Vancouver International Wine Festival’s Pinot Giorgio’s Perfect Pairings 3-course lunch seminar was held on Feb 26th at Oceans 999 Restaurant at The Pan Pacific, presented by Consorzio Vini DOC Delle Venezie with Speaker Keith Nicholson shared his wine-pairing expertise of finding the perfect wine-food balance based on the three C’s: cut, complement, and contrast.
The luncheon began with an overview of “pee-no-gree-jo”, describing the versatility, nuances, scents, and flavours of this grape variety that is grown in the great “Trivento vineyard” spanning the North-East region of Italy. Pinot Grigio is the main exported Italian grape variety.
Paired with Asian-inspired cuisine, we enjoyed six Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie DOC 2023 wines over two flights,:
- Mezzacorona
- Tommasi
- Gemma di Luna
- Paladin
- Brilla!
- Ruffino
The first course was slow-cooked, glazed pork belly, served with a micro green-pear salad, pickled radish & a Nashi pear purée. As @keith_wineguy put it, this luscious pork belly was “like a hug from the inside”. The acidity and crispness, with notes of apple pear in Mezzacorona’s Pinot Grigio Cut through the rich, sweet-glazed pork belly to cleanse and refresh the palate between delicious bites. I enjoyed drinking Tommasi’s Pinot Grigio on its own. Light, fruity, softer, and well-balanced, it would go well with creamy cheese like burrata or brie.
The next course was a spicy Thai curry-infused butternut squash soup, garnished with toasted pumpkin seed, chive oil. Soup is notoriously hard to pair with and the Pinot Grigios had their job cut out for them. Fresh and fruity Gemma di Luna Pinot Grigio Complemented the richness and perceived sweetness from the butternut squash soup and helped to temper the back-of-the-throat spice from the very gingery and lemongrass-forward soup. Bonus: the ice blue Gemma di Luna Pinot Grigio bottle is my fave colour.
The last course was yuzu-butter-topped maple- and soy-marinated Sablefish, served with dashi-infused quinoa with oven-dried tomato, baby bok choi, and carrots. I could eat this buttery “seafood equivalent to pork belly”, all day long. The crisp and fresh Brilla! Pinot Grigio, with notes of stone fruit, provided the perfect Contrast to the umami-delicious richness from the velvety sablefish. Visually, the Brilla! Pinot Grigio was in a gorgeous drop-shaped “diamonds inside” bottle, designed with distinctive Italian jewelry in mind.
Being partial to white wine, I really enjoyed this meal overall and found the Pinot Grigio a very easy wine to drink. Lower in alcohol, fresh, delicate, light, with no overpowering flavours, versatile Pinot Grigio is the perfect balance to the complex and often spicy flavors found in Asian cuisine.
Thank you @vanwinefest and @milkcomms for having us!
Contributor for @MyVancity.ca
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