Pinot Noir Pairings at Piatto Pizzeria on the Canadian East Coast
Piatto Pizzeria and Enoteca is a locally owned authentic Italian pizzeria. They have locations in St. John’s, where all the magic began, Halifax, Moncton and PEI. When you walk in the door it is very clear the entire brand of this place is about socializing, eating great food and drinking great wine. Twice a month on a Wednesday evening, they have pizza and wine tastings. Since they started doing them, it has been a pretty hot ticket in town, selling out minutes after the email goes out to all of their customers. I have been wanting to try this night out so many times and finally the stars aligned and I had a friend join me.
How the Wine Pairings Work at Piatto Pizzeria
The way the pizza and wine tasting works at Piatto is you get to try tasting portions of two appetizers, three different pizzas and two desserts. With each course you also get a sample of wine. It is not necessarily a night of pairings, it’s just tasting and sampling wine and pizza and socializing. Essentially what Piatto is all about.
Kate, one of the owners, was also our host for the evening. Kate has a warm, professional and friendly disposition and she is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to wine. I was chatting with her about the whole evening and she said the tastings are a great way to get customers in to try different pizzas. A lot of regulars have a tendency to stick to the pizza they love and they don’t branch out. I am absolutely guilty of this because I am a Stefanie gal all the way. You’ll have to go to Piatto to figure out what I mean. I was excited to try something new!
Tonight’s Theme Was Pinot Palooza!
Kate was also telling me that there is usually a theme and this particular night was Pinot Palooza. In her words, “With the end of summer comes the end of Pinot Grigio.” Clearly it’s time for Pinot Noir.
I will be up front here, I am generally not a fan of Pinot Noir. Maybe because the first time I tried one number of years ago, a friend of mine who has a passion for a Pinot Noir excitedly described it as, “IT’S A DIRTY WINE!”… not really a great sell… and it has always stuck in my head. So I came into this evening with an open mind hoping my pinot noir tide would change.
There’s Pinot Noir in Champagne? Mind Blown!
That pretty much happened immediately when Kate popped the bottles of bubbly. Anyone that knows me knows my penchant for bubbles but I was puzzled as to what this had to do with the Pinot theme. Kate then tells us that the grapes used in the production of Champagne are Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay. WHAT?!!? My mind is blown and already I know this evening is heading in the right direction.
First Course Pairing: Bruschetta & Salad Appetizer with Champagne (incl Pinot Noir)
The first appetizer was Piatto’s bruschetta and a salad. The salad had fresh greens, feta cheese, olivies and sundried tomato. Both were fantastic and we continued to sip on our Veuve Doussot as we waited for the pizza to arrive.
Veuve Doussot and Mixed Green salad with feta, olives and sun-dried tomatoes.
First Pizza Pairing: Pinot Noir from Burgundy, France
Next came the pizza tastings. I was really looking forward to branching out and trying some of their other fabulous pies. The first pizza they brought out was their Farmer’s Pizza. We were served a Louis Latour Bourgogne Pinot Noir and Kate educated us on the origins of the wine and some of the flavours to look for. It was a young, thin wine and had a light taste. The combination of the pizza crust with the garlic, goat cheese and mushrooms on the pizza made this combination work perfectly. This Pinot Noir is definitely on my hit list on my next trip to purchase wine.
Louis Latour Bourgogne Pinot Noir and Farmer’s Pizza with garlic, goat cheese and mushrooms.
Second Pairing: A California Wine with a Sicilian Pizza and the Pizza of Week
The second Pinot we tried was an American wine called Meiomi Pinot Noir. It had a completely different taste and I could definitely taste some caramel and nuttiness at first. However, when second pizza arrived, the Sicilian, I tried that wine with the pizza and it almost tasted fruity. It was incredible how it changed just like that!
The next pizza was Piatto’s Pizza of the Week, the Sachin Sethi. Each week Piatto has a pizza created by a customer and it is usually named after the customer. This pizza was very unique and I loved it! It had a tomato base with chorizo, jalapeños, roasted corn, pepper-jack cheese and cilantro. I definitely hope to see this pizza come back on their menu.
Meiomi Pinot Noir with Sicilian Pizza and Sachin Sethi Pizza
And Finally… Dessert
Finally we tried dessert and that did not disappoint. We tried their Mini Chocolate Italiano, which was also gluten free, and their Mini Dolce de Leche Tart. The Dolce de Leche Tart was my favourite by a mile and I have been dreaming about it ever since.
Delectable desserts – Mini Chocolate Italiano and Mini Dolce de Leche Tart
An Overall Amazing Pairing Event at Piatto Pizzaria
Overall, it was an amazing night and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The price for this epic night of food and fun? $35 tax and tip included. You cannot go wrong with the Piatto Pizzaria Pizza and Wine Tasting. The atmosphere was fun and social, the service was very personal and just fantastic and the food and wine were incredible.
And yes, it is safe to say the Pinot tide has definitely turned for me.
 
