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Pinot Grigio Wine Pairing


Pinot Gris, called Pinot Grigio in Italy, is a white variant-clone of the red grape Pinot Noir. The Italian region of Friuli produces the best Pinot Grigio in a crisp, refreshing style. Other Italian regions produce it too but it can be over-cropped and taste insipid. Benchmark Pinot Gris is best known from Alsace, France, where it’s known as Tokay d'Alsace (unrelated to Hungarian Tokay), and produces a full-bodied wine. In Oregon, vintners are shifting away from Chardonnay to produce a lively style of Pinot Gris.

Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio have delicate floral and citrus aromas such as lemon, lime, pear, melon and green apple. When oaked, they have notes of vanilla, almond, toast and smoke. Depending on how they’re made, they can be light- to medium-bodied with a tangy acidity or be more full-bodied with a rich, voluptuous texture. They’re usually made in a bone-dry style, unoaked and unblended. The wine generally has a light straw color that may have a pink or salmon tinge.

Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio make terrific aperitifs before a meal. Pair them with potato salad, liver paté, brie, camembert, chicken tangine, duck, turkey, quiche, Chinese, Indian, and Thai dishes, Tex-Mex, risotto with mushrooms, cheese pizza, pork, clam chowder, fried shrimp, clams, oysters, smoked fish, breaded veal cutlets, tomato and mozzarella salad.


Pinot Grigio Wine with appetizers:

     • avocado
     • pate: liver

Pinot Grigio Wine with breads:

     • bread: Italian

Pinot Grigio Wine with cheese:

     • brick
     • brie
     • camembert
     • cheddar: bacon
     • cheddar: medium
     • cheddar: mild
     • cheddar: sharp: 1 year - 4 years
     • cheddar: smoked
     • cheese straws
     • Cheesies
     • muenster

Pinot Grigio Wine with chicken/poultry:

     • chicken
     • chicken francese
     • chicken in orange balsamic sauce
     • chicken tangine
     • chicken with creamy sauces
     • chicken with pancetta & herbs
     • duck
     • foie gras
     • partridge
     • turkey

Pinot Grigio Wine with egg dishes:

     • omelette: Spanish
     • quiche

Pinot Grigio Wine with ethnic dishes:

     • Causa Limeña Bicolor: crab: Peruvian
     • chicken korma
     • chicken: butter
     • Chinese dishes
     • curries: creamy
     • curries: lightly spiced
     • curries: mild
     • curries: spicy
     • curry: coconut: mild
     • Indian dishes
     • lamb korma
     • latkes
     • Tex-Mex
     • Thai dishes
     • tilapia: mediterranean
     • venado al aguaymanto: venison: Peruvian

Pinot Grigio Wine with pasta:

     • ravioli with mushrooms
     • risotto with mushrooms

Pinot Grigio Wine with pizza:

     • pizza: cheese
     • pizza: meat lover's
     • pizza: pesto
     • pizza: white

Pinot Grigio Wine with pork:

     • pork
     • pork cooked with prunes and cream

Pinot Grigio Wine with sauces, spices, herbs:

     • anise, fennel
     • basil
     • caraway
     • cardamom
     • chervil
     • chives
     • cumin
     • fennel
     • ginger
     • rosemary
     • sauce: brown butter
     • sauce: mint
     • sauce: seafood cocktail
     • sauce: tartar
     • tarragon
     • thyme

Pinot Grigio Wine with seafood & shellfish:

     • clam chowder: clear base
     • clams
     • fish: barbecued
     • fish: grilled
     • fish: smoked
     • oysters: raw
     • salmon
     • salmon: poached
     • shrimp, clams, oysters: fried
     • sole
     • tuna
     • tuna salad: spicy

Pinot Grigio Wine with soups & stews:

     • soup: french onion
     • soup: lentil
     • soup: vegetable

Pinot Grigio Wine with turkey holiday dinner:

     • Tofurkey
     • turducken
     • turkey sandwiches
     • turkey: dark meat
     • turkey: white meat

Pinot Grigio Wine with veal:

     • veal
     • veal: breaded cutlets

Pinot Grigio Wine with vegetables & salads:

     • garlic casserole
     • garlic soup
     • leeks
     • mushrooms: oyster
     • onions
     • peas: green
     • peppers: chili
     • peppers: green
     • salad: field greens
     • salad: Greek
     • salad: potato
     • salad: tomato and mozzarella
     • salads
     • salads: green
     • scallions
     • tomatoes: green
     • vegetable couscous: spicy

 

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