La Ponca promotes its Malvasia through a summer pairing with lobster Catalana

La Ponca, the winery based in Scriò in the municipality of Dolegna del Collio in northeastern Italy, said Monday that it is promoting its Malvasia through a summer food pairing with chef Paolo Dalla Torre of Il Pedrocchino, a long-running seafood restaurant in Sacile, in Friuli Venezia Giulia. The featured dish is lobster Catalana, a preparation built around lobster and fresh vegetables, presented as a match for the winery’s white wine.

The announcement places the collaboration within a broader effort to highlight Friuli Venezia Giulia’s food identity through products tied to both the coast and inland vineyards. In this case, the winery is linking a local expression of Malvasia with a seafood dish prepared by a chef who returned to the region after training and work experiences in Paris, Venice and Verona.

According to La Ponca, the pairing is meant to emphasize contrast and balance. The winery describes its Malvasia as combining saline and balsamic notes with hints of exotic fruit, along with a creamy texture and marked acidity. Those traits, it said, are intended to complement the sweetness of lobster and the crisp texture of raw or lightly prepared vegetables in the Catalana style, without either side dominating the other.

La Ponca said its Malvasia comes from vineyards farmed under organic practices designed to preserve soil balance and site identity. The winery added that cellar work is aimed at keeping varietal freshness while building complexity. The result, it said, is a wine suited to seafood pairings and summer service.

The collaboration also draws attention to Il Pedrocchino’s role in Friuli’s dining scene. The restaurant in Sacile has long focused on seafood, and Dalla Torre now leads the kitchen after professional experiences that included training at Alain Ducasse’s culinary school in Paris, work at Hotel Danieli in Venice and time at Ristorante Perbellini. La Ponca said his cooking style centers on technique and respect for ingredients, helping position the restaurant within contemporary regional seafood cuisine.

While producer-chef collaborations are common in Italian hospitality marketing, this one reflects a continuing push by wineries and restaurants to present regional gastronomy as a unified tourism asset. Friuli Venezia Giulia has increasingly promoted itself through combinations of wine, Adriatic seafood and borderland culinary traditions shaped by Italian, Central European and Slavic influences.

In that context, Malvasia holds a particular place. The grape appears in several parts of Italy, but producers in Friuli often stress versions marked by freshness, savory notes and adaptability at the table. By pairing it with lobster Catalana rather than a heavier cooked preparation, La Ponca is presenting the wine as suitable for dishes that rely on clarity of flavor and seasonal produce.

The initiative arrives at the start of the summer travel season, when wineries across northern Italy typically increase tastings, restaurant partnerships and destination-focused promotions aimed at visitors seeking food-and-wine experiences. For La Ponca, the message is clear: its Malvasia is not only a bottle to taste on its own, but part of a wider story about place, local agriculture and the connection between vineyard and kitchen in Friuli Venezia Giulia.