Consumers today can enjoy several different styles of red (tinto) Rioja wines. Once you’re familiar with the different designations of Rioja reds and their characteristics, pairing them with perfect food matches will be a cinch.

Joven (young) Red Rioja wines not required to age for any period of time, and they commonly don’t spend time in oak barrels. They are medium bodied red wines full of strawberry and cherry fruit flavors. These wines are great barbecue wines, countering the char of the grill with brightness and fruit flavors, and they also pair well with dishes with stewed tomatoes or other vegetables – try Joven Riojas with chili, Cassoulet or pasta Bolognese.

Crianza Red Rioja is the every day drinking wine of the region. Aged at least two years, the wine must be in oak barrels one of those years to qualify as a Crianza. These wines are also full of berry fruit but but offer more earthiness and are more complex with vanilla and spice, thanks to the time spent in oak.

Crianza balances out spicy foods and is also great with hearty tomato-based dishes such as lasagna. The earthiness of the wine matches well with wild mushrooms, while the fresh fruit and complex spice and vanilla provides a perfect contrast to salty, rich cheeses such as Manchego.

In this next video, Patxi and Adrian discuss these two styles of wine and taste them with another pintxo made with prawns and wild mushrooms.

Crianza Rioja Wines paired with the Txalupa Pintxo

Find out how the Txalupa pintxo is made:

Recipe Demonstration of the Txalupa Pintxo

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