The wonderful vintage absorbs, tires and burns energies. In Rioja, in Rías Baixas and in any wine area of the world. It is a so intense and transcendent period that all cultures have built up traditions and symbols around it. Among these, and in a very prominent place, there's a rich and exuberant array of culinary traditions, made by and for the time of the grape harvest.
This year we wanted to look at the different gastronomic trends that vine growing has founded in different places of Spain. In recent weeks we have published in our social networks several images of typical recipes from the harvest days, harmonized with some of our wines. Here we'd like to stretch the thread and complete a varied selection of culinary proposals originating from diverse geographies.
Bon Appétit!
Ancestral garlic soups in Castile's highlands
Garlic soup is a simple recipe made with dry bread, roasted garlic and, of course, pure water. It is a recipe as Spartan as the moors of Castile, where it used to be made so that the grape harvesters replenished and warmed up after hours picking up in the cold and fog of the morning.
It can become a more complete and tasty dish, and of higher category, if we add cured ham and an egg that will be poached in the heat of the soup itself.
We would love to have a good garlic soup accompanied by Conde de los Andes white wine. Its body and silky character and a certain structure make it an ideal wine for soups and creams.
In the Mediterranean vineyards, a salad made of legumes and marinated products
The addition of diverse ingredients is crucial to compose a dish as substantial as an "empedrado", a legume-based salad which includes flavourful marinated meats or salted fish, at the consumer's choice. It used to be made for lunch on the days of grape harvest in many regions of Valencia and southern Catalonia.
Among many other, a nice recipe could be white beans with seasonal tomatoes, chives, green pepper and marinated rabbit. Another one: on a base of cooked chickpeas, add raw green peppers, tender onions, black olives and a sort of crumbled cod. Season it all with extra virgin olive oil and vinegar.
With this type of dishes, we'd like to drink a vibrant wine, with a touch of spicy acidity and a very fruity background: Muriel Fincas de la Villa Rosado.
On the Galician coast: A casserole of potato and clams
It is like taking potatoes and vegetables from the fertile orchards with the right hand and seafood from the fertile estuary with the left hand. In this case we choose those wonderful clams that hide in the sand of the beaches and are collected by female marisqueiras when the tide falls. We owe them and their hard work a lot!
With all these fresh ingredients from the earth and the sea, the grape harvesters make a stew of extraordinary flavour, which condenses the great virtue of the simplest and most humble recipes: transforming nature into sensory pleasure. We would have this great casserole with our reference albariño: Pazo Cilleiro. Rich, full of nuances and very fresh, is a wine for all occasions.
In the vineyards of Mallorca, toasts of 'sobrasada' and honey
The viticultural side of Mallorca is not well known but the largest of the Spanish Mediterranean islands produces wines of a great interest, especially those made from native varieties such as callet.
In these days of harvest in the Mallorcan interior, the breaks in the harvest work are filled with the intense aromas of the 'sobrasada', roasted on vine shoots. When its texture has become creamy by heat, it is spread on a slice of bread and seasoned with a stream of honey. The combination is a surprise.
It's strong and fills the mouth with deep flavors that need a rich red wine with a trace of freshness. We would go for a Muriel Crianza. Its contribution of energy will be indispensable to have a joyful return to the work.
In the vineyard terraces of Rioja Alavesa, our apex of food tradition: ¡lamb cutlets over vine shoots!
Para acabar, nuestra receta campestre más auténtica y querida: chuletillas de cordero lechal asadas en parrilla a las brasas de los sarmientos cortados en la última poda. Suaves, suculentas, ahumadas, churruscadas, inconfundibles. No hay un sabor que nos represente mejor, y no hay nada que acompañe con más tipicidad la vendimia riojano-alavesa. Con ellas, siempre un gran vino de nuestros viñedos: por ejemplo, un Viña Muriel Reserva. Volumen y elegancia de la uva tempranillo, sentido de una rusticidad distinguida y de carácter atemporal. Y aún, un recuerdo de esa frescura de sotobosque y de los aires que desde el Atlántico consiguen llegar al valle del Ebro pasando entre desfiladeros. Una maravilla del clima, los suelos y la viticultura histórica."
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