Haute Cuisine and Rhône Wines Merge in a Unique Evening in Gran Canaria
Borja Marrero's Muxgo restaurant in Gran Canaria hosted a wine pairing dinner with M. Chapoutier wines, emphasizing respect for origin and terroir.
By Gara León Betancourt
••3 min read
IA
Generic image of a wine glass being served in a fine dining restaurant.
Muxgo restaurant in Gran Canaria was the setting for an exclusive wine pairing dinner that united Borja Marrero's culinary proposal with the prestigious wines of the French house M. Chapoutier, under the motto of respect for origin and terroir.
The evening, organized by Primeras Marcas together with Cadiex and Galaco, served to present the distribution of M. Chapoutier wines in the Canary Islands, reinforcing the commitment to position the archipelago in exclusive gastronomic circuits. The presence of Michel Chapoutier, owner of the winery, highlighted the importance of terroir as the common thread of the experience, a philosophy shared with Marrero's cuisine.
The M. Chapoutier winery, founded in 1818 and revived by Michel Chapoutier in 1990, is distinguished by its vision that wine should be the most faithful expression of the soil from which it comes, without artifice. This perspective finds a perfect echo in Muxgo, where each dish by Borja Marrero is based on local produce and a deeply rooted interpretation of Tejeda and the rest of Gran Canaria.
The event began with a series of appetizers that reflected Marrero's proposal, such as prickly pear tartar with citrus milk and corn tartlet with green mojo. These bites, which condense the landscape and memory of the island, were paired with a Châteauneuf-du-Pape white, a wine from the southern Rhône that, according to Michel Chapoutier, possesses a "slightly terpenic" aromatic identity characteristic of the area.
“
"The important thing is not the acidity, but the noble bitterness and the journey on the palate."
The menu continued with emblematic dishes from Muxgo, such as cold hay soup with creamy fermented tomato in sheep fat and three-milk curd with Canarian pine bark and Bentayga biscuit. The amberjack cured in pine bark, herbs, and tomato water, was paired with an exclusive Hermitage Chante-Alouette 2021, a wine that, according to Chapoutier, seeks its own evolution and the best expression of the place.
“
"We do not seek to make the best wine, but the best expression of the place."
The second sequence included Mogán soldier shrimp macerated in sunflower seed oil, cheese soup bound with bienmesabe, and flame-grilled eggplant with sorrel hollandaise, demonstrating Marrero's ability to reinterpret the territory. These dishes were accompanied by the Hermitage De l'Orée 2018, a wine that illustrates how a different terroir can completely modify the structure and complexity of the same grape.
“
"Terroir is not a discourse, it is something that can be verified in the glass."
The savory highlight was the Aquanaria sea bass with trebolina pilpil and Canarian pine bark caviar, paired with an Hermitage Le Méal 2018, a wine that stood out for its minerality and structure. The savory finale, a Wellington lamb with crystal bread and its own cured ham, was accompanied by the red Les Varonniers 2018, an expression of Syrah with notes of graphite and ash, which, according to Chapoutier, finds its best expression in its place of origin.
“
"Syrah is born here, and it is here where it is best understood."
The evening concluded with Muxgo's "Estrellas" dessert, accompanied by Louis Roederer Philippe Starck Brut Nature 2018 champagne, sealing a night where two identities, the Rhône and Gran Canaria, recognized each other in a shared gastronomic philosophy: territory as the soul of cuisine and wine.