LA RIOJA. NAVARRA. ARAGÓN

The cuisine of these three regions has in common the presence of the rich vegetables from the lands watered by the Ebro River and its tributaries.

La Rioja is a Paradise for those who love good eating and drinking. Most of those who visit the region are seduced by the popularity of its extraordinary wines. Maybe that is why, because it is no very well known, it is most surprising the quality and variety of its gastronomy. La Rioja outstands overall for the quality of its menestras, its pimientos and its patatas a la riojana. But we will stop more, obviously, in its wines. Among the vinos de La Rioja outstand the red vintage wines in oak, with the support of the tempranillo grape variety, a grape that gives elegance, richness of aromas and a complexity of flavors to the wines of this region, which popularity has extended all over the world (other grape varieties of the region are mazuelo, garnacha and graciano)

The Navarra cuisine can be defined as a good combination of original elements from the delicious kitchen of the northern Spain with delicate French influences. The vegetables from its banks, the meat from its mountains and the fish from its rivers are used to prepare dishes like los pimientos del piquillo rellenos or los cogollos de Tudela, el cordero en chilindrón or la trucha a la Navarra. Chesses, as the Roncal or the Idiazábal one, are very important as well. Pacharán is the most important liqueur. Among its wines, although vinos de Navarra have a great potential, it has had the difficult enterprise of differentiating itself from its neighbor La Rioja. That is why it is specialized in the making of light rosé wines from the garnacha grape variety, both perfect to practice the chateo, or to enjoy summer lunches. This trend is changing lately with a new bet on vintage wines with a great future potential.

The Aragonesa cuisine, as well as the Riojana or Navarra one, it is based on a variety of popular stews that contain meat, vegetables, fish or legumes. In Aragón, the asados de ternasco, the hams from Teruel, the olive oil and overall, its four wine zones with D.O., are very famous. Among the vinos de Aragón, are Cariñena, Calatayud, Campo de Borja and, the most famous of all of them, Somontano. This last one has gained a great recognition and popularity because of its elegant and well structured varieties of wines, the other denominations are fighting to get for their wines the same recognition from the consumer both national and international