Should you always pair regional cuisine with a wine from that same region? I made a great Mexican dish last night– could I have served it with a French wine?

I wanted to share my answer to this question in a blog post because I think that this highlights an important issue about food and wine pairing that confuses a lot of people.

In general, when it comes to matching a wine to a dish, it is rare to make a mistake when you pair wines and food of the same region together. Traditionally this had to do with the fact that in some places your selection of foods and beverages was limited to what was grown/made within the boundaries of that region. So naturally, most dishes and the wines people drank with them would need to be somewhat complimentary. We can actually apply this principle across much of Europe. In the various regions of Italy, for example, once could argue that many wine styles evolved in large part due to what cheeses, meats and vegetables were available. We speak of wine having a sense of terroir (the impact of the interaction of grape, soil and climate on wine), but certain foods have terroir too. And it is this taste of a place that helps make regional wines and foods such a good match.

However, that being said, in today’s global world there are few boundaries when it comes to limiting our choices for what we eat and drink. Sometimes it is the real thing, other times a variation on a theme. While I might not be able to get fresh wild Maine blueberries in North Carolina, I can find frozen or canned versions. And although the best bagels (to my palate anyway) are still made in New York, you can find imitations almost everywhere (with some examples being better than others).

While it can be nice to pair foods and wines from the same region together that isn’t always possible or practical. These days, there are so many different types of foods and mixtures of cuisines that authenticity is a bit difficult to come by. Add in the fact that many of our favorite “ethnic” recipes here in the States are actually quite different from the original dish and you can see that the world is now your oyster when it comes to food and wine pairings.

And of course, last but not least, there is the fun factor. Experimenting with food and wine pairings – Chinese food with a Gewurztraminer from Alsace, Mexican food with a Côtes du Rhône, an Indian curry with a Chenin Blanc from the Loire, sushi with Champagne – the list can go on and on. Given the wide availability of delicious and affordable wines from France, it is possible to pair a French wine with just about any type of dish.

So when it comes to making your own pairings, remember that even though a dish and a wine might not be from the same place, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be a perfect match for your palate – the one location that really matters.

I thought I would catch you all up on what I have been doing here in France so far. My first stop was Alsace, where we did some filming in Colmar, Riquewihr, Katzenthal and Sigolsheim. Alsace is known not only for making great Riesling, but also for its great restaurants. We didn’t have too much time to eat while we were there, but we did manage to get in one nice meal. And what meal wouldn’t be complete without dessert? But you can imagine my surprise when one of the desserts we were served, an assortment of cookies and sweets, included some small yellow marshmallow puffs covered in yellow sugar – I’m pretty sure they were Alsace’s answer to Peeps!

I haven’t been back to Alsace since 1999 and so it was interesting to see what I remembered. Walking through Colmar I had a flashback to the night I had arrived on that first trip when I ate dinner at Hôtel Le Maréchal, which is right on the canal in the part of Colmar aptly named Little Venice. I vaguely recall eating chicken that night, but I specifically remember drinking a lovely light-bodied Pinot Noir with my meal. Many people think that Alsace only produces white wines, but Pinot Noir can also be found there too – and in fact one of the wines on my Top 50 list is a sparkling Rosé Cremant made from, you guessed it – Pinot Noir.

Our next stop for filming was the Loire Valley and so two trains later, we made it to Tours. The Loire is one of France’s most visited regions as it is considered one of the most scenic, with its gorgeous chateaux. The soft limestone rock that can be found in the Loire is not only good for growing grapes, but it is easy to carve, so it was an ideal material to use to build those decorative castles that look like they come straight out of a fairy tale. For someone who studied Medieval and Renaissance history in college, visiting the Loire is like jumping into the pages of a history book. And I don’t want to forget to mention the food – crepes are a real specialty of the region and last night’s meal included a savory crepe for dinner and a sweet crepe for dessert! Talk about delicious.

So now, with 2 vlogs filmed, it is off to Bordeaux for some interesting and thought-provoking seminars. I’ll post again soon about the Symposium and don’t forget, if there’s something you want to know, don’t hesitate to drop me a line in the comment section below. I look forward to hearing from you!

