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

My favourite food pairings with Viognier

Viognier (pronounced vee-on-yee-ay) is a rich, exotically fruity white wine, sometimes achieving quite high levels of alcohol so what are the ideal foods to pair with it?

It generally goes well with the sort of ingredients and dishes that match well with chardonnay and oaked chenin blancs but with a spicier twist.

Viognier food pairings

* Top of my list would be mild creamy curries like kormas or spicy south-east Asian curries. Even curries made with curry powder work well as do spicy dishes with a hint of peach or apricot, echoing the flavours in the wine

* mild spicy noodle dishes like Pad Thai

* chicken salads with apricot, peach or mango like coronation chicken

* fruity chicken - and even lamb - tagines with apricot

* dishes with ginger, saffron and coconut

* chicken, pork or rabbit with creamy sauces, especially if the dish includes a dash of viognier itself like this springlike dish. More intensely flavoured viogniers can stand up to roast pork, chicken and turkey

* Rich shellfish dishes such as seared scallops, grilled lobster and baked crab, especially with a hint of spice

* creamy and buttery cheeses

* sweet root vegetables especially carrots, parsnips and sweet potatoes and spicy butternut squash

Note: Viognier’s original home is in the Rhône though oddly I don’t think it’s a great pairing for Mediterranean food. You also find great viogniers in California and Australia whose most noted specialist is Yalumba.

Viognier is also incorporated into rich white blends that would match similar dishes to the above (see this match of the week for example) - and also blended with Syrah/Shiraz though those would call for quite a different pairing

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Which wine to pair with a Moroccan tagine?

Exotic and aromatic, Moroccan tagines somehow manage to suit all types of weather and not being particularly spicy are relatively simple to match with wine. The best wine pairing for tagine depends of course on the type of tagine you’re eating.

It’s all about complementing the dish’s warm spices and rich, slow-cooked flavours. Consider the dominant elements in the tagine—whether it’s earthy, sweet, or citrusy—and match the wine’s weight and acidity accordingly. A medium-bodied wine with a touch of spice or fruitiness often works beautifully, while whites with bright acidity can lift dishes featuring preserved lemon or olives. The right pairing will enhance the dish without overshadowing its intricate balance of flavors.

In this guide I’ll cover my top wine matches for different popular styles of tagine including lamb tagine, of course, as well as chicken and vegetable tagines, and even duck! 

Lamb tagines

Lamb tagines usually incorporate some kind of fruit, most commonly dried fruits like figs or prunes, so the wine should mirror its sweetness while balancing the spices.

I generally like lamb tagine with mellow aged reds like Rioja reservas or similar oak-aged Spanish reds, inexpensive southern Italian reds such as Nero d’Avola, Negroamaro and Aglianico, Lebanese reds or of course reds from Morocco itself.

You could also try a brighter, fruitier red with good acidity like this Marcel Lapierre Morgon I reported on here, especially if lighter fruits such as apricots are involved. See also... 

Lamb tagine with prunes and Chateauneuf-du-Pape

Lamb tagine with dates, prunes, and apricots and a very good Beaujolais

Chicken or vegetable tagines with preserved lemon
You’d think white wine would be the natural go to for a dish like this but I’d be cautious. The lemon flavour in the tagine may well strip out any citrussy flavours in the wine so I’d go for a simple crisp white rather than a Sauvignon Blanc which is a bit too similar in taste. Or for a Hunter Valley Semillon as suggested here.

Better still would be a strong dry southern French rosé such as the Costières de Nimes I mention here or, you might be surprised to learn, an aged Rioja or similar Spanish red as recommended above. You might think red is a weird choice with this type of dish but it works really well provided the wine is not too alcoholic or ripe. So not a 14.5% Chilean or Californian blockbusters! 

See also..

Chicken and vegetable tagine with southern French rosé

Chicken, lemon and olive tagline with Rioja Reserva

Duck tagine and Moscatel 

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