Gnocchi with Pesto alla Genovese
“Another dish that I really enjoy is Gnocchi with Pesto,” Marcelo Papa confesses. By that he means Pesto alla Genovese, a traditional Italian sauce recognized as the one of the most famous in the world, thanks to its authentic blend of Italian flavors. The sauce, which is made with pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan cheese, salt, and extra virgin olive oil, is originally from Genoa (Liguria) and goes really well with pastas like gnocchi. Regardless of whether the gnocchi are made from potatoes or semolina, the intense flavor comes from the basil pesto which Marcelo Papa assures us “works really well with two of our wines.” Depending on your preference of white or red wines, the winemaker for Marques de Casa Concha suggests two options to pair with this exquisite dish. “You could pair it with Marques de Casa Concha Chardonnay or Marques de Casa Concha Pinot Noir.”
Eggplant Parmesan
And finally, there’s a Sicilian dish that Marcelo Papa loves. It’s a “pasta-less version of lasagna, made only with layers of fried eggplant, passata (tomato puree), mozzarella and Parmesan cheese,” explains the winemaker In general, “this dish goes really well with Marques de Casa Concha Carmenère. And while Italian food is not traditionally paired with Cabernet Sauvignon, since its dishes have little red meat, in this case, it could work quite nicely with Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon.” he concludes.
