To pair or not to pair, that is the question.

I think pairing drinks and food is both an enjoyable and mutually beneficial pursuit, in fact on a recent trip to vue du monde in Melbourne i realised i could enlist the help of a 'tea' sommelier, in fact i've even read that water sommelier's exist.. fancy that.

The pairing of wine goes hand in hand with a gastronomical journey, however it's not always the most price conscious activity, or even enjoyable depending on your palate. The experience may even be dependent on the flexibility that a restaurant has in opening wines by the glass (i'm sorry, it doesn't count as wine pairing when you pour a few glasses of your house reds…)

I do digress, back to the great experience at vue du monde… when i looked through the leather bound wine list it more closely resembled the 5th testament in size, i was battling with the question of what wine should i order, the menu was diverse and the afternoon was to be long.

I'll cut to the chase, i went for a Pinot Noir, but i have my reasons.

In my view the right style of Pinot Noir has a tannin structure that is firm, yet balanced, it can give you both sweet fruits and a more savoury structure, the acid can be taught but not unforgiving like in bigger styles. In this instance i picked the 2010 Punt Road Chemnin Pinot Noir, a wine that was made with whole bunch and minimal intervention.

The thing i really like about Pinot Noir is it has the ability to have it's solo, but shuffle back into the chorus line on queue, something that bigger varietals with a heady hit of oak struggle to do.

Each person will have a different view, but for my 'if i was deserted in a 3 hatted restaurant and could only order one bottle' moment, it's going to be Pinot Noir all the way.

As a side note vue du monde was a truly memorable experience.