Where Wine Experts and Enthusiasts Share their Unique Wine Experiences.

IntoWine asked a panel of wine experts to recommend the best wine to pair with pork tenderloin:

Pork tenderloin tends to get a bad rap as a “safe” reasonably priced choice for a Thursday night dinner. But there is a reason why, if spending a day out in the SF bay area, you might find it mingling with the folks at serious farmers' markets (like John Bledsoe's phenomenal antibiotic-free pork) and later the same day making a cameo on Michael Mina's menu as a crispy pork loin with risotto. If you treat it with respect, brine it, smoke it or sear it high and hot you will be rewarded with its' ability to absorb and integrate spices and a finishing sauce. I have always been a fan of cider brining pork followed by spicing liberally with pepper, flavored salts and some kind of reduced sauce. It's good to look for something in a wine that can handle the spices and salt while not overpowering the pork. Alsatian whites immediately come to mind, bringing both sweet fruit and balanced acidity to the fore. My choice would be a 2006 Zind Humbrecht's Pinot Gris Alsace Herrenweg de Turckheim, around $45. Sweet apricots, minerality and complex tropical fruit make this a dream match for a cider brined pork loin. And the acidity balances the sweetness enough to avoid a cloying viscosity. Hard to find, but Zind Humbrecht makes great Riesling and Gewürztraminer which would serve as well. I highly recommend trying Zind Humbrecht's wines; you may be surprised at the heights these sometimes poorly executed varietals can reach in a unique growing region like Alsace.  - Tim Halloran, a Founding Partner of Kindred Wines, a small lot premium winery in San Francisco

On the eastern end of the Loire Valley in France sit the two communes of Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé where arguably the best Sauvignon Blanc in the world is produced.  For many, this is the true home for this grape.  While new world producers in California, New Zealand and elsewhere are creating excellent fruit laden Sauvignon Blanc’s, the producers in the Loire Valley excel in complex mineral driven versions of Sauvignon Blanc.  Among all of the regions of the Loire utilizing this grape, the reputations of Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé are the best. 

Pesto sauce, generally comprising basil, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, grated hard cheese and salt, originated in Genoa of Northern Italy, but no mention appears in the United States until 1944, when the New York Times reported an imported, canned pesto paste. Soon after, a recipe appeared in Sunset Magazine in 1946, contributed by Angelo Pellegrini. But the sauce did not gain popularity in the United States until the 1980s and 1990s, partly because fresh basil was not sold here until the 1970s. For a time, a mini pesto fever took hold with chefs and home cooks prolifically turning out recipe after recipe, varying the proportions of olive oil, cheese and basil and even changing the herb and nut combinations to such concoctions as parsley and/or mint with pistachios.