03/31/05 Food and wines - Pinots

Welcome to Vine to Wine, I'm your host Linda Moran and today is food & wine pairing day. We're going to take a quick look at the foods that are good to accompany Pinot Noir and a couple of it's relatives. Because Pinot Noir is a wine of such complexity, delicate flavors and textures, it is good to keep the food simple and not heavily seasoned. Poultry such as chicken or game hens cooked in wine work well. Mild cuts of beef that are stew or roasted for long periods to make them very tender will match. And one of my absolute favorites with Pinot Noir is Grilled Salmon. Now Pinot Gris is a wine that really works well with seafood salads and creamy asparagus or mushroom soups. It has good acidity so it will also be a nice compliment to pasta with a cream sauce on it.Pinot Blanc, if you are serving a wine from Alsace, is especially good with grilled fish such as tuna or swordfish. Try serving it along side a roasted chicken with au gratin vegetables as simple dinner party. And I must say that Pinot Blanc is one of my favorite wines with Butternut squash soup. Pinotage is made in so many styles that it is a bit tricky. But generally game meat such as duck or boar simply prepared is delicious. It also lends itself to good cheeses such as Irish Blue cheese or Wisconsin Colby. Most of all spend some effort getting to know Pinot Noir and a few of its relatives by eating and drinking and having fun. And thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.