Americans in Paris

If you're anything like me at this time of year, I get a little antsy waiting for the first signs of spring and hoping we don't see a reversal of fortune with the lion/lamb analogy in March. The crocus is still my favorite springtime flower, if for no other reason than it's generally the first to sprout; nothing as noble as its beauty or lack of. Also, by now, I've typically exhausted most of my drink-now, hearty red wines in my cellar and look forward to a change of pace with a lighter style to match the promise of the ensuing spring. Like a bear waking from its winter slumber, I want something rejuvenating, and for me, it's usually Pinot Noir.

I've written a lot about Pinot over the years and it's like a personal mission for me to spread the word of this extraordinary grape beacause it always keeps connecting with new experiences. And talk about experiences, last December, my wife and I traveled to Paris with good friends to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Our magnificant apartment was situated right near the city's best market street where you could find a baker, a butcher, a fish monger, a chocolatier, a vegetable market, a cheese shop, and last, but certainly not least, a wine shop, all situated in succession. Then, they would repeat themselves again and again for three full blocks on both sides of the street. It was heaven for foodies like us.

Needless to say, we ate in a lot since a couple of us are pretty fair cooks and the array of choices before us was staggering. In the end, you can't go wrong with a scallop that's been out of the water less than three hours, or a perfectly roasted chicken, not to mention french butter, cheeses and hearty breads. Every one of our gluttonous feasts began with Champagne and at least a triumvirate of french cheeses, fresh fruits, jams and a plate of amazing olive oil for our fresh baguette. We decided from the get-go that we would only drink French wines on this trip except for the two American wines I brought from home, which were an extant of our friend's marriage year in 1978. While I tried to select wines from regions all over the country during our stay, our best experiences were with the red wines of Burgundy, namely, Pinot Noir.

On a night out in a traditional bistro right around the corner from us (and one highly recommended by our concierge) we had both, our best dinner and our best wine experience. After our in-home, above-mentioned starters we could jump right to the main course at the bistro, which for the most of us was the recommended steak and morels. The meat was cooked to perfection and tasted better than any I've ever had and our knives glided through them - as we say here in New Hampshire - like "buttah". The combination of the luxurious sauce and mushrooms made it a stunning combination with our two red Burgundies. Our favorite wine was a Volnay from the acclaimed 2002 vintage and went down like liquid velvet in our throats. These two wines affirmed once again, my deep love affair with Pinot Noir and started, I think, a few for the others. They are the ultimate food wines, enhancing, rather than dominating flavors in the food. It's really the only red wine that I can say has this effect on my experience with food.

After the main course, the waiter came around with a big bowl of chocolate mousse and scooped some big blobs on a shared plate. Then he sized us up and with a great pomp and ceremony, plopped the entire bowl down in front of us as we were ooing, and ahhing with satisfaction. This too, was bliss with our beloved Pinots! At the end of the meal, we took a spontaneous cab ride to the Eiffel Tower, even though it was kind of a foggy night. We rode to the top without lines because of both the weather conditions and the late hour and had one of the best experiences of our trip.

In the end, it was a vacation of a lifetime defined by great friendship and our mutual love of food and wine with one of the world's most spectacular cities as the backdrop. I think it's fair to say that if there was only one type of wine on this trip for all, it would be Pinot Noir (well, maybe Champagne too). And with that, in the immortal words of the late, great comedian Bernie Mac, "'nuff said!".