Eric Guido is back this week with a great recipe for Roast Chicken. Long considered the dish to judge a chef by, the simplicity of a Roast Chicken demands attention to detail and a fine understanding of technique. Eric lays out each step of the preparation and technique to ensure that your bird is moist, tender and flavorful.

Pinot Noir is a classic match for roast poultry. Eric matches his recipe with a terrific example from the Sonoma Coast. Benefitting from the cooling effects of the Pacific Ocean, the Sonoma Coast is home to some of California’s most compelling examples of this fickle grape. His choice of the A. P. Vin Kanzler Vineyard is  wonderful, and works with the dish beautifully, but it is a rare bottle, and not inexpensive.

We’ve selected two great examples of Pinot Noir to pair with Eric’s Roast Chicken, one from the Sonoma Coast and another from Northern Italy that should match up perfectly to the flavors and textures of the dish. To read Eric's article and recipe click here.

What to expect: Pinot Noir

Responsible for some of the greatest wines on earth, the exhaulted red wines of France's Burgundy region, Pinot Noir is a notoriously fickle grape that expresses it's origins like no other. It's a vine that needs to struggle to produce great wines, but when it does the depth of flavors that range from cherry to cola can be explosive. The wine's bright acidity and gentle tannins make it very approachable, giving it broad appeal.