Anne Kjellgren @ Food Wine and Flavor, Author at Food Wine and Flavor

Pinot Blanc & Pinot Gris: What to Expect in the Glass

by Anne Kjellgren @ Food Wine and Flavor | May 12, 2026 | Alsace, Expand Your Palate, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Wine Education

The most useful question you can ask about any wine is not "is this good?" It is "what is this for?"

Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris answer that question differently. They share a region, a general style category (dry Alsatian white), and a grape family (both are Pinot mutations), but they are distinct enough in character that knowing when to reach for one versus the other is genuinely useful knowledge.

Here is what each one is for — and what to expect when you open them.

Pinot Blanc: What You're Getting

Pinot Blanc is light. Not thin — it has substance and texture — but light in a way that makes it immediately approachable, without the intensity of Riesling or the weight of Pinot Gris. The flavor profile is clean and gentle: fresh apple, pear, sometimes white peach, faint almond on the finish, occasionally a soft floral note.

The acidity is moderate and soft — nothing sharp, nothing that will cut through a rich sauce or hold its own against strong cheese. That is not what Pinot Blanc is for. It is for aperitif service, light first courses, vegetable-forward dishes, mild cheese, fish. It is for moments when you want white wine that is pleasant, easy, and does not compete.

It is also, in this role, exceptional value. A well-made Alsatian Pinot Blanc at $15–18 is frequently the best-drinking white on a shelf full of wines at twice the price, because it is making no attempt to impress — it is simply delivering clean, refreshing, well-made white wine.

Serve: At 8–10°C. In a standard white wine glass. With: charcuterie board, mild cheeses (Comté young, Gruyère, mild Brie), salmon, light pasta, vegetable tart.

Pinot Gris: What You're Getting

Pinot Gris is a different kind of wine entirely. It is full-bodied — sometimes the fullest-bodied dry white you will encounter outside of an oaked Chardonnay — with a texture that is almost viscous and an aromatic profile that takes a moment to identify: smoked stone fruit (apricot, peach), candied spice (ginger, cinnamon in some expressions), and beneath all of it a savory, almost mineral quality that makes it more complex than its fruit-forward surface suggests.

It is not a subtle wine. It arrives in the glass with presence. That presence is why it pairs so well with food that would overwhelm a lighter white — dishes with fat (foie gras is the Alsatian classic), rich braised meats, washed-rind and aged cheeses, mushroom-forward preparations, anything where you need the wine to hold its own rather than simply stay out of the way.

The acidity in Pinot Gris is moderate — lower than Riesling, which means it does not cut through rich food the way Riesling does. Instead it accompanies and complements. Think of it as a wine that finishes meals rather than refreshes through them.

The Pinot Grigio question: They share a name because they share a grape. The similarity ends there. Pinot Grigio in the Italian style is made light, crisp, and neutral — the wine equivalent of sparkling water at a meal. Alsatian Pinot Gris is made full, aromatic, and expressive. If you have dismissed the grape based on Pinot Grigio, give it another chance in the Alsatian form. It is a different wine.

Serve: At 10–12°C. In a wider-bowled glass that allows the aromatics to open. With: foie gras, duck confit, roasted pork, mushroom risotto, aged Gouda, washed-rind cheeses (Munster is the Alsatian pairing), game birds.

Side by Side: What Actually Matters

If you are choosing between them at a shop:

Opening the evening before dinner? Pinot Blanc.
Dinner is rich, fatty, or strongly flavored? Pinot Gris.
Pairing with cheese? Pinot Gris for aged and washed-rind; Pinot Blanc for fresh and mild.
Guest who doesn't love aromatic wines? Pinot Blanc. Guest who does? Pinot Gris.
Budget is the primary constraint? Pinot Blanc will almost always offer more value at the lower end.

Blends like Vin d'Alsace offer a range of 2-5 grapes blended together. This version by Arthur Metz, markets itself for Sushi because of its light mineral flavors, but this can work with the same profiles as a Pinot Blanc for sure, with a little more body and spice - kind of a middle ground between the two wines we've featured here.

