{"id":13795,"date":"2016-09-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-21T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.invinic.com\/five-classic-food-pairings-for-rioja-reserva"},"modified":"2017-10-05T14:44:27","modified_gmt":"2017-10-05T12:44:27","slug":"five-classic-food-pairings-for-rioja-reserva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.invinic.com\/en\/five-classic-food-pairings-for-rioja-reserva","title":{"rendered":"5 Rioja Food Pairing Ideas You Need In Your Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rioja wine is produced in many different styles, but the region is best known for its red wines. Red Rioja wines<\/strong> are usually a blend of a number of different grapes, primarily Tempranillo and often supported by Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo. This blend creates a wine that\u2019s great with a meal. Yet there are a few things to consider when making a rioja food pairing<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Click here to download a free Ebook and know more about the spanish red wines.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

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Remember Woodiness When Making Rioja Food Pairings<\/b><\/h2>\n

The<\/span> red wines of Rioja<\/span><\/a> are distinctive for the use of oak in their winemaking and aging, imparting many secondary aromas and flavour characteristics, particularly of vanilla. The wines of the region are classified in a number of categories according to the length and conditions of their aging. <\/span>Wines labelled<\/span><\/a> simply \u201cRioja\u201d (or perhaps \u201cJoven\u201d, meaning \u201cyoung\u201d) will have had with little to no aging, while at the other extreme is Rioja Gran Reserva, which must be aged for at least two years in oak and a further three years in bottle.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Rioja Reserva<\/b><\/h2>\n

Somewhere in the middle of these two extremes, you will find Rioja Reserva. These wines must be aged for a minimum of 12 months in oak and a further 24 months in bottle. Rioja Reserva is considered to be the hallmark style of the region, and many top wineries consider their Reserva to be their flagship wine. The additional aging beyond the Crianza level has a maturing effect on the wine, and the primary red fruit flavours of cherry and raspberry begin to give way to darker fruit and secondary characteristics such as vanilla, <\/span>chocolate<\/span><\/a>, coffee and earthy aromas. The oak gives structure and tannin, making these wines ideal for food pairing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more about Rioja <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Gordon Ramsay & the wine writer Matt Skinner speaking about food and wine matching<\/h2>\n

Will Matt Skinner be able to identify wines in a blind tasting?<\/span><\/p>\n