Rioja Flavor & Pairing Chart

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VIBRANT RIOJA Rioja Wine Flavor & Pairing Chart

Style examples flavors pairing

Stainless-steel fermented white Rioja Bodegas Riojanas Clean and citrusy with Pair with grilled chicken salad with Arugula Light, crisp, modern-style white Riojas are Puerta Vieja aromas of fresh stone fruit and lemon pepper dressing; roasted beets fermented in stainless steel vats and are Blanco, Marqués (peach, apricot), ripe pears and goat cheese salad; shrimp cocktail released after only a few months of bottle de Cáceres and green apples. aging. These deliver extraordinary Blanco Makes a great white . value and consistency. Made primarily with the native Viura grape variety, Enjoy as a super-quaffable pre-meal aperitif occasionally supplemented by on its own or with a splash of crème de and Garnacha Blanca cassis to make a light and lovely kir.

Barrel-fermented white Rioja Modern: Modern: Aromas of vanilla, Modern: Barrel-fermented white Rioja is a Modern-style -aged white Riojas Bodegas Breton coconut, butter, tropical fruit, great substitute, recommended are fermented in 225-liter French oak Loriñon Blanco and honey. A rich mouthfeel, with richer fish (salmon, tuna), shellfish and barriques, often kept on their lees (spent almost creamy, good stronger flavors like garlic (think codfish with yeast), which adds a tropical fruity richness Classic: López pineapple-like acidity, and garlic and clams), and things that actually and -like yeasty complexity. de Heredia Viña a dry finish. have fruit in them (mango salsa, couscous Tondonia Blanco with blond raisins and stewed chicken–think Classic white Rioja is fermented in Gran Reserva Classic: Expect heady and North African), and of course, dessert. enormous seasoned American oak seductive aromas of honey, cubos, with up to ten years in bottle almonds, coconut, Classic: Great with mushrooms, asparagus, before release pineapple, and an almost lobster, grilled white fish (turbot, Dover sole, petrol-like minerality. halibut). The aged-whites of Rioja are some of the most food-compatible wines in the world.

Rioja Rosado () Usually made with Marqués de Exuberant aromas of red Perfect for quenching your thirst on a hot Garnacha, sometimes (or a Riscal Rosado, berry fruit–think cherry and day (or for conjuring summer on cold days), blend of the two), Rioja Rosados have López de strawberry–with a dry finish we like Rioja Rosados alongside North a barely perceptible touch of textural Heredia Viña African vegetable purees, with peppered astringency (the result of minimal grape Tondonia tuna sashimi, and as a fruity foil for fresh skin contact) and good acidity, making Rosado Gran goat cheese. Just be sure to look for bottle them surprisingly versatile food wines. Reserva, Muga from the most recent . With very few Usually unoaked. Rosado exceptions, Rosado is not meant to age. So drink ‘em if you got ‘em.

Rioja Tinto (Red) Joven (young) wines are Joven: Pagos del The fruitiest red made in Great as a sipping wine (in other words, exuberant reds with minimal (less than 12 Rey El Círculo Rioja. Very summery aromas: what you drink while you’re cooking dinner) months) oak aging or no oak aging at all. Joven 2007, strawberries and cherries. and a summer barbecue wine, also great for Bodegas Beronia red sangria and marinades. Pair with beef or Increasingly, producers of ultra modern Joven 2005 Highly extracted bruisers with turkey chili, Chinese food, vegetable curry. Rioja are opting out of classic age lush mouthfeel, abundant designations (Crianza, etc.) in favor of a Ultra Modern: tannins, super-concentrated Try with a sweet cow’s milk blue cheese generic Rioja seal. Typically sourced from Telmo Rodriguez red or black fruit, and (Stilton, Fourme d’Ambert), roasted loin old sites with highly specific Lanzaga 2004, complex aromas rich with of venison with prunes, grilled ribeye profiles, these wines tend to see all Finca El Bosque chocolate, baking spices, steak, cassoulet, beef bourguignon, pasta new French oak and hit the market as early 2004, Artadi licorice, tar, fresh tobacco, Bolognese. as three years after . Pagos Viejos 2004 and sweet flowers.

Rioja Tinto (Red) Crianza An easy Marqués de Big aromas of strawberries, Rioja’s everyday wine. As an aperitif, with drinking style, Crianzas tend to emphasize Tomares Crianza, cherries, with varying spicy food (think of how a chutney cools the fresh fruit above all else and spend less Campo Viejo degrees of toasty/vanilla mouth when you’re eating spicy Indian food), time in bottle than Reservas. Aged for a Crianza, flavors and aromas (from whole roasted fish, lasagna. Crianzas’ fruity minimum of two years, one of which must Bodegas LAN the oak) depending on the freshness also makes them a perfect foil for be in oak barrels. Crianza producer and the type of aged sheep’s milk cheeses like Manchego, oak used; but in general acting almost like a schmear of fruit jam on fruity and clean on the top of a buttery, slightly piquant cheese. palate, super quaffable.

vibrantrioja.com Rioja Wine Flavor & Pairing Chart

Style examples flavors pairing

Rioja Tinto (Red) Reserva Classic: Classic style Riojas are aged A wine to bring to a dinner party or enjoy Aged for a minimum of 12 months in oak Bodegas Bretón in American oak barrels, at home during languorous multi-course and at least 24 in bottle before release, Loriñon Reserva, and for considerably longer Sunday meal. Great with shellfish paella, Rioja Reserva is the benchmark Rioja, Bodegas than the D.O.Ca. requires; roasted leg of lamb, wild mushroom risotto, the age category on which most Riojanas Monte they tend to have more lamb tagine, grilled chorizo, barbecued beef bodegas stake their reputations. Real Reserva, developed, eathier aromas brisket, ratatouille, moo-shoo pork. Bodegas with less noticeable fresh Montecillo fruit but more complexity Reserva and finesse.

Modern: Marqués Modern styles of Reserva de Riscal Baron tend to have flavor profiles de Chirel, tending towards chocolate, Cosme Palacios sweet spices, and what y Hermanos the Spanish call sabores Reserva Privada, balsamicas – fennel, anise, Viñedos licorice, etc. del Contino Reserva 2000

Rioja Tinto (Red) Gran Reserva Marqués de A seductive and complex A special occasion wine. Excellent with fall Made only in the best years and aged for Murrieta Castillo blend of subtle spice and and winter stews, sautéed mushrooms, a minimum of five years (two years in oak de Ygay Gran soft fruit: blackberries, duck confit, roasted squab or pheasant, and three years in bottle), although many Reserva, Ramon dried cherries, and cinnamon chestnut soup. bodegas choose to age them for much Bilbao Gran overlain with very developed, longer. Wines of superlative elegance Reserva, so-called tertiary flavors that and finesse, ready to drink upon release. Marqués de are the hallmark of the Cáceres Gran Old World style: cigar Reserva, box, leather, wet earth, Campo Viejo mushrooms, truffles, and Gran Reserva faded flowers. A wine to linger over and return to over the course of a meal, offering the patient drinker something different with each visit to the glass.

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