Both grapes also appear in Vendange Tardive and Sélection de Grains Nobles expressions — late-harvest and noble-rot wines with significant sweetness and concentration. For Pinot Gris in particular, Vendange Tardive is where the grape's inherent richness becomes something truly extraordinary. The SGN version is the subject of Tuesday's second post.

Read the companion post: Sélection de Grains Nobles — The Rarest Wine in the Alsatian Cellar

Join the conversation: Expand Your Palate: One Sip at a Time

Continue Exploring

If this resonated, you might also enjoy:

The Other Pinots: Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and the Full Alsatian Picture

Sélection de Grains Nobles: The Rarest Wine in the Alsatian Cellar

Roasted Pork with Apples and Onions: The Alsatian Pairing for Pinot Gris

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Post Created: May 12, 2026

Sélection de Grains Nobles: The Rarest Wine in the Alsatian Cellar

by Anne Kjellgren @ Food Wine and Flavor | May 12, 2026 | Alsace, Dessert, Expand Your Palate, Wine, Wine Education

Every wine region has an expression that sits at the absolute edge of what is possible — the wine made only in rare years, only from specific conditions, only in tiny quantities, that demonstrates what the place and the grape are capable of when everything aligns.

In Alsace, that wine is Sélection de Grains Nobles.

We introduced SGN in the 7-levels post last week as the sweetest tier in the Alsatian classification system. This week we go deeper, because the wine deserves it — and because Thursday's pairing is built around it.

What Noble Rot Is

Sélection de Grains Nobles begins with a fungus: Botrytis cinerea, the same mold that spoils grapes in wet conditions and is called gray rot when it appears destructively. In very specific circumstances — a sequence of misty mornings and dry, warm afternoons, in vineyards with the right air circulation, at precisely the right stage of ripeness — the same fungus transforms into something else entirely.

Noble rot of a wine grape, botrytised grapes

Noble rot, in French: pourriture noble. The fungus penetrates the grape skin without rupturing it. Moisture evaporates through the skin. The grape shrivels. What remains is not a diluted, damaged grape but a concentrated one — sugar, acid, and flavor compounds intensified by the water loss, with entirely new aromatic compounds (glycerol, sotolon, the distinctive honey-and-saffron note of botrytized wine) added by the fungus itself.

It is one of the more remarkable processes in winemaking: a rot that improves rather than destroys, and that produces wines of a character impossible to replicate by any other method.

How SGN Is Made

The harvest is done by hand, berry by berry — triers passing through the vineyard multiple times over weeks, selecting only the most concentrated, most botrytized individual grapes at each pass. A single picker working all day may harvest enough fruit for one bottle. This is not an exaggeration. The labor alone makes SGN rare and expensive; the fact that the conditions required for noble rot occur in only a handful of vintages makes it rarer still.

The grapes arrive at the winery as small, wrinkled, golden-brown clusters. They are pressed gently; the sugar-rich juice runs slowly. Fermentation begins but does not complete — the sugar concentration is so high that the yeast exhausts itself before converting everything to alcohol. What remains is a wine with significant residual sugar (sometimes 200 g/L or above), moderate alcohol, and the concentrated, complex character that months or years of barrel aging will further develop.

What It Tastes Like

The color is deep amber-gold, sometimes copper. On the nose: honey, dried apricot, orange peel, candied ginger, saffron, something almost nutty in older examples. There is a richness to the aroma that is not quite any of these things individually but all of them at once — layered, complex, and persistent.

On the palate: concentrated sweetness, but not cloying. The acidity — preserved through the wine's natural chemistry — cuts through the sugar and keeps the wine alive. Riesling SGN is the most precise and mineral expression; Pinot Gris SGN the richest and most spiced; Gewürztraminer SGN the most flamboyantly aromatic. All three are extraordinary.

The finish is very long. You will notice it for minutes after the glass is empty.

