Spanish ham and orange wine

There were other dishes on the table* - but it was the jamon de Teruel, a lesser known ham from Aragon in Spain, that was the standout pairing with the orange wine I was drinking last week.

It came from a company called Oranj which operates a subscription scheme curated by different sommeliers and restaurateurs who choose the wines that go into the monthly selection. It has the rather splendid name of Dinamo Nucleo X, comes from Umbria and, as you can see, has a glorious amber colour and an appealingly soft apricot and quince-like character which made it good introduction to orange wine. It's also only 11%.

It doesn’t seem to be available currently from Oranj (a good reason for subscribing) but you can buy the 2019 from Natural Born Wine though it might not be as charmingly fresh and fruity. (It comes in litre bottles).

You could try other orange wines too, obviously. I also liked the 2021 Airene from Vinos Ambiz I also bought from Oranj which is sadly out of stock now too. (You do need to subscribe to take advantage of the more interesting wines they get in)

I think it’s the slight saltiness and umami in Spanish ham that made the combination sing. The iberico ham above would also work brilliantly. For other great pairings with orange wine click here.

*we also had a punchy potato salad with a gribiche (egg, cornichon and caper) dressing and a tomato and green bean salad

Top image by Aves y estrellas at shutterstock.com