We believe the best pairing at any meal is good food, good company and good wine. However, there is also no denying the best food is immeasurably better when you can pair it with pinot. Here are a few of our favorite recipes that pair extremely well with our pinot noir.

Duck and Pinot Noir, along with Champagne & Caviar or Sauternes & Foie Gras, are some of the truly great food and wine pairings.You will see that most of our recipes our pinot noir focused. As Gomer Pyle said, "Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!" (Click the recipes below to view the details).

Coq Au Vin (click the title to view preparation)
Just when you think you can't improve on a classic recipe, you find a great chef who is true to the dish, yet raises it to a new level.

Moby Duck (aka Canard Bourgogne)
This is my updated version of Duck Burgundy or Canard Bourgogne. It's simple. It's easy. And man is it good.

Pinot, Balsamic & Shallot Reduction Glaze
This is a very easy to make reduction that goes great with fish, duck, pheasant, pork and of course the ubiquitous chicken. Also good on beef.

Mark's Italian Seared Sea Scallops
The way I like them is seared on the outside (nicely caramelized), with a light crust and tender on the inside. You can vary the amounts of all seasonings so that it floats your boat.

Maddeningly Good Mango, Mint & Avocado Salad

San Francisco Style Sand Dabs
Man-O-Man, sand dabs are a San Francisco favorite! When you can find the, buy them and cook 'em up, because they are delicious and easy on the pocket book too.

Mushroom Orzo with Shallots in White Wine
This recipe also rocks as a cold salad. Make double the recipe and eat it hot with dinner and take it on a picnic the next day chilled. A 2'fer.

Pairing Wine with Food - Is Pinot Noir the ultimate food wine? By LearnVino columnist Charles Kensington

This is why I think of Pinot Noir as the ultimate food wine. Here are its classic food matches:

* Leaner meats (veal, chicken, turkey, rabbit, any game bird, and filets of beef or pork, and a well-drained duck)

* Smoked, wood-roasted, braised or sausage meats (with the use of beef, lamb and pork)

* Earthy flavors (truffles, wild mushrooms, mustards, peppercorns, coriander and horseradish)

* Resiny or scented green herbs (rosemary, thyme, tarragon, oregano, summer and winter savory, chervil, mints and basils)

* Aromatic sweet spices (clove, cinnamon, mace, allspice and nutmeg)

* Sweet vegetables (such as tomatoes, beets, carrots, caramelized onions and bell peppers)

* Autumnal fruits (figs, plums, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, currants, black and dried cherries, etc.)

* Natural stocks and sauces rounded with butter

* Slow cooking processes (braises, pot-au-feu, etc.)

* Mild or creamy cheeses (Brie, Camembert, herbed cremes, Cheddar, Havarti and jack)

Put any balanced combination of the above into a dish, and there's a good chance that you'll have a match for the soft, velvety, earthy, smoky, sweet berry, spice and earth toned qualities of Pinot Noir.

But lately consumers of more contemporary styles of foods and wines have been discovering just how far, and effortlessly, Pinot Noir will go beyond brie, beyond boeuf bourguignonne, beyond coq au vin, and even beyond fig-stuffed pigeon and other proven settings.

When you sear scallops with powerfully aromatic truffles or truffle oil, for instance, all of the sudden it's a dish for Pinot Noir rather than anything white. In Oregon, winemakers like to serve their Pinot Noir with Northwest style plank-smoked salmon. In Hawaii, it's all about the finest tuna in the world, in brothy, earthy ponzus.

In my world, Pinot Noir is license to drink red wine with sweet/spicy, earth-toned or mildly bitter Asian flavors such as star anise, wasabi, hoisin, Japanese radishes, seaweeds, lotus root, fennel, toasted sesame seeds, sesame oil, mizuna, shiso, shiitakes, and even mild teriyaki marinades and glazes. All of which can actually bring out the mildly sweet, zippy, toasty, earthy, and wonderfully beefy qualities of Pinot Noir, and vice-versa.

No question, the taste of Pinot Noir becomes altered in exotic food contexts. Snobby wine connoisseurs may protest, but who cares? For me, it's a natural way to the life we've always craved-one wine, and mind, altering experience after another.