When to Open It

SGN is a wine for specific moments. A small pour — it is rich enough that two ounces is sufficient alongside food — with a strong cheese at the end of a meal. Alongside a terrine of foie gras, if the occasion calls for it. By itself, after dinner, as the conversation slows and the evening grows late.

It ages. A well-made SGN from a good vintage can develop for twenty to thirty years, acquiring complexity that the same wine at five years has only begun to suggest. If you encounter an older bottle at a reasonable price, buy it.

Thursday's post pairs Alsatian Pinot Gris with roasted pork, apples, and onions — a combination that is deeply regional and shows the dry Pinot Gris at its practical best. SGN appears there as a bonus note: the aspirational pairing for anyone who wants to go deeper into what the region can produce at its most extraordinary.

Join the conversation: Expand Your Palate: One Sip at a Time

Continue Exploring

If this resonated, you might also enjoy:

Roasted Pork with Apples and Onions: The Alsatian Pairing for Pinot Gris (includes SGN + Strong Cheese)

Alsace: The Region Between Two Worlds

The Other Pinots: Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and the Full Alsatian Picture

Pinot Blanc & Pinot Gris: What to Expect in the Glass

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Post Created: May 12, 2026

Wine Was Never Meant to Be Consumed Alone

by Anne Kjellgren @ Food Wine and Flavor | May 11, 2026 | Mindful Drinking, Savour the Good Stuff

Wine is one of the few foods in history that has almost always been consumed alongside something else.

This isn't arbitrary. It's structural.

Throughout most of wine's history — in ancient Rome, in medieval France, in the farmhouse cellars of the Rhône — wine was part of a meal. It arrived at the table alongside food. It was poured in the context of conversation, hospitality, a shared experience.

It was never meant to be the main event. It was designed to be part of one.

We've drifted from that in modern wine culture. A glass of wine after work while standing at the kitchen counter is now completely normal — and I get it, because I've done exactly that. But what we've quietly lost in that habit is something worth noting.

When wine is separated from food, a few things happen.

You drink faster. There's nothing anchoring the pace.

You notice less. The sensory context that makes wine interesting — how it changes with a bite, how it opens up alongside a meal — just isn't there.

The glass becomes the whole experience. And it was built to be part of one.

Here's the practical test I'd invite you to try this week. The next time you pour yourself a glass in the evening, add something to the table. Not a full meal. Not a production. Just something:

A slice of good cheese. A few crackers. A handful of olives. Something simple that you actually enjoy.

That's it.

What you'll likely notice: you slow down. You start tasting the wine differently - because your palate now has contrast to work with. The cheese changes the wine. The wine changes the cheese. Something clicks.

This is how wine was designed to be experienced. Not as a standalone thing you consume, but as part of a moment you're in.

The shift is small. The difference is real.

Next week: what happens when you bring actual attention to that moment — and why your palate expands faster than you'd expect.

Continue Exploring

If this resonated, you might also enjoy:

What Role Is Your Glass Actually Playing?

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Post Created: May 11, 2026

The Other Pinots: Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and the Full Alsatian Picture

by Anne Kjellgren @ Food Wine and Flavor | May 10, 2026 | Alsace, Expand Your Palate, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Wine Regions

Last week we spent time with Riesling — the grape that defines Alsace's reputation and anchors its most serious wines. This week we stay in the region and shift focus to the grapes that do most of the everyday work: Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris.

They are less discussed. They are not the grapes that appear on wine lists when someone wants to demonstrate Alsatian knowledge. And yet they are, in practical terms, the wines most people in Alsace are actually drinking with dinner — the bottles opened on a Tuesday, poured alongside tarte flambée or choucroute or a simple roast chicken, because they are accessible, versatile, and built for the table in a way that Riesling, for all its greatness, sometimes is not.

Understanding them completes the picture of Alsace that last week began. And at the far end of the spectrum — beyond the dry whites, beyond even Vendange Tardive — sits the Sélection de Grains Nobles, the rarest and most intensely sweet wine the region makes. Tuesday's second post is devoted to it. Thursday's pairing is built around it.