What makes Pinot Noir so finicky? Well, for starters, it is a bit of a temperature sensitive grape. It prefers cooler climates and it tends to like limestone soils – two reasons why it does so well in Burgundy. It is also a thin skinned grape which can make it susceptible to some of the diseases and viruses that can affect grapevines. The thinner skin of Pinot Noir is part of why the color of many wines made with Pinot Noir are lighter than wines made with grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. The paler color isn’t a sign of inferior quality – it more has to do with the fact that there is less pigment to be extracted from Pinot Noir grapes.

Pinot Noir has a pretty interesting history. It is an extremely old grape – one that we think dates back to the 1st or 2nd century AD. There are some indications that it was grown in Burgundy by the 4th century AD and we do have 14th century records from Burgundy that mention a vine called Pinot. Due to its advanced age, Pinot Noir is prone to mutating – since it has been around for so long, vines of Pinot Noir with variations have developed. That’s how we have gotten Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Meunier to name a few. Pinot Noir is also (and we know this through DNA analysis of Pinot) one of the parents of Chardonnay.

So what are the characteristics of Pinot? The color can range from a very pale to moderately intense cherry red and it tends to become garnet in color as it ages. Notes you might find on the nose range from herbal and spicy aromas to fruity aromas of strawberries, red cherries, and black cherries. You can also find hints of violets, black pepper, beets, prunes and plums. Pinot Noir can sometimes have a nose that can smell earthy, gamey, mushroomy or even like a barnyard. I tend to find that Pinot Noir grown in climates that are too warm makes for wines that smell like tomato plants (have you ever smelled your hands after handling a tomato plant? It is a very specific smell that is hard to describe). It is almost an under-ripe and over-ripe aroma that makes me think that the heat didn’t give the grapes the time they needed to ripen (Pinot likes a long growing season).

On the palate, Pinot Noir tends to be described using very sensual language. The body can range from light to full and the tannins are frequently described as being fairly firm, but silky and velvety textured. Acidity is usually fairly high with moderate to moderately high alcohol levels and Pinot Noir is usually very ageworthy. Besides being the main grape of Burgundy (just about all red Burgundy is made from Pinot Noir), you will find Pinot grown in Champagne, the Loire Valley, Alsace, Germany, Oregon, California, New York, Italy, New Zealand, Australia and Canada to name just a few.

If you are looking to sample a few Pinot Noirs, there are several on my top picks to choose from including: Burgundy Hills Pinot Noir, Chamarré Grande Réserve Pinot Noir, Domaine Faiveley Bourgogne Rouge, Fat Bastard Pinot Noir Vin de Pays d’Oc and Maison Joseph Drouhin Laforet Pinot Noir. To taste it in sparkling form, look for Lucien Albrecht’s Crémant d’Alsace Brut Rosé, Moet & Chandon’s White Star and Taittinger’s Brut La Française.

To watch the interview, click here or press the play button on the video at the top right corner

1. How did you get started in the wine business?
In 1966 at 14 I started working in a restaurant as a busboy, and shortly became a waiter. Selling wine to our patrons was very profitable for the wait staff, but required some knowledge. In 1974 after finishing college I built my first restaurant/ bar/ wine bar “Scarlett O’s” and in 1981 I opened an up-scale restaurant Café Margaux, which was destroyed by Hurricane Rita in 2005. In 1991 I began the import business DC FLYNT MW SELECTIONS. In the beginning, our primary focus was on wines from Burgundy and a small amount of Champagne. Today we also import wines from Bordeaux, Rhône, Italy, Spain, Chile, Australia, and New Zealand, and distribute wines from the US as well.

2. Tell us a little about what you currently do in the wine business. What is a typical day in the life of DC Flynt like?
Today we are totally involved in import/export and distribution. Along with our distributor partners we ship to 7 countries and 37 states in the US. Besides distributing our regular portfolio of wines, we spend a considerable amount of effort developing custom brand projects for clients like Costco, HEB, Central Markets, and others.

3. What is your favorite wine region in France to visit?
Burgundy, there is something fascinating to discover every step of the way.

4. What is your favorite food and French wine pairing that might surprise people?
That is like asking me which of my children I like best. Here are two meals I love, both are simple dishes, Bouillabaisse and Alsace Pinot Gris, and a Wood Fired Organic Omelet with Champagne. These are inexpensive meals that highlight the best qualities and purity of the food and wine, without masking the flavors either. Alsace Pinot Gris is one of the best buys on the planet, and even the best eggs are so cheap we can all afford to drink Champagne with joy.

