BLOCK SERIES WINES: They ARe BACK ! Instead of slaving and sweating over your oven for hours cooking a turkey this holiday
season, you may prefer to prepare another seasonally appropriate protein that your family and friends will enjoy. Of all protein-based dishes celebrated over the holidays, roast chicken is the most versatile to pair with a wide variety of wines. Red or white, light or full-bodied, wines of many grapes, regions, terroir, and styles will harmonize with roast chicken. It all depends on the preparation methods and side dishes being served. Chicken has such a mild flavour. With its delicious juices and crispy skin smothered in full fat gravy, what wine wouldn’t work? Right? The fattiness and saltiness of gravy can even work with Canadian Icewine! I say, however, that you consider saving your Icewine to serve with your holiday desert. Pinot Noir is no doubt a safe wine pairing choice for roast chicken. It is a safe choice because the wine occurs as half white and half red. Meant to be slightly chilled and with bright acidity like a white wine, Pinot Noir is light-bodied, dry, crisp, and complex with layers of flavours like a red wine. This French grape has enough delicacy to
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complement side dishes like pureed cauliflower or mashed potatoes and all the other trimmings, such as stuffing, carrots, etc. If serving Pinot Noir, refrain from sweet-based dishes like candied carrots. The sweetness will turn Pinot Noir’s refreshing acidity to rancidity. Ontario’s wine regions are considered cool climatic zones and therefore ideal for producing world class, award winning Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir is the primary grape used in the vinification of Burgundy in Burgundy, France. Ontario’s wine regions are situated between 41-44 degrees latitude (the same Latitude as Burgundy, France). So Ontario’s wine regions possess the same cool climate as Burgundy, the ideal growing conditions for complex, thriving Pinot Noir vines. Our regions are located near the great lakes of Ontario, Erie and Huron. In each of the regions, the lakes moderate vineyard temperatures. In the winter the lake’s warm breeze keeps vines from freezing. In the summer the lake’s cool breeze keeps grapes from ripening too quickly. A slow ripening allows the
