<a href="https://ko.momofuku.com/">Momofuku Ko</a>&nbsp;is an award-winning restaurant in NYC that offers an exceptional dining experience. &nbsp;It won two Michelin stars in 2009 and has maintained that status ever since. It was also awarded three stars by the New York Times in 2015, and in 2019, it was ranked No. 76 on the World&rsquo;s 50 Best Restaurants list. With credentials like this, you&rsquo;d expect a top-quality wine list and you would not be disappointed.

So, if dining Japanese, which wines pair well?

Japanese cuisine is quite varied and includes a wide range of seafood dishes, tempura, sushi and sashimi, pork, chicken, ramen&hellip;, the flavors and textures are diverse, which means we need a wine list with a variety of options.

With sushi and sashimi, you can go wrong with a crisp, clean white wine like a gr&uuml;ner veltliner. A white wine with high acidity and lemony, citrus notes works well with seafood. Sauvignon blanc also pairs well with sushi, and, of course, Champagne also works well.

If you opt for a bowl of ramen or miso soup, the strong umami calls for a bolder wine that won&rsquo;t be overpowered nor overpower. Consider choosing a fortified wine like an Assyrtiko from Greece or even a Manzanilla sherry. However, many ramen dishes use soy sauce, in this case, a light-bodied pinot noir will also work well.

Fried, battered and grilled dishes like tempura, katsu, karaage and agedashi tofu pair well with aromatic and full-bodied whites, such as chardonnay or pinot gris. However, light to medium reds can also work spectacularly well. Think pinot noir, gamay or grenache.

If you are thinking of dining at Momofuku Ko, &nbsp;check out the CorkRules<a href="https://uat.corkrules.com/momofuku-las-vegas/episodes/23">&nbsp;podcast </a>episode with certified sommelier Michaela Quinlan. She navigates the wine list at &nbsp;Momofuku Ko and offers a few stellar suggestions.

Cheers!

&nbsp;

About the CorkRules Podcast:&nbsp;Each week we pour a glass and share top restaurant wine list picks, providing you with the knowledge to confidently navigate the wine list through sommelier recommendations, suggested food pairings and expert insights

About CorkRules:&nbsp;CorkRules, the first digital wine app experience, makes it easier for you to navigate the restaurant wine list, and provides you with personalized wine recommendations from your favorite restaurants. Through CorkRules you can find the perfect wine for every occasion based on your preferences. Connect with friends and wine experts to discover new wines to try and learn about wine. CorkRules makes it easier to discover and drink what you love. &nbsp;

Momofuku Ko is an award-winning restaurant in NYC that offers an exceptional dining experience.  It won two Michelin stars in 2009 and has maintained that status ever since. It was also awarded three stars by the New York Times in 2015, and in 2019, it was ranked No. 76 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. With credentials like this, you’d expect a top-quality wine list and you would not be disappointed.

Pairing Wine with Japanese Food at Momofuku Ko

Wines from grapes grown in higher altitude areas with cooler climate has become quite the trend recently. This specific growing environment gives intense flavor but elegance and freshness to the final wines. To highlight and champion these conditions more and more winemakers are starting to use alto as a marketing and labelling term to show their grapes were grown in high altitude vineyards.

Decoding the wine label: Alto

Brut is a word often seen on labels for different kinds of sparkling wine. As you may have discovered when drinking these wines, it indicates that the wine is dry, meaning there is no perceived sweetness in the wine. But how about Extra Brut or Dry, what do they mean and are they the same as Brut?

Decoding the wine label: Brut

Semi-sweet Riesling, a type of wine falling out of style. It’s a shame, since these wines are perfect to pair with flavorful cuisines like Asian or Mexican, or simply drink as they come under the summer sun. The higher level of sugar left in the wine also means that the alcoholic fermentation was stopped before finishing, providing a wine with lower alcohol level and therefor easier grabbing a second glass of.