But first: the Pinots.

Pinot Blanc — The Everyday Wine

Pinot Blanc is Alsace's most approachable white and, by most estimates, the wine that the region's own residents drink most often. It is light to medium in body, dry, with gentle acidity and soft fruit — apple, pear, a hint of almond, sometimes a faint floral note. It does not demand attention. It does not require you to think about it. It is simply pleasant, well-made, and suitable for almost any occasion that calls for white wine.

That is not faint praise. Wines that are genuinely pleasant without being demanding are useful in a way that more dramatic wines are not. Pinot Blanc is the wine you open when guests are arriving and you want something in glasses before anyone has found a seat. It is the wine that goes with the aperitif snacks, the cheese plate, the first course. It is the wine that makes the evening easy.

In the glass: pale gold, sometimes almost colorless. Aromas of fresh apple and white peach, occasionally light citrus, nothing sharp or insistent. On the palate, a soft roundness — lower acidity than Riesling, less aromatic intensity than Gewürztraminer, more generosity than Pinot Gris at the same price point. A food-neutral wine in the best sense: it will not compete with what you're eating, and it will not disappear next to it.

It is also the grape in Crémant d'Alsace — the region's excellent traditional-method sparkling wine, which blends Pinot Blanc with Auxerrois, Pinot Gris, and sometimes Pinot Noir. If you have not tried Crémant d'Alsace, it is worth finding. It is a fraction of the price of Champagne, made by the same method, and consistently well-made.

Buying Pinot Blanc:

Entry ($12–18): Approachable, fresh, everyday drinking. Often the best-value Alsatian white on any given shelf.

Mid-range ($18–28): Single-producer bottlings with more terroir character — slightly more texture, more minerality.

Pinot Gris — Richer, Spicier, Built for the Table

Pinot Gris is a different animal. Where Pinot Blanc is light and accommodating, Pinot Gris is full-bodied, sometimes almost heavy — the most substantial dry white in the Alsatian lineup, with a texture that can approach Chardonnay and an aromatic profile that is genuinely distinctive: smoke, spice, candied ginger, ripe stone fruit, occasionally a savory note that reads almost like aged cheese.

It is also, worth noting, not the same grape as Pinot Grigio. They share a name and a genetic origin — both are color mutations of Pinot Noir — but they are made in completely different styles. Pinot Grigio, in the Italian tradition, is light, crisp, high-acid, and deliberately neutral. Alsatian Pinot Gris is the opposite: rich, aromatic, low-acid relative to Riesling, with body enough to stand up to substantial food. If you have been unimpressed by Pinot Grigio, that experience tells you almost nothing about Pinot Gris.

In the glass: deeper gold than Pinot Blanc, sometimes with a faintly copper tinge. The aromas arrive in layers — ripe pear and apricot first, then the smoky-spice note that is Pinot Gris's signature, then something more savory underneath. On the palate: weight, warmth, good length. The acidity is moderate, which is why it pairs so well with fatty, rich, or strongly flavored food. It does not cut through richness the way Riesling does; it meets it.

This makes Pinot Gris the natural choice alongside dishes that would overwhelm a more delicate white: foie gras (the Alsatian classic), rich terrines, roasted game birds, mushroom-forward preparations, aged and washed-rind cheeses. It is also, particularly in sweeter Vendange Tardive expressions, one of the most naturally pairing-compatible wines with the region's traditional spiced cuisines.

Buying Pinot Gris:

Entry ($15–22): Accessible and food-friendly. The right call for a weeknight when dinner is rich.

Mid-range ($22–40): Single-producer, terroir-specific — where the smoky-spice character becomes more pronounced and the texture more interesting.

Vendange Tardive ($40–70): Off-dry to lightly sweet, richer still. Try alongside foie gras or a strong aged cheese.

