Aragón by Tabletop: Arroz Aragonés + 2015 Vinos del Viento Cariñena #WorldWineTravel

This month the World Wine Travel group is traveling by plate and glass to Aragón, Spain with host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm.

If you are reading this early enough, jump on our live Twitter chat on Saturday, May 22nd at 8am Pacific time. Just follow the hastag #WorldWineTravel and be sure to add that to anything you tweet so we can see it. Here's the line-up of articles...

• 2015 Vinos del Viento Cariñena + Pulled Pork Sandwiches by ENOFYLZ Wine Blog
• A Tale of Garnacha, Exploring Aragon by Avvinare
• Aragón by Tabletop: Arroz Aragonés + 2015 Vinos del Viento Cariñena by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Aragon’s Carinena and Castles + Olive Anchovy Sammies by Wine Predator
• Calatayud, Aragon Wines: Evodia + Fully Loaded Pork Taquitos by Our Good Life
• Campo De Borja: The Empire of Garnacha by My Full Wine Glass
• Cooking to the Wine: Vinos del Viento Cariñena with Smoky Octopus, Bacon Smashed Potatoes, and Romesco Sauce by Somm's Table
• Exploring Aragon via Plate and Glass by Food Wine Click!
• Exploring the Kingdom of Aragon and Its Wines by Crushed Grape Chronicles
• Fountains of Wine in the Land of Kings by Children of the Grape
• Heading to Aragón and Valdejalón with Bodegas Frontonio by Savor the Harvest
• Learning Spain - Aragon's Four Wine Regions: Carinena, Somontano, Calatayud, and Campo De Borja Through Eight Wines by Chinese Food and Wine Pairings
• Two Bottles of Lovely Wine from a Lovely Area by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Aragón 

image from winefolly.com

Located in northeastern Spain, Aragón lies west of Cataluña and south of Navarra and the French border. It is bordered by moutains: The Pyrenees to the north and the Iberian mountains (Sistema Iberico) to the west. Within Aragón there are four appellations of origin or Denominacións de Orixe (DO): Calatayud, Campo de Borja, Cariñena and Somontano, plus five Vinos de la Tierra, a catch-all appellation for regional wines.

Aragón is home to Garnacha (Grenache) vines with most of them qualifying as old-vine which are also mostly dry-framed and bush-trained. And though Garnacha is the main variety in the region, Tempranillo, Macabeo, and Cariñena (Carignane) also have a foothold.

2015 Vinos del Viento Cariñena

I was able to get my hands on a bottle of the 2015 Vinos del Viento Cariñena which must have been easily sourced for us Californians because I noticed that both Martin of ENOFYLZ Wine Blog and Nicole of Somm's Table poured the same wine. I can't wait to read their posts and hear what they paired. Fitting, too, because it turns out that the winemaker, Michael Cooper, is a native Californian.

Let's start with this interesting bit which confused me when I first started reading about this wine: Cariñena is both the DO and the grape in this case! Cariñena is the oldest and largest of Aragón's appellations and has the village of Cariñena as its center. 

Cariñena, the grape, also goes by the names Carignane, Carignano, Carignan, Mazuelo, Moestal, Roussillonen, and Samsó. While it's native to this region, it is cultivated all over France and can be found in Italy and California as well.  The grape usually results in bold and spicy wines and is often blended with softer, more fruity varieties to temper it.

This limited production wine is from a single-vineyard of dry-framed old vines - more than 40 years old - that lie over 2000 feet above sea level. Comprised of 85% Cariñena and 15% Syrah, the grapes were all hand-harvested before being fermented in stainless steel with native years. Then it was aged in new French oak for 12 months before being bottled with minimal filtration.

In the glass, the wine pours a deep inky violet and has a fragrant nose with aromas of black fruit, smoke, and a tinge of vanilla. On the palate, the wine has those same black fruits with deeper flavors of fennel and chocolate. It's a balanced wine with a spicy finish.

Arroz Aragonés

 

When I was researching regional dishes, I came across the mention of an Aragonese rice which seemed to have as many variations as households. But it sounded as if it was akin to a meaty paella. And I never miss the opportunity to pull out my paella pan! The only real guidelines I read were to use local meats and sausages. Done! So, note that this is not a traditional Arroz Aragonés, but is my interpretation of the dish the with ingredients that I had available...and includes lots of different meats.

Ingredients serves 6

• ½ pound ground beef
• ½ pound bacon, roughly chopped
• ½ cup aged chorizo, diced
• 6 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup onion, peeled and diced
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 3 to 4 whole cloves of garlic, peeled and pressed
• 3 ripe, organic tomatoes, chopped (you can use 1 cup canned tomatoes or tomato sauce)
• 2 cups Spanish paella rice
• 1 generous pinch saffron
• pinch each of paprika, pepper, and ground cloves
• 5 to 6 cup beef stock, warmed
• 10 to 12 slices salami
• piparra peppers

Procedure

Heat olive oil in the paella pan. Add in the onions, celery, ground beef, and bacon. Cook the beef through. Stir in the garlic and chorizo. Add in the tomatoes and cook until they have lost their shape slightly, approximately 6 to 7 minutes.

Sprinkle the spices into the pot and add the saffron to the side so it's not where the heat is most concentrated.

Tip in the rice. Pour in the stock. At this point, do not stir. Gently shake the pan to distribute the rice and meat evenly. Arrange the salami and peppers around the pan.

Bring the pan to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Watch the pan and keep turning it so that the rice cooks evenly. As it cooks, the stock will be fully absorbed.

You will see fewer and fewer bubbles popping up through the top. When it is completely dry, it's done. The rice should also be crackling. It reminds me of rice krispies. Snap, crackle, and pop!

When you no longer see any bubbles, remove the pan from the heat. Tent it with foil and let it steam for 10 minutes.

To serve, use a flat spatula to scrape the soccarat from the bottom. Invert the scoop onto the individual plates to show off your soccarat, that delicious, crusty goodness on the bottom of the pan!

That's a wrap for the May #WorldWineTravel exploration of the Aragon wine region. Thanks to Wendy for hosting. The group will be back next month with a look at the Basque wine region with Jill of L'Occasion hosting. Stay tuned.