5. How has French wine changed since you started working in the wine business?
French wine has both changed and remained the same. I believe that the quality of wine worldwide has improved dramatically over the last 40 years and wines from France are no exception. These positive changes are due to improvements in education in the wine sciences, vineyard husbandry, clonal selection, technology and cellar hygiene. The end result is that we are experiencing an unprecedented era of French wines that display both the artistic effects of quality winemaking and a pure sense of terroir. As a quality wine producing country, France has few rivals and their drive to produce the finest wines seems to be a core competency of the French.

6. What made you decide you wanted to become a Master of Wine?
In the 70’s and 80’s I admired the high level of wine education which was common for the trade in the UK. The leaders in providing this educational experience were the WSET and the Institute of Masters of Wine. In the early 90s, the Institute of Masters of Wine made the decision to open their membership beyond the boundaries of the UK to the world community and I jumped at the opportunity. I had no idea how difficult the course of studies and the examination would be. By 1998, 10 Americans had become Masters of Wine. I was fortunate to be in that group, and although the end result was always in my cross-hairs it was the education, experience and the opportunity to hone my trade that really drove me.

7. If you were stranded on a deserted island, which 3 French wines would you have to have with you?
Hopefully I won’t be alone and this island will have at least one deep cave for me to store cases of Champagne de Bruyne Grand Cru 100% Chardonnay from Le-Mesnil-sur-Oger, 1990 Robert Ampeau Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes, and the 2005 Bernard Gros Frère et Soeur Clos Vougeot Grand Cru Musigny. Champagne and red and white Burgundy are hard to beat if you can only have three!

8. What has been the most memorable French wine that you have ever tasted?
I’ve been fortunate to taste many unusual and top wines from many regions in France, and picking one is tough. It is the occasion and the company that make a wine truly memorable. For me, it was a remarkable bottle of Bollinger RD Champagne shared one evening in the Spring of ‘85 at Restaurant Boyer les Crayères.

9. What new innovations do you see in the future for French wines?
I’m not sure if new innovations are the driving force behind the future of French wines. The French are open to new technology and certainly some regions are more open to change than others, and this is the correct balance. The French have a mandate to protect the sanctity of terroir for the top regions and appellations, and the challenge of competing with the rest of the world for a greater share in the category of table wines. To this end, the euro has hamstrung the French. The innovations that the French producers need now are in dealing with the cost of labor, taxes, poor exchange rates, and useless government regulation. These are the areas that have the greatest competitive impact on agricultural products and this is particularly true in the competitive table wine category.

10. If you were a French wine, what wine would you be and why?
How exciting to be a French wine for a day! Despite all the wonderful choices, as a Southerner I think I would have to be a Bourgogne Pinot Noir. There is not much Grand Cru or Premier Cru about me, even the Village level would be a reach. A Bourgogne Pinot Noir speaks about where it is from in a simple and straight forward way. It is a thumbprint of the land and the vintage, but most of all it is about enjoyment and the simple pleasures. I think that is who I am.

How did you get started in the wine business?
“My first full time wine job was at Restaurant Lespinasse at the St Regis in NYC. I was always fascinated with wine (maybe from watching too many James Bond movies when I was a young).  At Lespinasse, I was helping the sommelier at the time with odds and ends voluntarily…when he decided to leave, the Chef, Gray Kunz, offered me the position. I said yes because I thought it would be fun, little did I know where this would take me…”

Describe a day in the life of Bernie Sun, Corporate Beverage Director for Jean Georges Management.
“My days seem to always go by very quickly. I get to my office at around 9:30ish .. I check through my emails (usually around 50 to 75 a day), look through the previous day’s sales and review the group’s purchases and touch base with Jean Georges on anything he wants me to look into. Around noon, I start receiving my appointments with vendors. I taste through maybe about 30 to 50 wines daily this way. By about 3ish, I leave the office to visit our restaurants and touch base with my sommelier/beverage persons, usually one or two per night. I finish up around 8ish.”

What is your favorite French region and why?
“Burgundy – when I drink Burgundies, a tingle goes up and down my spine.”

What has been the most memorable French wine that you have ever tasted?
“During one of my visits to Burgundy, I was fortunate to be able to taste an 1865 La Romanée in Jadot’s wine cellar; the wine was stunning even though it faded in 10 minutes. I was thinking that this wine was made the same year when Abraham Lincoln was President.”

What is your favorite food and French wine pairing that might surprise people?
“An Alsace Pinot Gris with Chopped Chicken Liver. .. a red or white Burgundy would also work well but the Pinot Gris from Alsace would be great with its combination of richness and earthiness.”

