Photo by Pauline Boldt a message from tina jones
My FavEs
1 . Naudin Ferrand : The wines from this family estate in Burgundy have been my faves for more than 10 years !
2 . Discovering a new favourite Pinot Noir and then trying to find it again : impossible !
3 . Billecart-Salmon Rosé Champagne is exquisite and world famous . I feel very honoured and privileged to be the exclusive retailer in Winnipeg of this world-class Champagne .
4 . The city of Beaune in Burgundy — it ’ s magical !
5 . Trusting Sommelier picks of Pinot Noir with the most difficult culinary flavours . It ’ s my go-to choice when I ’ m experimenting with food and wine .
When we decided that an entire issue of The Cellar Door would be devoted to Pinot Noir , it was exciting ! One of the many ideas swirling about was to create a Test Kitchen competition . We had a great notion that we could pit teams composed of one chef and one wine expert against each other to create the best food and Pinot Noir wine pairing combination in the city . What happened was something that transcended all of our expectations : three beautifully flavoured and balanced dishes were created , each completely different from the others , and each paired with a Pinot Noir that was different from the rest . In fact , the teams did their jobs so well , that the judges ( I admit , I was one ) failed in our job to declare a winner ! We had to admit that each Pinot Noir was the perfect companion to its dish , and each dish was a winner . And very importantly , each Pinot Noir was also tested with the other dishes and they clearly didn ’ t work . Only the selected pairings worked ! Wow ! Check out page 41 for the details .
I wholeheartedly believe we should have anticipated this outcome . Pinot Noir has so many faces , so many facets ! Pinot can be pale and elusive , yet exciting and perfumed . It can be rich and savoury , yet light on its feet . Pinot Noir can be rich and dark from California , or it can be a classic , elegant Burgundian , or it can be the beautiful backbone to racy , bubbly Champagne . The variety is reluctant to be put into a straightjacket or style , but it is consistently stylish !
I invite you to turn these pages with me to join this elusive quest . Read about our Test Kitchen adventure ; go along with Mike Muirhead and Andrea Eby on experiences and travels with Pinot ; and read up on the science behind the mystery with Gary Hewitt . As always , every word of our regular columns and features is worth reading .
Enjoy ,
Tina Jones
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