Located south of France’s Languedoc-Roussillon the northern Spanish region of Aragon is famous for castles, the Camino, and Cariñena.

Before joining the main Camino de Santiago Compostela, the Camino del Ebro starts at the river’s end in the Mediterranean then passes through the heart of Aragon and Cariñena’s major city of Zaragoza. The Camino Aragones is also a road less traveled alternative to the Camino Frances between Somport and Puente del Rei. It begins in the rugged, high altitude Pyrenees, travels through forests, open spaces, and small villages, and showcases plenty of medieval history.  Sounds perfect to me!

And yes that medieval history includes plenty of CASTLES and CATHEDRALS. 

The Spain Heritage Network offers this guide to seven of the best castles to visit in Aragon in two parts with part one more north and part two more south: The castles of the Kingdom of Aragon (II). Some of these castles have served many purposes over the years including palace, prison, barracks, cemetery and residence — and some you can stay in like is the Parador Hotel.

Also of note: Mudéjar architecture of Aragon which is recognized by UNESCO and dates back to the 12th to the 17th century with over one hundred architectural monuments to visit today featuring elegant decorative eight sided towers. 

Cariñena is both a monovarietal grape and a region in Spain–one of the most historical in the world, with Cariñena its native variety, cultivated in Cariñena as far back as the 3rd century BC, when its inhabitants used to drink wine mixed with honey. 

While Cariñena may be the eponymous grape of the region, it’s also famous for its Garnacha. Less well known is that the municipality of Cariñena is one of the few from outside Catalonia that is part of the so-called Cava Region and which today constitutes the territory of the Protected Designation of Origin Cava.

Read about two Cava from Cariñena here and here’s more about Cava from Catalonia.

Find out more about Wine Tourism in Aragon.

A year ago, we tasted a series of wines from San Valero in Cariñena for Wine Studio  so when I found four wines from the region for today’s exploration of Aragon, we decided to revisit. 

Wines

• 2018 Valderba Blanco
  

• 2018 Esteban Martin D.O.P. Carinena

Menu

• Iberico Cheese

• Anchovy Olive Walnut Sandwich

• Citrus Salad 

Sue created the sandwich following this inspiration which draws from several ingredients famous from Aragon: “Fresh cheese from Burgos, anchovies from Santoña, black olives from Aragón and walnuts from Extremadura.”

Sue made the tapenade which she slathered on fresh soft bread. Then she layered burrata, Himalayan salted roasted walnuts, anchovy fillets, and topped with micro-greens. I preferred mine open face while Sue enjoyed hers with its top on.

This is possibly the best sandwich I’ve ever had in my life! 

But did the sandwich go with the wines?

 

2018 Valderba Blanco
ABV 12.5% 
SRP $10
purchased for $5 at Grocery Outlet

The eye-catching artsy label only identifies the wine as “Blanco” but a little research revealed that the grape is Chardonnay, which surprised us as it’s not typically tasting of that grape– which could be a good thing if you’re an ABCer (all but Chardonnay). However, Chardonnay is one of the top five white wine grapes grown in the region. This wine was the first vino de Pago of Aragon.

Color: Golden, Daffodil, Amber

Nose: Sulphur, petrol, minerals, salinity, pollen, creekside, smells like a warm summer day at the swimming hole. Unusual and interesting. 

Palate: Lots of salinity, lemon, grass, jicama, citrus blossom, neroli oil, nice richness, clean.

Pairing: The sandwich was fantastic with the wine. Fruit was not present in the wine when just sipping on the own, the salty sandwich brings out nice peach flavors in the wine. Just all right with the Iberico cheese, not a terrible pairing, but neither made each other shine. Nice with oyster, not a bam pairing that oysters and certain white wines can be, but it brought out lovely peach notes in the wine. Very nice with our salad. it loved the bit of tangerine and avocado with citrus honey vinegarette. 

2018 Esteban Martin D.O.P. Carinena
ABV 13.5% 
85% Garnacha, 15% Syrah
SRP $15
under $10 purchased at Grocery Outlet

Color: Plum, fuchsia rim 

Nose: Lovely nose, rose petals, vanilla bean, raspberry preserves, baking spices

Palate: Rich and dry, tannins seem to be from the fruit, not overly oaked, nice ripe tannins, black pepper, loam, oak forest, black current, salinity. This is not necessarily a sipping wine; it yearns for food.

Pairing: Would be great with lamb, a grilled burger, fabulous with the richness, and peppery notes of the Iberico cheese. Great with our sandwich, the sandwich is so complex in flavors which harmonizes nicely with the wine, the garlic and the walnuts, and the salty anchovies, with the rich creamy cheese, all so perfect with the wine. With food the baking spices on the nose come out on the palate. Loves the walnuts, avocado and cheese in the salad, the citrusy bites in the salad fight a bit much with the wine. The sandwich on its own is quite intense, but with the wine it is so fantastic. 

More stories and wines from Aragon:

• 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
• 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

Twitter chat discussion questions — follow the hashtag #worldwinetravel: 

• Welcome to the #WorldWineTravel chat on the Wines of Aragon, Spain! Introduce yourself, and where you are tweeting from. Share a link to your blog if applicable.
• Q1  So, we’re traveling to Aragon, Spain today with the #WorldWineTravel group.  Have you been to this area in real life?  Please share your experience.
• Q2  Did you write a post for today’s event? If so, please share a link to your blog if you wrote on the topic today. #WorldWineTravel
• Q3  Carignan is the most popular of wines from Aragon. Did you open a wine from there or another area of Aragon? #WorldWineTravel
• Q4  Did you pair your wine with food or a meal? How did the wine pair with your chosen dish? #WorldWineTravel
• Q5 Did you choose a recipe or food from Aragon, another area of Spain or somewhere completely different? Is there anything you would do differently next time. #WorldWineTravel 
• Q6 This area of Spain borders the Languedoc-Roussillon area of France.  Did you notice any similarities in the wines?  #WorldWineTravel
• Shoutout to #WorldWineTravel bloggers: @martindredmond @culinary_cam @ArtPredator @ChildrenofGrape @pairchifoodwine @tsteffes @sommstable @vignetocomm @CrushedGrapeChron @savortheharvest @foodwineclick @cookingchat @linda_lbwcsw @WendyKlik 
• Q7  Any final thoughts about the Wines of Aragon? I hope you had fun exploring this area of Spain. #WorldWineTravel

Next month World Wine Travel explores the Basque wines and region with host Jill Barth.  Join us!