Pinot Noir — Alsace's One Red

Pinot Noir in Alsace is worth a brief mention, because it surprises people. This is not Burgundian Pinot Noir — it is paler, lighter, sometimes closer to a dark rosé than a conventional red, made in a climate that doesn't accumulate the same heat as Côte d'Or. The style is intentionally light: fresh red fruit, low tannin, high drinkability. It is pleasant chilled slightly, which is unusual for a red but works here.

It is not the reason to seek out Alsatian wine. But if you encounter it, it is worth trying.

Completing the Picture

Riesling is what makes Alsace famous. Pinot Blanc is what makes it livable — the everyday wine, the aperitif wine, the wine that makes a simple meal feel effortless. Pinot Gris is what makes it serious at the dinner table for dishes that demand weight and body. And Sélection de Grains Nobles — Tuesday's second post — is what makes it extraordinary: the rarest, most intense, most specifically Alsatian expression of what this landscape can produce when conditions align perfectly.

They are not competing wines. They are different responses to different moments, different foods, different times of day and different moods. Understanding all of them is understanding Alsace fully.

Tuesday: two posts. Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris in detail — what to expect in the glass and how to buy — and a full exploration of Sélection de Grains Nobles. Thursday: roasted pork with apples and onions alongside Alsatian Pinot Gris — a pairing that is deeply regional and immediately accessible. Plus a note on where SGN fits if you want to go further.

Join the conversation in our community: Expand Your Palate: One Sip at a Time.

Continue Exploring

If this resonated, you might also enjoy:

Pinot Blanc & Pinot Gris: What to Expect in the Glass

Sélection de Grains Nobles: The Rarest Wine in the Alsatian Cellar

Roasted Pork with Apples and Onions: The Alsatian Pairing for Pinot Gris

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Post Created: May 10, 2026

Coq au Riesling: The Dish That Teaches a Region

by Anne Kjellgren @ Food Wine and Flavor | May 7, 2026 | Alsace, Expand Your Palate, Food, Main Dishes, Pairings, Riesling

There is a class of dishes that teaches a region more directly than any description. Coq au Riesling is one of them.

The logic of the dish is simple: braise chicken in the wine of the region, with the aromatics of the region's cooking — pancetta, leeks, mushrooms, cream. The wine's acidity keeps the braise from becoming heavy. Its stone-fruit character deepens into the sauce as it cooks. At the table, you pour a glass of the same wine, and what you taste is continuity: the sauce and the wine echo each other, built from the same bottle.

This is the oldest logic in wine pairing. Not contrast, not complexity, not matching tannins to proteins. Just: cook with what grows there, drink what grows there. Alsace figured this out a long time ago.

About the Dish

Coq au Riesling is the Alsatian answer to Coq au Vin — lighter, silkier, and built around dry white wine rather than the red that defines the Burgundian version. The braising liquid is the wine itself, extended with a small amount of chicken stock. Pancetta replaces the lardons of southern France; leeks replace the pearl onions of Burgundy. The cream is added at the end, not cooked in, which keeps it fresh and prevents the sauce from reading as heavy.

The result is a braise that smells like the wine country it comes from — aromatic, clean, faintly mineral, with the savoury depth of reduced poultry stock underlying everything.

The Night This Dish Found Its Occasion

There is a version of this dish I make on a Tuesday evening with whatever Riesling is open on the counter. And then there is the version I made for Polly.

Polly had hired me to cater a birthday dinner for her dear friend Cathy — five women, a lakeside home in North Carolina, and a concept she had titled, “A Taste of Alsace.” The table was set in French blue and gold china, hydrangeas at the center, crystal glassware catching the late afternoon light off the water. It looked exactly like what it was: a celebration with real thought behind it.

The wine for the evening ran the full Alsatian arc. A Crémant d’Alsace Brut Rosé arrived with a lemon-thyme sorbet and a drizzle of Alsatian honey to clear the palate. A smoked trout mousse with dill crème and rye toast points followed alongside an Alsatian Pinot Blanc. Then the main course, and the dry Riesling that had been waiting for it. The evening closed with a Kougelhopf-inspired bread pudding — studded with golden raisins, almonds, and a Gewurztraminer glaze — alongside a Vendanges Tardives Gewurztraminer. It was truly a taste of Alsace. The progression was considered and divine.