Decoding the wine label: Spätlese

Have you ever heard the word Xinomavro? Most have not. It is however a word on many sommeliers’ lips today, as it happens to be considered the grape variety with the highest quality in Greece, and one that is trending at the moment. The fact that Greece have been making wine for a long time comes as no surprise, but they have never exported an amount to make sure wine lovers around the globe tried it. With the growing wine tourism many have discovered these wines and are serving them in wine bars and restaurants in many countries today.

Decoding the wine label: Xinomavro

Chianti Classico, Valpolicella Classico, Soave Classico… Why do all these Italian wine regions have the Classico addendum and what does it mean? What is the difference for wines labeled as Classico?

Classico is a wine term in Italy seen on a few wine labels and it indicates that the wine’s from the historic center of the region, the heart. Using Chianti and Chianti Classico and their Sangiovese-based red wines as an example, Chianti is a rather large wine district within the Tuscany region. Chianti Classico is located withing Chianti as the central part and the one that originally existed. Back then this smaller region was actually called Chianti, but as the region grew the quality of the wine plummeted and the well-known characteristics of these red wines were watered down. The reputation took a hit and sales diminished. Eventually this led to the creation of Chianti Classico, which would be drawn from the original Chianti borders to recover the typicity of these wines. Today the quality of both Chianti and Chianti Classico have risen a lot due to modern techniques and knowledge about pruning, planting and temperature control in the winery.

Decoding the wine label: Classico

In the rarefied world of fine wine, where bottles can command prices equivalent to luxury cars, authenticity is everything. Laurent Ponsot's gripping memoir "FBI: Fake Bottle Investigation" reads more like a high-stakes thriller than a traditional wine book, chronicling his relentless pursuit of one of the wine world's most infamous counterfeiters, Rudy Kurniawan.

From Burgundy's Vineyards to the FBI's Most Wanted: A Winemaker's Quest for Justice

Chablis – one of the more popular styles of wine today and a region known by many. Most are familiar with the word Chablis and the light, fresh white wine with a touch of minerality it brings. Even though it’s a renowned wine, few knows what it really is.

Decoding the wine label: Chablis

Many grape varieties around the world of wine have names local to the region or country they’re grown in, even though they’re exactly the same. The most famous example would be Syrah in France where the same grape is named Shiraz in Australia. Another variety with two names is Pinot Grigio, or Pinot Gris.

Decoding the wine label: Pinot Grigio

Have you ever seen the term sur lie on a wine label? It’s not a grape and not a wine region, but a winemaking method used to give certain styles of white wine a rounder texture and a more complex flavor profile.

Decoding the wine label: Sur lie

Altro Paradiso

Grant Wood

&nbsp;

Altro Paradiso

RT: Hello and Welcome back to another episode with CorkRules!&nbsp;

A podcast where&nbsp;we review a wine list from your favorite restaurants. I&rsquo;m your host Robert Tas along with Grant Wood, wine educator and certified sommelier. Hello Grant,&nbsp;it&rsquo;s great to have you join our CorkRules family!

GW: Hey Robert, I&rsquo;m so happy to be here with you.

RT: Before we jump in, let&rsquo;s talk about CorkRules.

We created CorkRules to demystify wine list&rsquo;s because we know from experience, that sometimes when we get that list handed to us, well&hellip; it can be intimidating, and even a little daunting.

Our aim is to help prepare you to navigate that list, find those hidden gems, or value wines or that special bottle that will take your dining experience over the top.

RT:&nbsp;So, sit back and listen as we review your favorite wine list.

Located in the heart of Soho, this Italian classic by chef Ignacio Mattos is a true destination with a delicious, yet focused menu with great cocktails and wine to take you on a journey.

Let&rsquo;s get shaken with cocktail to break the ice! My eyes were drawn to Negroni Messicano featuring Yola Mezcal, Giardino tradizionale, Zila and bitters which would be certain to warm the soul but I&rsquo;m also intrigued by their Zafferano Sazerac with rye, congnac, saffron honey, bitters, and absinthe, yes please!