Check out this review of Modern Steak in Calgary, Alberta: Service, Wine Selection, Steak as well as the Best Napa Valley, California Restaurants.

Click Here for the Introductory Guide to Riesling
 
Riesling (Vitis vinifera var ‘Riesling’)
A very aromatic vitis vinifera grape variety that originate in the Rhine region of Germany. Pronounced ‘REEce-ling’
 
Specific Regions where Pinot Noir Grapes Are Grown
Mosel, Germany is known for producing benchmark-level Rieslings; Alsace, France and Austria are also known for producing great wines of this varietal though wines from these regions tend to be extremely dry.
German Rieslings are labelled in accordance to when the grapes were picked to help provide guidance to the wine’s style, and German bottles often have a sweetness indicator. These classifications indicate the sugar level when harvested and fall within the Prädikatswein quality level.
German Prädikatswein Ripeness Levels

Kabinett
Spätlese (Late Harvest)
Auslese (Selected Harvest)
Beerenauslese (Selected Harvest of Ripe Berries)
Trockenbeerenauslese (Selected Harvest of Dried Berries)
Eiswein (Ice Wine)

Keep in mind that these categories are ripeness (sugar) levels at the time they were harvested, not the final sugar level after fermentations. Therefore, some of these wines may be vinified dry. Wines that fall into the Cabinet, Spätlese and Auslese can be dry, off-dry or sweet in style. Beerenauslese and higher are all sweet style wines.
Rieslings are widely planted in Australia, parts of the US and in the Canadian Okanagan and Niagara regions, though flavour and sweetness of wines from these areas can vary greatly depending on individual growing seasons and by a vintner’s fermentation process.
 
Synonyms of the Riesling Wine Varietal
Do not confuse the following grape variety names with Riesling. Although they look like synonyms, the are not the Riesling varietal: Welschriesling (unrelated), Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunier), Cape Riesling (Crouchen), Gray Riesling (Trousseau Gris)
 
Experience / Tasting Profile Of Riesling Grape Variety
Appearance of Riesling Wine
Young Riesling is generally, pale with greenish-yellow hues present. Aged Riesling turns to a beautiful golden colour with more intensity.
Aroma, Flavours & Mouthfeel of Riesling Wine
Well-known for a complex, and extremely fragrant bouquet of fruit and floral smells and often expected to be quite sweet; however, Rieslings are actually quite varied in their sweetness; a good indicator of a Riesling’s sweetness is the alcohol level: rieslings higher than 12% alcohol (in general) will be dryer, while rieslings under 12% alcohol should be sweeter.
Flavours should be intense and crisp, with a juicy mouth-feel, combined with floral undertones and hints of minerality. Cool-climate Rieslings will present flavours of citrus, green apple, peach, apricot, mango and guava, whereas warmer-grown Rieslings will present more “warm flavours” of melon and other tropical fruit.
Rieslings are rarely oaked; instead steel containers are used during fermentation to ensure that the fruit flavours of the grapes are carried forward rather than being masked by flavours of oak and tannins from the barrel.
 
The Terroir of the Riesling Grape Varietal: In What Conditions Does Riesling Grow?
The Grapes are vibrant green-to-yellow and are slow growing and need an extended period on the vine to reach full ripeness. The vine itself however, is easy to grow and quite tolerant to a range of conditions. The Riesling varietal grows best in cool to mild climates and produces medium-to-high yields later in the season than other varieties. Riesling grapes are also susceptible to botrytis which often lends them to becoming decadent dessert wines.
 

Summerland, British Columbia, Canada
