Finca La Emperatiz with Fried rice with prawns
Finca La Emperatiz
Winery Finca La Emperatriz
www.bodegaslaemperatriz.com/
D.O.C: La Rioja
Grapes: 94% Tempranillo, 3% Garnacha, 2% Viura, 1% Graciano
Ageing: 23 months in oak barrels (70% American, 30% French).
Price: 14,50 €
Excerpt from the book “Pairings of spanish wines with exotic cuisines”.
Click to see the preparation of these dishes, in Asian recipes.
Pueden ver la versión española pinchando en Finca La Emperatriz Reserva
Nearly twenty years have passed since the Hernáiz brothers started their "crazy" project, but the results are silencing many critical voices that foresaw a multi-million failure.
Currently, they often get international awards and are reaching new markets all around the world, which is not surprising having tasted the wine and taking the price into account.
The traditional "coupage" from Rioja, the great care of the vineyard and the grape harvest and the new barrels have achieved a mixture of aromas of ageing with cocoa, cedar, tobacco and vanilla, which do not overshadow the primary aromas of ripe fruit. This, together with an structure of polished but powerful acidity, make this wine a prototype of what the new great Riojas are.
Fried rice with shrimps
In the East there are two main groups of rice dishes: those made of round grain, usually consumed as bread, and the ones of long grain, which are usually sautéed in a wok with different vegetables, meats, fish or shellfish.
This dish belongs to the second group. If you have a look at the recipe, you will see that the principle is very simple, just boiled rice cooked in a frying pan about to be served, together with anything available, with an amazingly tasty result. Even such different ingredients as chicken, prawns and fresh vegetables can be mixed.
It is common in all Eastern countries, including India, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Malaysia or Indonesia, so you may order it anywhere in the world.
Pairing
In this occasion we were more concerned about respecting the wine quality than about getting an outstanding pairing, because some wines require a leading role on the table, but, as it sometimes happens, the result exceeded expectations, since the high quality of this "reserva" was enhanced by the dish, in my opinion because of the rice starch, but mainly every time we ate a prawn.
I have long found that crustaceans go better with "gran reserva" wines from Rioja than with white ones, so this was not surprising, but it is always a pleasure to find a pairing which goes beyond expectations. Coriander and peppermint may have also reinforced the combination, but take care to find out what spices are in the dish, as the wine can be ruined if there are chilli peppers in it.