Pinot Noir and Food

I love Cabernet Sauvignon; which makes sense, I make a lot of it. But Cabernet doesn't pair well with everything. Call me traditional, but I'm NOT a huge fan of the philosophy of "drink what you like with whatever you like." Ian Fleming's James Bond taught us that you can often catch the villain at the table by just monitoring his wine choices.

While Cabernet doesn't pair with everything, Pinot Noir pairs with lots of different foods and lots of people are in LOVE with Pinot Noir.

I recently released a single-barrel of 2013 Pinot Noir and paired it with a wide variety of foods for an event I attended and served for in Visalia. I'll admit, my Pinot Noir paired well with mixed green salad and CAB sliders. Even the deep fried calamari paired up with Pinot, the salty, deep-fried breading and the acid of the Pinot balance themselves out. 

I managed to snap a few pictures of what I considered solid pairings of my Pinot Noir with some of the foods offered that night. However, Pinot Noir does NOT pair with bread pudding! Bread Pudding stands on its own! If someone is drinking Cabernet or Pinot with bread pudding, don't trust them, they may work for an evil global organization.

Pinot Noir pairs well with fried calamari

Pinot Noir pairs well with fried calamari

Pinot Noir pairs well with Mixed Green Salad

Pinot Noir pairs well with Mixed Green Salad

Pinot Noir pairs with CAB sliders and caramelized onions

Pinot Noir pairs with CAB sliders and caramelized onions

Pinot Noir does NOT pair with Bread Pudding

Pinot Noir does NOT pair with Bread Pudding

Arrived in Mammoth Lakes

Dispatch....Mammoth Lakes, California....July 3, 2013

The 2013 Mammoth Food and Wine Experience kicks off tomorrow and everyone at Mastro Scheidt is looking forward to it.

Our winemaker, David Scheidt, is already on the ground doing exactly what you'd expect him to be doing...eating and talking with chefs.

Last night, David dined with Carrie and Jason Hoeltzel of CJ Grill. In fact, we started dinner, appropriately, with a Fritz Rose'. Jason and David are speaking together at the Mammoth Experience on Friday for the seminar: Everything You Wanted to Know About Trout But Were Afraid to Ask.  I'm sure David will be snapping some photos of Chef Jason in action this weekend.

Jason will be leading the cooking demo, while David will be pairing some of his favorite wines from Dry Creek and Russian River Valley with Chef Jason's trout creations....such as:

Jim Rickards Aglianico/Syrah Rose 2012

Philip Staley Duet 2012

Forth Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2012

Roadhouse Pinot Noir Yellow Label 2011

Portland Wine Country

Over a month ago, I was up in Portland, Oregon. A couple highlights of the trip included Cana's Feast and Archery Summit.

The Archery Summit tasting was fantastic. In addition to the wines included in the picture, we tasted some library wines as well. The 2000 Red Hills Estate showed the longevity of this fabulous Oregon estate. After a full day of drinking Pinot, the Archery Summit wines really stood out as, dare I say, the best.

Another standout was Cana's Feast. I've spoken about Cana's before, specifically their Chinato. I haven't checked luggage domestically for 10 years. I checked 3 bottles back home to California. It's that good.