Pinot Noir and Plums

Filed in archive Food and Wine on September 28, 2006

Last trip to the grocery store I picked up a few plums, which I hadn't seen much of until recently.

I'm not really sure when plum season is, but until I saw this article about pairing them with Pinot Noir, I usually just ate them solo. I'm going to have to try them together now.

Along with the tip on plums, Joyce Goldstein also includes a recipe for pork loin to go along with what sounds like an unusual, rich meal.

From Farm-fresh plums highlight spice of Pinot Noir: It all began at the farmers' market. I was racing around, trying to beat the crowds, and passed a small stand with a sign that read "just-picked French plums." I have a weakness for these delicately sweet fruits, which are the forerunners of prunes. Their season is brief, so I had to have them. They are not as tart or as sweet as Santa Rosas, more like Italian blue plums, which also could be used in today's recipe.

On my mind were the bottles of Pinot Noir sitting on my dining table, culled from a recent Chronicle tasting session, and my memory of dark fruit nuances in the wines. I raced over to another stand and purchased a pork loin roast on the bone, some tiny green beans, a bag of small new potatoes and four ears of corn, and I went with my booty.

Pork with plums is not a revolutionary dish. In fact, pork with prunes ("dried plums") is a classic from the Vosges region of France, and the sauce is usually tempered by cream. I did not want to use cream, which could overwhelm these young wines. Then I remembered that I have used these plums to make one of my family's favorite conserves, plums with ginger, orange and lemon, which I serve with roast pork.