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About this Episode

Tina Johansson, WSET Diploma Graduate and Michelin restaurant sommelier, and Robert Tas review the wine list at Freya. This multi-course dinner restaurant serves a price-fixed 5-course menu and exemplary hospitality. This is a welcoming and friendly establishment where the food and wine will not disappoint. Tina points out a few special bottles from Argentina and Chile, and she shares a little knowledge about the blends, varietals, and pairings.

Wines reviewed include:

2019 Domaine Huet Le Haut Lieu, France
2017 Ashes & Diamonds Red Hen Vineyard, Napa
2021 Garage Wine Co, Chile

Transcript: Freya

Freya

RT: Hello and welcome to CorkRules!

I’m your host Robert Tas along with Tina Johansson, WSET Diploma Graduate and Michelin restaurant sommelier.

Hi Tina, thanks for being back with us on another episode of CorkRules, - a podcast where we help simplify and demystify the wine lists at some of your favorite restaurants. We talk with certified sommeliers and wine professionals who point out interesting bottles, classic food and wine pairings, hidden gems, value wines, or splurge wines that will take your dining experience over the top.

TJ: Thank you, Robert.

RT: Today we are exploring the wine list in Freya, a Detroit restaurant serving a five-course menu only. The menu has options though so you choose from a few dishes to create your own five course meal. Even though the food is great with a lot of details, the ambiance is warm. In Freya the work hard making all people feel welcome and not uncomfortable like one might feel in some other fine dining restaurants.

TJ: Yeah, the food looks great! The dishes are very fun and creative with a lot of seasonal vegetables and innovating combinations. All is locally sourced of course in line with the current way of cooking. And the wine list is also very fun! Quite short but with exciting bottles to share. And they go further to make everyone feel comfortable with the list as well, as it’s sorted under styles like” aromatic & fresh” or even headings like ”looking for a pinot noir?”.

RT: I like restaurants that dare to do their own thing with the list. So if we’re starting with something to drink with the first part of the menu and dishes like roasted sweet potato with muhammara and pomegranate, or apple carpaccio with coconut and pink peppercorns, what do you propose we drink? A nice white perhaps?

TJ: Yes, let’s start with white! I’m thinking something more full-bodied and flavorful to handle those bold flavors. I’d drink the 2019 Domaine Huet Le Haut Lieu. It’s a Chenin Blanc from Vouvray in France with richer fruit aromas and a rounder texture to hold up against the muhammara for example.

RT: Off to a good start! Chenin Blanc is certainly a food-friendly grape variety. What else on the list is fun? A style of wine hard to come by?

TJ: Well, have you ever tried wine from the dry-farmed, old vines of Maule in Chile? Because that would by my most exciting style of wine on the list for the curious drinker! The 2021 Garage Wine Co makes their Old Vine Pale from Carignan grapes and it’s more like a rosé than a red wine but bursting with flavor. Dry-farming is becoming more and more common in Maule, but this is a wine unique even within its niche.

RT: Oh, sounds like something quite different from a lot of the wines you would usually find from Chile.

TJ: It is! But the more modern style of wine made in Chile is very exciting for anyone looking to expand their wine horizon a bit. They make a lot of wine from a grape called Pais that used to be for bulk wine only, but in the right hands today it can produce beautiful, light reds that would remind you of a fresh Grenache or a juicy Pinot Noir.

RT: Wow, a wine country to really keep an extra eye on for the moment that is! Always fun to try new wine of course. So, if we pick one more bottle, something special to end the dinner with, what would it be? What would you like to drink in Freya if you were here to celebrate a special occasion?

TJ: How about we go to the different side of the spectrum for the last bottle of wine and go with a heavy red instead? I would celebrate with the 2017 Ashes & Diamonds Red Hen Vineyard, so a Napa Cab that is. Always a good pick and a producer that deliver with every bottle! I’m sure it would be a stunning match with the Angus Hanger steak with Peruvian potato and maitake mushrooms on the menu as well.

RT: Well, you know I won’t say no to that! Sounds like a great bottle for an amazing time in Freya. Thank you for joining us again, Tina. To our audience, thank you all for joining us here on CorkRules.

If you would like us to review one of your favorite restaurants, please send us email to: Info@corkrules.Com or visit our web website where we have a request form available, and we will do our best to get it in the queue as quickly as possible. We are looking forward to being with you on another CorkRules episode soon. In the meantime, please check out our website for other episodes of your favorite restaurant wine lists wherever you get your podcasts.

And please download our new CorkRules, which has all your favorites restaurant wine lists and lets you connect and learn from your friends. Now available on apple app store.

And finally, drink what you love and please make

sure you drink responsibly.

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