La Rioja provides the visitor with everything they need to eat well. Excellent lamb and beef come from the Camerana Sierra, and the local trout is unbeatable. La Rioja Alta produces the wines that go with this exceptional variety of delicacies. Even the most demanding of palates will be satisfied by the cuisine of La Rioja.
Among the most outstanding typical dishes are Rioja-style potatoes, vegetable soup, chops with vine shoots, kidney beans, stuffed peppers, pork and breadcrumbs, asparagus, stews, Rioja-style cod, crayfish and many more.
A meal in La Rioja satisfies even the most demanding diners. But this is also a land rich in pastries.
Among the sweets and typical desserts that will make the most refined of palates water are: Fardelejos (the most typical dessert in Arnedo, the main ingredient being almond); marzipans (eaten typically at Christmas, the most notable is Soto de Cameros. It is a ground almond and sugar dough, which is then baked wafer-thin and glazed with syrup); torrijas (a dessert that comes from the countryside and the need to use up the harder bread from the last baking. They are normally prepared on St Joseph's day); peach, pear in winea (a simple recipe, peach or pear, wine and sugar); quince spread (the ingredients are simple, too: quince, a little salt and sugar); baked apples (a very popular dessert in La Rioja, russet apples are normally used, however any variety will do).
To say that Rioja wines are recognised by the world's most famous gourmets is hardly news. Tasting a Rioja wine is a pleasure you must not miss if you visit us. The ceremony of picking a bottle, carefully uncorking and pouring it is the prelude to a whole festival of sensations, smells and tastes that awaits all those who drink a glass of Rioja.
It is the process of aging that characterises and differentiates Rioja wines from those of all other wine-producing areas of the world. After maturing in oak barrels, the wine is bottled, where it finishes the aging process and becomes ready for drinking
'Young wine':one or two year old wines. They conserve their main characteristics of freshness and fruitiness
Crianza:wines in their third year, that have aged for a minimum of one year in oak barrels.
Reserve:very select wines, with a minimum aging of three years between oak barrel and bottle, and at least one year in the barrel.
Grand reserve:wines from great vintages that have aged for a minimum of two years in the barrel and three in the bottle.
