El Santo Latin American Restaurant, in Glasgow’s Merchant City, is to host its first ever Wine Dinner on Tuesday, the 26th of May.

Diners at this very special event will enjoy a five course dinner devised by Brazilian Head Chef, Juliana Kipper, served with matched wines from renowned Uruguayan winemaker, Juan Andres Marichal. Attending the dinner in person, Juan, whose family vineyard, Marichal, is in the Canelones region of Uruguay, will present each wine to guests, explaining its heritage and flavour profile.

He has worked closely with Juliana to select wines that complement her dishes, including a Chandon Brut to accompany the Tuna Tostada starter, served with salsa Negra, kimchi emulsion & caviar, a “Natural Orange Wine” to enjoy with the Scallops fish course, accompanied by sweet potato puree and sugarcane molasses, and a Marichal Tannat, or Pinot Noir, to drink with Juliana’s signature Picanha steak main course. The star of the menu, it is served with cassava puree, shallots & okra.

Along with Tannat and Pinot Noir, the Marischal vineyard grows Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc.

Other courses on Juliana’s menu include a cooling avocado sorbet, served before the main course, which comes with lemon & extra virgin olive oil, and for dessert, a delectable Dulce de Leche Fondant with coconut & walnut. These dishes are matched with a Marischal Albarino, and an Alcyone Tannat Dessert Wine, respectively.

“We are very excited to debut our first ever wine dinner here at El Santo, showcasing the incredible skills of Juliana, our talented head chef, who brings all her knowledge and experience of Latin American cuisine, particularly the Brazilian dishes of her upbringing, to bear,” said Restaurant Operations Manager, Denny Norris.

“It’s an honour to partner wine expert, Juan Andres, in this experience. His wines are absolutely exceptional, with vines grown on the gently sloping hills of his family winery, on clay soils, and with a hot Mediterrean style climate. He tells us that being only 40km from the sea, they get cooling breezes during the blazing hot summers, which give his wines their distinctive character.”

Denny finished by saying: “Guests coming on this special dinner are in for a treat, with the opportunity to try some beautiful wines which are specially matched to Juliana’s food, in terms of the flavour profiles. Please book online at: https://www.sevenrooms.com/experiences/elsantouk/wine-dinner-5078807650025472 to secure your space. We expect this dinner to be extremely popular. We hope to make wine dinners of this nature a regular occurrence here at El Santo.”

The El Santo Wine Dinner on 26TH May, 630pm for 7pm, costs £70pp.

El Santo is situated in Miller Street in the Merchant City.

Further details at: http://www.elsanto.co.uk