For the Coq au Riesling, I used a Kuentz-Bas Geisberg Grand Cru Riesling — the entire bottle, into the pot. Geisberg is one of Alsace’s 51 classified Grand Cru vineyards, situated in Ribeauvillé, known for a structured, mineral Riesling that holds its character even after an hour in a braise. It did. The sauce had a depth and a precision to it that a standard village-level Riesling would not have delivered in quite the same way. You could taste the decision.

This recipe scales. It works on a Tuesday and it works for a lakeside birthday dinner in Grand Cru Riesling. What changes is the bottle and the occasion. The dish meets both equally.

We did ask the question. Does it matter whether you use an inexpensive wine in your cooking vs. a Grand Cru? Everyone agreed: it made a huge difference and it was COMPLETELY worth it!

The Pairing Logic

The rule here is the same one that produced the dish: serve what went into the pot.

An Alsatian Riesling at the table does the same work it did in the braise — the acidity cuts through the cream, refreshes the palate between bites of rich, pancetta-scented chicken, and keeps the dish tasting clean over the course of the meal. The stone-fruit and mineral notes in the wine resonate with the notes that cooked into the sauce. It is a pairing built on continuity rather than contrast, and it is nearly impossible to get wrong.

Our bottle this week is the a dry Alsatian Riesling. Dry, mineral, made by a biodynamic producer in Husseren-les-Châteaux. This is the wine in the pot and the wine in the glass.

Alsace Pinot Gris is the second choice — slightly richer and more textured, with spice notes that add complexity against the cream. If your bottle of Riesling went entirely into the braise, a Pinot Gris from Trimbach or Hugel in the $25–35 range is a worthy second.

Serve the wine slightly cool — around 10–12°C. It will warm to 12–14°C in the glass over the meal, which is where Alsatian whites show their full aromatic range. Too cold and the aromatics close down; too warm and the freshness that makes the pairing work is lost.

About the Pasta

We serve this over homemade wide noodles — a simple Rich Egg Yolk Pasta Dough rolled thick and cut wide, cooked until just tender. This is our pasta recipe go-to and it works really well here (Thank you, Michael Symon!) Egg noodles are the traditional Alsatian accompaniment; they absorb the sauce without competing with it.

If you're not making pasta from scratch, a dried egg noodle or pappardelle from a good brand works well. Spaetzel is also a terrific choice.

Rich Egg Yolk Pasta Dough

Anne Kjellgren @ Food Wine and Flavor

Michael Symon's Egg Pasta Dough (Cut Wide for Braised Dishes)

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Prep Time 10

Dough resting — hands-off 30

Total Time 45

Course Main Course, Pasta, Side Dish

Cuisine Italian, Vegetarian

Ingredients

Group 1: The Dough

2 cups '00' flour or all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
10 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Water as needed

Group 2: To Finish

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Flaky sea salt
Fresh flat-leaf parsley roughly chopped — optional

Instructions

Make the Dough

Combine the flour and egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the olive oil.
Mix on low speed until the dough begins to come together. If the mixture looks too dry and crumbly, add water one teaspoon at a time until the dough begins to form.
Once the dough has come together, switch to the dough hook. Mix on medium speed until the dough is smooth, elastic, and clears the sides of the bowl — about 4–5 minutes. If it is still sticking to the sides, add a small amount of flour; if it seems stiff and dry, add water a teaspoon at a time.
Remove the dough from the bowl, shape into a ball, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. The dough will relax and become noticeably easier to roll.

