Santiago Ruiz with BBQ Ribs
Santiago Ruiz
Winery Santiago Ruiz
www.bodegasantiagoruiz.com/
D.O.: Rías Baixas
Grapes: 70% Albariño, 15% Loureiro, the rest Caiño blanco, Treixadura and Godello
Ageing: No
Price: 12,50€
Excerpt from the book “Pairings of spanish wines with exotic cuisines”.
Click to see the preparation of these dishes, in American recipes.
Pueden ver la versión en español pinchando en Santiago Ruiz
Fifty years ago, D. Santiago Ruiz started making and selling bottled and labelled wine in this area. This was so unusual that it was even frown upon, as homemade wine was the pride of his region, O Rosal. Today, it is a referent of quality wine around the world, and the label drawn by his daughter Isabel has become an icon.
O Rosal is the warmest part of Rías Baixas, and that reflects on the ripening of the fruit and that range of aromas of citric fruits and loquat that can be clearly perceived in every glass.
The flavour is still more complex than that. Besides its outstanding acidity structure, there are balsamic notes among boxwood, laurel and mint that make it a complex, dry wine, with body and personality, a whole set of virtues that allow it to remain one of the greatest wines in Galicia, if not in Spain.
BBQ Ribs
The name of this dish is a symbol in USA, so it would be a mistake to call it “grilled pork ribs”; it would be like calling Spanish paella “rice with vegetables and chicken”.
BBQ sauce is a large industry that moves several hundred million dollars every year, but it is also the hallmark of many restaurants, food chains, villages and even states, since every house has a little secret that makes its sauce the best in the world.
The truth is that those ribs are a delicious dish, caramelized outside and with such juicy and tender meat inside that it could be eaten with a spoon, although you are advised to use your hands.
Pairing
Meat is usually eaten with red wine in Spain, no matter if it is pork, beef, lamb or chicken, but those four profiles are so different that any experienced wine-drinker knows that it is a very narrow perspective.
Pork is one of those products that call for white wine, as it is usual in the regions that have the best gastronomy of this meat, such as Alsace or Bavaria.
This is an extreme case, one of those impact pairings, so good that if we could make it reach American palates, all Spain would have to be planted with Albariño vines to cover market demand, just to go with their famous ribs.
There is a contrast in each bite between the caramelized outer layer and the juicy meat, so the perfect finishing is this fresh, fruity wine, with a slight apple scent, as if it had been designed to accompany this dish.