WTN: Paul-Henri Thillardon Les Carrieres Chenas 2011

Inter Beaujolais sponsored a superb 'tasting tour' of the west coast, visiting three cities to show off pairings of Beaujolais with three different cuisines. In Portland, seafood; in LA, Chinese; in San Diego, Mexican.

Here's one of the pairings from Portland, at Salty's on the Columbia

Oregon Cheeses and Chénas

With a stunning selection of Oregon cheeses to follow Inter-Beaujolais selected the Paul-Henri Thillardon Les Carrières Chénas 2011. Chenas is a seldom-seen cru these days, and that’s a shame because this one delivers on flavor, style and price, and shows enough versatility to pair with this wide ranging selection of flavors and textures on the cheese board.

For the full article on the Portland pairing dinner, with pictures, go here:http://www.examiner.com/list/perfect-pairings-beaujolais-and-seafood

Enjoyed your notes, Hoke. I was dubious of pairing halibut with Beaujolais but with the morels it comes together.

Enjoyed your notes, Hoke. I was dubious of pairing halibut with Beaujolais but with the morels it comes together.

It's the bridging ingredient that makes the pairing so wonderful, JC.

Years ago I was challenged when a very well educated winegeek told me he'd never had a successful pairing of red wine with fish. So I invited the couple to dinner and prepared a thick slab of halibut oven broiled with a base of tomato coulis underneath and topped with a rich cognac-laced black olive tapenade. Paired it with a Piedmontese nebbiolo.

He loved it.

Something of the same occurred with the halibut and Beaujolais at Salty's. It really was an impressive dish, and the wine went well...in the French manner, where the wine is not there to be a grandstanding bomb,but a cooperative supporting player to enhance the entire dining experience and showcase the food.