Roll, Cut & Cook

Divide the rested dough into thirds. Keep the pieces you are not working with wrapped so they do not dry out.
Flatten one piece with your palm and run it through a pasta machine on the widest setting. Fold the sheet in thirds and run it through again. Repeat 2–3 times until the sheet is smooth.
Continue passing the dough through progressively narrower settings until you reach the desired thickness — setting 4 or 5 on a standard machine for wide noodles suited to a braise. The sheet should be thin but not translucent.
Cut the sheets into wide noodles approximately 2 cm (¾ inch) wide, using a knife or pizza wheel. Drape the cut noodles over a dowel or lay flat on a lightly floured tray.
To cook: bring a large pot of generously salted water to a rolling boil. Add the noodles and cook for 2–3 minutes, tasting at 2 minutes — they should be tender with a slight resistance at the center. Drain, reserving a cup of pasta water.
Toss the drained noodles immediately with a tablespoon of butter and a splash of pasta water if needed to prevent sticking. Season with flaky salt. Serve at once alongside the Coq au Riesling.

Notes

Attribution: This pasta dough is Michael Symon's Egg Pasta Dough — 2 cups '00' flour, 10 large egg yolks, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, and water as needed, mixed in a stand mixer. Anne's modification: cut into wide noodles rather than fettuccine or ravioli, to suit the Coq au Riesling braise.

Why 10 egg yolks: Symon's recipe uses only yolks — no whole eggs — which produces a dough that is noticeably richer, more golden, and more silky than standard egg pasta. The extra fat from the yolks gives the noodle a luxurious texture that holds up particularly well under a cream sauce. This is not a substitution you want to shortcut.

'00' flour vs. all-purpose: '00' flour is milled more finely than all-purpose and produces a smoother, more tender dough. If you cannot find it, all-purpose works — the texture will be slightly less silky but the result is still excellent. Do not use bread flour; the higher protein content makes the dough too elastic and difficult to roll.

The rest is not optional: 30 minutes at room temperature allows the gluten to relax fully. Dough that has not rested will spring back when you try to roll it. If you are making this ahead, wrap tightly and refrigerate for up to overnight — bring back to room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling.

On thickness: For pairing with a braise, setting 4 on a standard pasta machine gives a noodle with enough body to absorb the sauce without going soft. Setting 5 or 6 produces a thinner noodle better suited to fettuccine or lighter sauces.

Make-ahead: Cut noodles can be dried completely (1–2 hours until fully dry to the touch) and stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or frozen on a tray and then bagged — cook from frozen, adding 1 minute to the cooking time.

Wine Note: Fresh egg pasta is a blank canvas — the wine pairing belongs to the sauce or dish it accompanies, not to the noodle itself. If you are serving this alongside Coq au Riesling, see that recipe for the pairing guidance. If you are serving the noodles simply — tossed in butter, with perhaps a grating of Parmesan and a handful of herbs — the wine follows the butter. A good Burgundian Chardonnay or a white Burgundy from the Mâcon is the natural choice: the richness of the egg yolk pasta echoes the wine's body, and the butter connects them. For a cream or mushroom sauce, the same logic applies. For a tomato-based sauce, reach for a medium-bodied red — a Barbera, a lighter Côtes du Rhône, or a good Beaujolais cru. The pasta will follow wherever the sauce leads.

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The Recipe

Coq au Riesling

Anne Kjellgren @ Food Wine and Flavor

Alsatian Braised Chicken with Dry Riesling, Mushrooms, Leeks & Cream

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1 10

Resting time 5

Total Time 1 35

Course Entree, Main Course

Cuisine Alsatian, French

Ingredients

Group 1: The Chicken & Pancetta

3 lbs 1.3–1.5 kg bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks — thighs preferred
4 oz 115g pancetta, cut into small cubes (or thick-cut lardons)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Group 2: The Aromatics

2 medium leeks — white and pale green parts only halved lengthwise, sliced thin, washed well
2 garlic cloves finely minced
8 oz 225g cremini mushrooms, sliced — or a mix of cremini and shiitake

Group 3: The Braising Liquid

1½ cups 375ml dry Alsatian Riesling — use one you would drink alongside the dish
1 cup 240ml good-quality chicken stock — low-sodium preferred
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or ½ teaspoon dried
1 bay leaf

Group 4: The Cream Finish

¾ cup 180ml heavy cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and white pepper to taste
Small squeeze of lemon juice to brighten at the end — optional

Group 5: To ServeR

Rich Egg Yolk Pasta Dough see separate recipe — or dried egg noodles, cooked to package instructions
Creme Fraiche or sour cream
Fresh flat-leaf parsley roughly chopped
Flaky sea salt for finishing

Instructions

Render the Pancetta

Set a large Dutch oven or heavy braising pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil and pancetta cubes.
Cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and the pancetta is golden at the edges. It should be tender-crisp, not hard. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan.

