The best food pairings for rioja

Rioja - and by that I mean red rioja - is one of the UK’s best-loved wines and one of the easiest ones to match with food too.

As you’d expect it pairs particularly well with Spanish food especially lamb and pork and recipes that contain red peppers, pimenton, garlic and saffron.

The main thing to bear in mind is the style of the wine - whether it’s a young (joven) rioja which can handle quite robust, even spicy dishes, or an older (reserva or gran reserva) one which would benefit from more simply prepared food.

Riojas that are made in a more modern style can also handle more spice than more traditional ones. Modern Indian food with rioja is a surprising hit.

These dishes will generally work with most riojas:

* Almost any kind of lamb dish from roast lamb to tender lamb cutlets grilled over vine clippings (a local favourite in the region) to slow braised lamb shanks or even a rogan josh. Shepherds pie, Lancashire hotpot, merguez, moussaka . . . It’s hard to think of a lamb dish that doesn’t work with rioja.

* Many pork dishes especially cooked Spanish style with beans. Chorizo and morcilla (black pudding) are both good pairings for younger riojas as are jamon (ham) and albondigas (meatballs) making red rioja a good match for more robust tapas.

* Dishes with red peppers and/or pimenton or paprika

* Almost any kind of mild or medium-hot dish with chillies like chilli con carne and other chiles. (Rioja suits south-west American food and American barbecue)

* Dishes with saffron such as paella or Moroccan tagines - including, surprisingly, chicken with preserved lemon and olives and Mediterranean-style fish stews

* Older gran reserva riojas are especially good with roast game birds such as pheasant and partridge. Indian-style game dishes work well with younger riojas

* Cheese, especially hard sheeps’ cheeses such as Manchego, although a mellow rioja reserva is a generally reliable choice with a cheeseboard - unlike many reds.

See also The best matches for white Rioja

What wines and beers to pair with meaty stews and casseroles

Meaty stews and casseroles are hearty, comfort food so what type of wine should you pair with them or is beer a better match?

When it comes to pairing wine with a stew most of us would instinctively turn to a red, the big issue being how full-bodied it should be.

There are two ways of looking at it. Stews tend to be intensely flavoured with a rich thick sauce so you could argue that you need a big wine to hold its own. But that can be overwhelming. I prefer a slightly lighter more rustic red - grape varieties such as Syrah, Grenache, Malbec and Tempranillo hit the spot for me.

Of course it does depend what liquid’s in the stew. If it’s beer, as in a classic Belgian carbonnade then it’s almost wilful to drink anything else. Stews that have a savoury, meaty almost marmitey taste pair better with ales than with wine.

If they’re made with wine however. as in the classic French daube, it’s best to choose a similar style but slightly better quality of the wine you used for the dish. (Though not everyone agrees - see Marc Millon's argument in favour of cooking with Barolo)

If the stew is spicy like goulash or a tagine I would choose slightly sweeter style of red such as an Australian Shiraz, Zinfandel, Pinotage or a modern Spanish red, wines that also come into play when you serve sweet flavoured veg such as sweet potatoes, butternut squash and corn alongside. But watch out for big tannins which can combine with spicy flavours to create a palate overload.

Best wines for stews

• Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages, or, better still, village wines with their own denomination such as Cairanne or Vacqueyras

• Other Rhône appellations such as Crozes-Hermitage, Gigondas and Lirac

• Languedoc reds such as Corbières, Faugères and Minervois

• Rioja crianza and similar Spanish reds from e.g. Navarra

• Reds from the Douro in Portugal

• Barbera from Piedmont - or elsewhere

• Argentinian Malbec (and French Cahors)

• Australian or South African Shiraz

• Zinfandel - especially for rich stews such as braised oxtail or ox cheek

• Pinotage (particularly for spicier stews)

Best beers for stews

• Classic British ales such as Young’s Special London Ale, Timothy Taylor Landlord and Theakston's Old Peculier

• Strong Belgian beers such as Chimay and northern French beers from the Pas de Calais region

• Brown ales (for simple, old-fashioned stews without too much seasoning)

• Stout or porter - if that’s what the dish is cooked in.

Image © casanisa at shutterstock.com

6 of the best pairings for chilli con carne

Like many popular dishes chilli con carne has many different versions - some mild and child-friendly, others much more spicy and assertive and often a little smokey.

Beer in many way seems the best option but a big hearty red will see you right too:

* American- or Belgian-style Brown ale - I highlighted this pairing in a past ‘match of the week’ but have since discovered that the Norwegian brewery Nøgne Ø makes a terrific imperial brown ale that I think would be a great match for an authentic chilli

* A dark lager like the Mexican Negra Modelo

* A porter which has some smokiness of its own

* Zinfandel - keeping the American vibe going . . .

* Argentine Malbec or a Malbec blend - always a good solution for beef

* Inexpensive Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon - the ideal choice for supermarket ready meals.

Vegetarian chillis suit similar wines but possibly slightly less full-bodied versions.

Image © kab-vision - Fotolia.com

The best food pairings for syrah

Syrah and shiraz, as you may know, are the same grape variety but quite different in character. Syrah, especially from the Northern Rhône, tends to be savoury, shiraz from Australia, far more sweet-fruited.

