The Black Diamond, the Royal Danish Library’s waterfront extension, is an imposing structure that sits on prime harbour-front real estate in Copenhagen, and, on a warm summer’s afternoon, has more than a touch of Venetian promise about it.

And on a sunny June afternoon this year, it provided the perfect backdrop to an elegant meal at one of Copenhagen’s most famed restaurants, Søren K – a meal that had the added attraction of being paired with wine from one of Chile’s best wineries.

Nothing as fine as Chilean wine
Chilean wine has, for many years, made its mark on the international wine scene and its wines have markedly improved over the years. An excellent example is the winery Casa Marin, located in the San Antonio valley – an hour’s drive to the west of Santiago and only a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean.

The winery, which was started in 2000, but whose wines didn’t go into production until 2003, has during this short time garnered a lot of accolades: its Sauvignon Blanc, Cipreses, was given the title of ‘World’s best Sauvignon Blanc’ in 2009. And Casa Marin hasn’t looked back since, with accolades such as ‘outstanding wine’ and an entry level of 90+ according to the consumer guide to fine wine, Robert Parker.

Like mother, like son
The San Antonio valley is not known for its wine production, with its coastal climate and the resultant temperamental weather conditions – it is not unknown, in fact, for a difference of 15 to 20 degrees to be observed within the space of just ten kilometres!

Nevertheless, Maria Lupiz, who started the winery, trained her son well and he now works as an expert winemaker for this very special house producing very special wines.

Inspired menu
And that special quality carried over to our night at Søren K, whose new chef, Casper Sobczyk, created an inspired menu featuring local, Nordic ingredients to go along with the wines.

Featured was a shrimp starter with Rossini caviar paired with Casa Marin Riesling Miramar 2009 and Casa Marin Sauvignon Gris 2013; a dish of asparagus and ‘sea foam’, paired with Casa Marin Cipreses 2010 Cipreses 2014; barbecue pork sourced from Grambogård and coupled with Casa Marin Pinot Noir 2009 and Casa Marin Syrah Miramar 2010; and finally a ‘Port and CPH’ strawberry dessert combined with Casa Marin Late Harvest 2009.

All wines mentioned can be purchased at nemlig.dk