&nbsp;As for by the glass, the 2019 I Clivi &lsquo;R_B_L&rsquo; Ribolla brut nature from Friuli would be a great bubbly to make a quick toast but the 2020 Caspri &lsquo;vita bella&rsquo; which is a blend of Ciliegiolo and Caniaolo from Tuscany which is a fun red blend to try with pasta.

If we&rsquo;re ordering bottles, there&rsquo;s a good mix of Italian and French selections to try. For Italian bubbles I&rsquo;d go for the 2020 Alessandro Viola &lsquo;blanc de blanc&rsquo; made from the Catarratto variety made in the traditional method and is all organic and a great value at $84. If you want to splurge then I can&rsquo;t resist the 2016 Ulysse Collin, &lsquo;les Maillons&rsquo; blanc de blanc, Congy from Champagne. Ulysse is a fantastic grower-producer making dense, structured sparkling wine that really wrap around the palate.

On the whites, I think the 2019 Ciro Picariello &lsquo;906&rsquo; Fiano di Avellino from Campania would be a great, fresh, easy drinking value wine to go with otherwise, the 2008 San Lorenzo &lsquo;il San Lorenzo&rsquo; Verdicchio from the Marche would really turn some heads at the table as well. The 2018 Kalathas &lsquo;La Foi&rsquo; Assyrtiko is another great value wine if you want to take a right turn into Greece plus Assyrtiko is just as fun to say as it is to drink.

For reds, the 2016 Andrea Scovero &lsquo;Amphora&rsquo; Barbera d&rsquo;Asti would be a fun value wine and have a lot of primal, savory, meaty flavors match with a variety of dishes. If you really wanna ball out with some badass Barolo, then check out the 1978 Giuseppe Mascarello &lsquo;Villero&rsquo; which would really be quite the religious moment if you want to alter ones&rsquo; reality. Another wine to knock ones&rsquo; socks off would be the 1985 Produttori del Barbaresco &lsquo;Rabaj&agrave; Riserva. If you want to touch back down to earth then a great value from France&rsquo;s Languedoc would be Domaine Sainte Croix &lsquo;Pourboire Nature&rsquo; Grenache/Carignan which is a fun natty wine for the people.

All this to say, this is a well thought out list with some fun gems and even a little something for a simple Tuesday evening with friends.

Grant, great job today!&nbsp; Thank you for all your great suggestions and helping us navigate Altro Paradiso&rsquo;s wine list. I can&rsquo;t wait to go and try your suggestions myself.

To our audience, thank you all for joining us here on CorkRules.&nbsp; If you would like us to review one of your favorite restaurants, please send us email to:<a href="mailto:Info@corkrules.com">Info@corkrules.com</a> 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.

And finally, drink what you love and please make sure you drink responsibly.

Thank you.

&nbsp;

End

&nbsp;

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homepage

CorkRules application allows you to discover wines at your favorite restaurants, learn with friends and be confident with price transparency. Order wine with confidence at restaurants and retailers. Get personalized recommendations. #DrinkWhatYouLove

Hearth

Santo

Isole e Olena Vin, del Chianti Classico, Italy, Tuscany 2010

Trebbiano Blend

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Castello di Gabiano

Il Ruvo Grignolino del Monferrato Casalese 2020

Grignolino

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Schlossmuhlenhof

Weingut, 'Boden Funk' Muller-Thurgau, Rheinhessen 2021

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Can Majoral

Butibalausi Seleccio 2019

Blend

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Greco 2020

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Conde Sangiovese di Romagna, Emilia-Romagna 2020

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Fattoria Zerbina Ceregio Sangiovese di Romagna Superiore 2020

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Caparra & Siciliani

Solagi Ciro Rosso Classico 2018

Gaglioppo

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Leon Beyer

Gewurztraminer 2017

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Quinta da Costa do Pinho

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Louis Métaireau (Grand Mouton)

Collection 37 Muscadet Sevre et Maine 2020

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Chepika Catawba PetNat Sparkling, Finger Lakes 2021

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Eno-Trio

Nerello Mascalese 2021

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Finca Mas Perdut

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White Blend

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Domaine des Enfants

Le Jouet 2019

Blend

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