Let’s give thanks to all the wonderful things in our lives, especially friends and food! Tonight we hosted a Pre-Thanksgiving Pot Luck dinner for our monthly Wine & Dine event. This month, we’ve chosen to do a tasting of 3 Pinot Noirs and 2 Beaujolais-Villages.
Pinot Noir is one of the oldest grape varieties to be cultivated for the purpose of making wine. Pinot Noir may be the toughest grape to grow, but the effort is well worth the investment. It is a fickle grape that demands optimum growing conditions, calling for warm days consistently supported by cool evenings. Pinot Noir is a lighter colored and flavored red wine, well-suited to pair with poultry, ham, lamb and pork. Its flavors are reminiscent of sweet red berries, plums, tomatoes, cherries and at times a notable earthy or wood-like flavor, depending on specific growing conditions.
I’ve chosen to feature Pinot Noir because it lends itself really well with traditional Thanksgiving foods and it truly is a versatile wine that is easy to pair. Because it was a potluck event, the offerings were amazing. The table was full of traditional and some ethnic dishes brought in by my cooking group members! Here are pics of the event and spread, along with my recipe links for the 2 items my husband and I prepared:
Teresa’s Fall Cranberry & Gorgonzola Salad
Dimitra’s Homemade Spanokopita
Kurt’s Stuffed Mushrooms
Cathy’s Sweet Potatoes
Art’s Meatloaf
Mia’s Spicy Haitian Meatballs
Ron’s Green Bean Casserole
Len’s Sweet Corn
Joelen’s Sweet & Spicy Ham with Len’s Broccoli & Cauliflower
Anita’s Spicy Chickpeas
Dorothy’s Apple Pie w/Pecan Toffee Topping
Douglas’s Pumpkin Pie
Susan’s Pumpkin Cheesecake
Mia’s Banana & Coconut Bread 
Phyllis’s Chocolate Cream Pie
Jenny’s Challah
Dale’s French Baguette
Fon’s Pinot Noir offering
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