Pinot Noir is a red wine that sometimes thinks it’s a white because it’s crisp and soft enough to go with more “white-wine dishes” than most red wines. This is why Pinot Noir may be the ultimate food wine. Here are its classic food and wine pairing matches:
- Leaner meats (veal, chicken, turkey, rabbit, any game bird, filets of beef or pork, and a well-drained duck)
- Smoked, wood-roasted, braised or sausage meats (with the use of beef, lamb and pork)
- Earthy flavors (truffles, wild mushrooms, mustards, peppercorns, coriander and horseradish)
- Resin-like or scented green herbs (rosemary, thyme, tarragon, oregano, summer and winter savory, chervil, mints and basils)
- Aromatic sweet spices (clove, cinnamon, mace, allspice and nutmeg)
- Sweet vegetables (tomatoes, beets, carrots, caramelized onions and bell peppers)
- Autumnal fruits (figs, plums, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, currants, and black and dried cherries)
- Natural stocks and sauces rounded with butter
- Slow-cooking processes (braises and pot-at-feu)
- Mild or creamy cheeses (Brie, Camembert, herbed crèmes, cheddars, Havarti and jacks)
In Oregon, winemakers like to serve their Pinot Noir with Northwest Native-American – style plank-smoked salmon. In Hawaii, it’s all about the finest tuna in the world in brothy, earthy ponzus.
Pinot Noir is also licensed to drink red wine with sweet/spicy, earth-toned or mildly bitter Asian flavors such as star anise, wasabi, hoisin, Japanese radishes, seaweeds, lotus root, fennel, toasted sesame seeds, sesame oil, mizuna, shiso, shiitakes, and even mild teriyaki marinades and glazes. All of these can actually bring out the mildly sweet, zippy, toasty, earthy, and wonderfully beefy qualities of Pinot Noir, just as the wine can bring out the same qualities in the food.
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