In this guide, I’m concentrating on food pairings for syrah. Learn, for example... 

*Which meats and cooking styles bring out the best in syrah’s savoury notes?

*Are there surprising vegetarian or cheese pairings that work beautifully with syrah?

*How do you pair high-end syrahs like Côte Rôtie or Hermitage with food?

*What unexpected dishes, like fish or Moroccan tagines, pair well with syrah?

What sort of food goes with syrah?

In a nutshell, meat, especially steak and other beef dishes. Particularly if it’s grilled or cooked on an open fire. With an inexpensive syrah think steak frites: a rib of beef with a finer, more expensive wine.

Pork is also good, especially if it’s grilled.

Garlicky Toulouse sausages are divine. In fact garlic generally makes syrah sing as do fragrant herbs such as thyme, oregano and rosemary (think Provençal and southern French food generally). Be wary about black pepper though. Just because there are peppery notes in syrah doesn’t mean you should pair it with peppery food. Something like a steak in pepper sauce can cancel out the pepper notes in the wine.

Oh and black olives. Great with syrah if you want to add them to a dish.

Why not lamb? Personally I think there are better matches for lamb. For me lamb is best with cabernet, tempranillo (especially rioja) and Italian reds but I’m not going to get precious about it. Go for it!

In terms of pairing syrah with vegetarian dishes I’d go for hearty dishes based on beans or lentils and intensely flavoured vegetables like aubergines and mushrooms. And syrah is one of the best red wines with cheese.

I’d also suggest different food pairings for different styles of syrah.

Young quaffable syrah

These are often natural, brimming with fresh, bright berry fruit - real vins de soif (thirstquenching wines) as the French call them. Perfect with charcuterie and cheese - so the wine for your fancy meat and cheese platter. Especially with olives!

Young syrahs are also good with lighter meats like grilled and sautéed chicken and rabbit like this braised rabbit dish.

Medium bodied syrah around 2-5 years old

e.g. Crozes-Hermitage, or Saint-Joseph (sometimes referred to as cool climate syrah)

We’re talking slightly more substantial, more full-bodied syrah here, with a bit of bottle age. Typically from the northern Rhône.

So grilled meat again, obviously but also think braises and daubes which are excellent with this style, especially beef short ribs (especially with Cornas). Oxtail and ox cheek too. And I do like black pudding with a syrah. (Haggis too, come to that)

Although I prefer a ripe new world style with barbecue (see below) they’re also tops with a fatty lamb belly kebab according to my colleague Zeren Wilson. And, to my surprise, with this pairing with coffee and maple syrup-brined pork though I’d probably still go for the fruitier type of syrah below.

Think cheese too with this style of syrah. Aged Comté can be bliss.

Ripe fruity syrah from e.g. California and Chile.

Typically fruitier than Northern Rhône syrah but less ripe and full-bodied than an Australian shiraz.

Great with American-style barbecue and spicy marinades, especially with pork (think pulled pork. Look at this pairing of spicy grilled quail and a Boekenhoutskloof Syrah too. They work with hoisin duck too.

You could even try it with seared or grilled meaty fish like tuna as in this pairing with Elephant Hill syrah.

If your wine is labelled shiraz, particularly if it comes from Australia, click here.

Posh syrah

Syrah produces some of the most seductive wines in the world - think Côte Rôtie, Hermitage and Grange (which in my view counts more as a syrah than a shiraz from a pairing perspective) If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on a bottle what should you pair with it?

Basically the answer is the same sort of food you’d eat with a cheaper syrah, only up the quality. Think rib of beef, Chateaubriand, Wagyu beef and aged Galician beef. Venison and wild boar will also show off a top syrah as will feathered game such as grouse, pheasant and pigeon/squab (see also below). Same goes for goose - top Rhône syrah is a great wine to put on the Christmas table. It also has the intensity to handle rich wine-based sauces or ‘jus’.

You might also think of veal kidneys if you like them.

Syrah (along with syrah blends) also handles cheese better than more fragile burgundies or Bordeaux so they’re a good wine to drink with a cheeseboard as long as you avoid pungent washed-rind cheeses and strong blues.

Older syrah vintages

Syrah ages well, often developing a gamey note which itself goes well with game, especially pheasant, pigeon and woodcock as you can see from this report about a spectacular Cambridge college dinner. That’s true of ‘new world’ syrah too as this pairing of a 17 year old Californian syrah and venison proves.

Think too of well matured beef like Pete Hannan’s Himalayan salt-aged beef which will bring the fruit in an older vintage to the fore.

And you might be surprised but the gentle spicing of Moroccan food, especially tagines, seems to work well with mature syrah. Worth thinking about them with middle-eastern and Persian food too.

What are your favourite pairings with syrah?

Read this post if you’re looking for matches for shiraz though there is obviously some overlap.

Top photo ©chiyacat at shutterstock.com
Charcuterie photo ©rawpixel at shutterstock.com
Wagyu beef photo ©hlphoto at shutterstock.com