Sear the Chicken

Pat the chicken pieces completely dry with paper towels — moisture is the enemy of a good sear. Season generously all over with salt and pepper.
Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the butter to the pancetta fat. When the butter foam subsides, add the chicken skin-side down. Do not crowd the pan — work in batches if needed.
Sear without moving for 6–7 minutes until the skin is deep golden brown. Flip and sear the other side for 4 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside with the pancetta.

Build the Braise

Reduce the heat to medium. Add the sliced leeks to the fat in the pan. Cook for 5–6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and just beginning to turn translucent. Season lightly with salt.
Add the garlic and mushrooms. Cook for another 5–6 minutes until the mushrooms have released their liquid and the pan is mostly dry again.
Pour in the Riesling and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan — that fond is flavor. Add the chicken stock, thyme, and bay leaf.
Return the chicken pieces and pancetta to the pan. The liquid should come about halfway up the chicken; add a splash more stock if needed. Bring to a gentle simmer.
Cover and cook over low heat for 35–40 minutes, until the chicken is completely tender and pulls easily from the bone. Avoid a rolling boil — you want a quiet, steady simmer.

Finish and Serve

Lift the chicken out and set aside on a warm plate. Remove the bay leaf. Raise the heat to medium and let the braising liquid reduce for 5–6 minutes until slightly thickened.
Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the heavy cream and Dijon mustard. Simmer gently for 3–4 minutes until the sauce is silky and coats the back of a spoon. Taste and adjust with salt, white pepper, and lemon juice.
Return the chicken to the pan and spoon the sauce over to coat. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving — the sauce will thicken slightly as it cools.
Serve directly from the Dutch oven if possible, over homemade wide noodles. Finish with fresh parsley and a pinch of flaky salt. Optional: serve (as I do) with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream, if desired.

Notes

Attribution: This recipe is adapted from Nigella Lawson's Coq au Riesling (How to Eat, 1998 / nigella.com), with modifications including the use of pancetta in place of lardons, the addition of Dijon mustard in the cream finish, and a slightly adjusted liquid ratio. Served here over Rich Egg Pasta (wide egg noodles) rather than the traditional spaetzle.

On the wine in the pan: Use the same bottle you'll drink alongside the dish — an Alsatian Riesling in the $18–25 range is exactly right. The wine's acidity is what keeps the braise from tasting heavy. Do not use a cooking wine or anything you wouldn't drink.

The sear matters: Dry the chicken completely before searing — moisture creates steam and prevents browning. The color you build in the sear adds depth to the finished sauce. Take the time to do it properly, in batches if necessary.

Make-ahead: This dish improves overnight. Make it through the finish step, cool completely, and refrigerate. The fat will set on the surface and can be skimmed before reheating. Reheat gently, covered, on the stovetop with a splash of stock if the sauce has thickened too much. Add the fresh parsley when serving.

On the noodles: Homemade wide egg noodles are the companion dish (see our Rich Egg Pasta Dough recipe). If using dried egg noodles or pappardelle, cook to package instructions and toss with a small amount of butter before plating so they don't stick.

Wine pairing: Serve with the same dry Alsatian Riesling used in the dish — the continuity between the braising wine and the glass is part of the point. A dry Alsatian Pinot Gris also works well if you want more body and spice in the glass.

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This dish belongs to the Alsace week — the same wine that teaches you dry Riesling as a concept is the wine you cook with and drink at dinner. That continuity is part of the lesson.

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