A rosé from the Margón winery, made from Prieto Picudo grapes from Pajares de los Oteros, was served at the official dinner, alongside a Godello and a Mencía from El Bierzo

A rosé wine certified by the Regulatory Council of the León Designation of Origin and made from Prieto Picudo grapes from vineyards in Pajares de los Oteros by the Margón winery added colour, aroma and flavour to the dinner served at the Episcopal Palace in Madrid to mark the visit to Spain of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV. The menu, devised by the Royal Academy of Gastronomy to be shared with the Holy Father, was a highly representative showcase of the richness and diversity of Spain’s gastronomic heritage, as well as the quality of the province’s wines.

Alongside the Trapera, an aged wine from the 2024 vintage made from grapes of the DO León’s flagship variety, a Cuvée Lhardy—a white Godello from the same vintage—and an Ultreia Villegas 2023, a red Mencía also from the Bercian region, were served. All three were produced by the prestigious Raúl Pérez, twice voted the world’s best winemaker, who also works in Valdevimbre. “He really liked the rosé,” revealed Abel Valverde, the director in charge of the service.

Conceived as a journey through some of the most iconic products, recipes and dishes of the Spanish culinary tradition, it was a tour of foods and places with a reputation of their own, such as Galician spider crab, Motril prawns (Granada), Cantabrian monkfish, Iberian ham from Huelva, gazpacho, ensaladilla, croquettes made from cocido and the legendary Lhardy soufflé. And, of course, wines, this time from the interior of the peninsula, one of them from the León Designation of Origin.

It was catered for—and this is where the link with the province comes in—by the catering company Lhardy, one of the historic institutions of Madrid’s culinary scene and a symbol of heritage and excellence, which was responsible for selecting the very best produce. Lhardy is also one of Madrid’s top restaurants — one of the group’s five, alongside El Pescador, O’Pazo, Filandón and Desde 1911 — owned by the parent company Pescaderías Coruñesas, the major national distributor of seafood and fish with deep roots in the province of León, as its founders and owners are descendants of former mule drivers from Combarros who currently run their wine-making business in Pajares de los Oteros and San Esteban de Valdueza, where they also grow, in the vegetable garden of the monastic farm at Santullano, the vegetables that form the basis of the rich cuisine served in all their restaurants and catering services.

Through this initiative, the Royal Academy of Gastronomy has had the opportunity to show King Louis XIV how Spanish cuisine serves as a vehicle for culture, identity and hospitality, showcasing a small sample of the extraordinary diversity and excellence of our country’s food and cuisine. The dinner took place at the Episcopal Palace in Madrid as a natural extension of the cultural event held earlier at the Movistar Arena, highlighting gastronomy as one of our most significant cultural expressions, to which the Holy Father also referred in his address to the audience.