Wine & Food

Two dishes practically carry the region's name in their title, and both trace their origins straight back to the vineyard. Patatas a la riojana is a simple stew of crumbled potatoes, chorizo, and choricero peppers. It began as hearty, restorative food for field workers after a long day among the vine rows. This dish is salty and rich, generous with paprika-infused fat. It calls for a young Tempranillo with noticeable acidity, cutting through the fat like a squeeze of lemon on a schnitzel.

Chuletillas al sarmiento connect even more directly to the vine. Small lamb chops are grilled over burning sarmientos, the dry vine cuttings left over from winter pruning, which hold just the right heat for a short, intense burn. Here, wine and grilling wood literally come from the same vineyard, just harvested in different seasons.

With meat, a second rule comes into play: fat softens tannin. A young, still-angular Crianza suddenly turns rounder and more approachable next to a fatty chuletilla, without the wine itself changing at all. Meanwhile, a bolder Reserva from the warmer Rioja Oriental pairs better with a mature saddle of lamb, whose meat demands more structure in the glass.

Not everything along the Ebro is about meat. The fertile Ebro lowlands yield artichokes, asparagus, and white beans known as pochas, usually braised simply with olive oil and garlic. This greener, lighter fare calls for a white wine made from Viura rather than any red. Its citrus notes pick up exactly the freshness the vegetables bring to the table.

For aged Queso Camerano, on the other hand, reach for a Gran Reserva. This goat's milk cheese from the Sierra de Cameros is the only one in the region with its own protected designation of origin. Salt softens and rounds out tannin, which is why a wine that seemed austere in its youth suddenly tastes far more approachable alongside aged cheese. What lands on the table here has evolved over generations, not been designed on a drawing board. And that's exactly what comes through in every pairing.