What three wines would you have to have with you if you were stranded on a desert island?
“A great bottle of Le Montrachet, a great bottle of La Tache and a bottle of Krug Clos de Mesnil for celebrating when rescued.”

What French wine do you drink most frequently?
“White and Red burgundies. I like Mâcon white wines for everyday drinking and Cote de Beaune reds… these are very satisfying wines for casual drinking…”

Tell me what it’s like being the Spokesperson for Burgundy here in the US.
“I was very honored to be chosen as the first US Spokesperson for the Burgundy Wine Region. I was asked by the BIVB (Burgundy Wine Council) to represent them in promoting the wines of Burgundy. The spokesperson’s responsibilities consist of traveling to different cities in the US and educating both the consumer and the trade through lectures and tastings on the wines of Burgundy. Since Burgundy is my favorite wine region, I am incredibly thrilled to carry forth the message on how delicious and versatile these wines are.”

Alsace has one of the most interesting histories of all of the different wine regions of France.  Passed back and forth between French and German hands, it has a unique wine style that sets it apart from the rest of French wine.  Not only do you find the wines labeled by grape variety, but you also tend to find almost all un-oaked styles of wines and predominately white wines – pretty unique these days.  By law, all of the wines produced in Alsace are bottled in tall thin bottles called flutes d’Alsace.

The major grapes of the region are Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Muscat.  There is also a bit of Pinot Noir grown there, but not too much is exported to the US.  Sandwiched by the Vosges Mountains on one side and the Rhine river on the other, the region is very sunny and dry, which makes it a perfect climate for producing dry, powerful, aromatic and concentrated wines.  With a very long growing season, Alsace also has a tradition of making late-harvest wines that fit into two categories: Vendanges Tardives (these can range from dry to medium sweet) and Selection de Grains Nobles (these are very sweet, rich wines made from grapes that have been affected by botrytis).

In addition to the dry and sweet wines you can find in Alsace, the region also makes an excellent quality sparking wine called Crémant d’Alsace.  Producers can use a variety of grapes including Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Riesling and Pinot Gris.

One other very interesting fact about Alsace is that there is a large number of organic and biodynamic grape growers in the region.  The dry, sunny climate lends itself nicely to this type of viticulture, but growers in this region are also extremely conscious of taking care of their vineyards and maintaining their unique terroirs.  And given that the grapes grown in the region are those that are particularly expressive of terroir, that’s a very good thing.

If I’ve given you the urge to visit this beautiful region for yourself, click here to learn more about wine tourism in Alsace. And don’t forget to visit www.franceguide.com, the official site of the French Government Tourist Office, for lots of great information on visiting all the wine regions of France.

Riesling is characterized by high, racy acidity and a pronounced nose that can include aromas of green apples, limes, lemons, white flowers, orange blossoms, peaches, apricots, tropical fruits, and even smoke, slate and minerals.  Riesling is known for being a grape that is very expressive of “terroir” – a French word that refers to the unique combination of soil, climate and vine or roughly, “the taste of a place.”  That’s why you see those last few descriptors of smoke, slate and minerals for Riesling.  Many wine tasters will talk about the minerality of Riesling.  By that, they are trying to describe the pure, fresh flavors of Riesling.  I have always found that Riesling is one of the most poetic grapes – by that I mean that the descriptors that tasters use to try to convey the taste of Riesling can get very flowery and exotic.  I’ve heard everything from sucking on stones to the taste of air after a lightening storm.  But essentially, Riesling is a mouth-watering combination of fruit and acid and almost always as appealing on the nose as it is on the palate.

Riesling is also one of those unique grapes that can run the gamut style-wise.  Riesling can be dry with intense concentration and fairly high alcohol, or it can be sweet and delicate, with a low level of alcohol.  Riesling can also be still, sparkling or with such a high level of sugar as to be classified as a dessert wine.  Riesling often has the reputation of being a sweet wine, but this is truly not always the case.  Many Rieslings do have a discernable level of residual sugar which can help balance their high natural acidity.  But there are also a lot of dry Rieslings available and those from the French region of Alsace are a terrific example of the drier, more full-bodied style.  One other interesting fact about Riesling is that it rarely sees any time in new oak barrels.  Rather than impose aromas and flavors on it, those who make Rieslings tend to prefer to let the grape express its own natural character.