Drinking and Pairing Pinot Noir with Food

Pinot Noir, aka Pinot Nero in Italy and Spätburgunder in Germany, just might be the world's most flexible food wine. The wine's high acidity, medium body, medium alcohol, and low tannins make it very food friendly. Pinot Noir is excellent with fish, fowl, white meats, grains, lamb, and even offal (variety meats). Youthful, New World versions of Pinot Noir show fruit and floral aromas and flavors of raspberries, strawberries, red cherries, and violets. Old World examples display earth and minerals, and even exotic spice. It is the red grape of France's Burgundy region, where it is responsible for some of the world's most sought after and expensive red wines, and is a specialty of Oregon and cooler California vineyard sites.

There are also excellent examples of Pinot Noir being produced in New Zealand, Germany, and northern Italy.