Champagne, the obvious choice for celebrations or holidays in any form for many wine drinkers. Since it&rsquo;s a fantastic, artisan beverage, why change the tradition? With the holidays coming up, choose to pour something extra special this year &ndash; the mill&eacute;sime style champagne.

So, what is mill&eacute;sime and what does it mean? It&rsquo;s actually not as complicated as it might seem, mill&eacute;sime is simply the French word for vintage and often used on the label for a champagne coming from one single year. Champagne is of course made in the region with the same name, located in northern France. In contrast with most other wine regions around the world, champagne is often a wine blended from many different vintages. This is an old tradition based on the conditions prevalent many years ago when the climate here was very cool. The cold and wet weather made the harvest risky and many years a part of the crop was lost to frost or rot. Depending on the amount of summer sun, grapes would also taste very different year to year.

This made a big impact on the wine, so the winemakers came up with a solution. They started keeping a reserve of wine in the cellar by saving a small part of the wine from each year. That meant they could use the reserve wine to get a bigger volume in tough years, but also provide a consistent flavor in their wine year from year by mixing cool and less cool vintages together. This style of wine with different vintages is called non-vintage and is the most common one on the market today.

The climate is still quite cool in the area today. However, some years are better than others giving the winemakers a chance to produce a style of wine that will highlight the characteristics of that specific vintage. This is when the mill&eacute;sime style is rightfully made, and many producers actually choose not to make their vintage label every year, only in the best ones. Besides the single vintage, a mill&eacute;sime wine also has to age in the cellar for longer, giving it more complexity. For a non-vintage wine, the minimum is 15 months, but for a vintage it&rsquo;s 36 months. A few vintages are universally accepted as outstanding, like the 1996 and 2002 vintage, both rather difficult to find today. However, 2008 and 2012 are both considered great as well and a lot easier to acquire for the upcoming celebrations. Don&rsquo;t miss the chance to cheers in style this year.

Check these great choices from <a href="https://www.grapesthewineco.com/">Grape The Wine Company</a>:

<a href="https://www.grapesthewineco.com/wines/A-Bergere-Champagne-Millesime-Extra-Brut-2012-w0589236tt">A Bergere - Champagne Millesime Extra Brut 2012- $74.99</a>

<a href="https://www.grapesthewineco.com/wines/Louis-Roederer-Brut-Millesime-2015-w6722859p1">Louis Roederer - Brut Millesime 2015 - $99.99</a>

<a href="https://www.grapesthewineco.com/wines/Stephane-Coquillette-Brut-Millesime-2018-w598611249">Stephane Coquillette - Brut Millesime 2018 - $74.99</a>

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Champagne, the obvious choice for celebrations or holidays in any form for many wine drinkers. Since it’s a fantastic, artisan beverage, why change the tradition? With the holidays coming up, choose to pour something extra special this year – the millésime style champagne.

Decoding the wine label: Millésime

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

Samantha Hohl, wine educator and certified sommelier, and Robert Tas visit Sportello

Wine Review of Sportello, Boston

Sam Hohl

Sportello

Sportello

RT: Hello and welcome to CorkRules!&nbsp;

A podcast where we review a wine list from your favorite restaurants. I&rsquo;m your host Robert Tas along with Samantha Hohl, wine educator and certified sommelier.

Hello Sam, great to have you back for another great wine list.

SH: Hello Robert!

RT: Before we jump in, let&rsquo;s talk about CorkRules.

We created CorkRules to demystify wine lists because we know from experience, that sometimes wine lists can be intimidating, and even a little daunting.

Our aim is to help prepare you to navigate that list, find those hidden gems, 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.

Cork Rules

Sportello

Overview

Sportello is located in Boston&rsquo;s Fort Point neighborhood and is known for their takes on Italian dishes. Its trattoria-style setting invites you to pull up a seat at the counter in front of their open kitchen and dig into a bowl of pasta.

Stand Outs

Sportello has plenty of classic drink options to go with their Italian cuisine, including a lovely list of apertivos and digestivos to start or end the night. But Sportello&rsquo;s also has a really accessible wine list focusing on Italian wines of all styles so you&rsquo;re sure to find a favorite or discover something new and delicious.

If it&rsquo;s a red kind of night I&rsquo;d go with the 2019 Occhipinti il Frappato. This red comes from Sicily and Frappato is one of the indigenous grape varietals&nbsp; grown there. I love Frappato wines because they tend to be bright with red fruit, yet complex with some earthy components and have this tartness that is so good with food. This bottle will bring great minerality and refreshing acid too, making it fun to drink but a great partner with your starter. I&rsquo;d sip this alongside the spicy tomato soup with taleggio and caraway crostini.&nbsp;

There&rsquo;s also some great classic white wine options that are going to be really nice with your meal. A white wine that caught my eye though was the 2017 Viola Shiva. This wine is made by Aldo Viola, a winemaker also in Sicily and made from 100% Catarratto grapes which are widely planted there. Aldo&rsquo;s vineyards are located near Alcamo on Sicily&#39;s coast. These wines typically have a fuller body and notes of citrus and tropical fruit. This particular wine was made with 30% grapes that were dried before being fermented, adding more fruit-forward flavors. It&rsquo;s also going to have herbaceous qualities and subtle notes of smoke. These aromas and flavors just take the sensory experience up a notch, and with the panzanella starter with sheep&rsquo;s milk ricotta your meal is off to an incredible start.

Value Bottle

This list provides a great range of pricing. So if you&rsquo;re looking to splurge a little, you&rsquo;ve got options, and if you&rsquo;re looking for a bottle that will elevate your meal without breaking the bank, there&rsquo;s plenty of choices as well.

Something affordable and a little different would be from a small section called &ldquo;Italian Style Whites&rdquo; and the 2019 Giornata Ramato got my attention. This Ramato wine is from Paso Robles. Ramato is an Italian word for &ldquo;coppery,&rdquo; which speaks to the color of this wine since it&rsquo;s not quite pink like rose and not as orange as an orange wine. It&rsquo;s 100% Pinot Grigio that has been in contact with the skins for a few months before finishing the aging process. The result is a zippy wine with red fruit flavors, hints of melon, and some minerality. It will have some tannins from the skin contact so it&rsquo;s able to handle some flavorful dishes, such as the Long Island duck breast with beet, carrot and cherries.

Celebratory 

Alright, maybe it&rsquo;s a big night and you&rsquo;re feeling like something that&rsquo;s going to take your meal over the top. I&rsquo;d go for the 2016 Paolo Bea Pagliaro. This wine from Umbria is made from the Sagrantino grape, which is known for its super high tannins, making it ideal for aging. Paolo Bea wines are loved by natural wine enthusiasts and their wine production is limited, so this bottle would be a real treat. Paolo Bea farms organically and uses minimal intervention in their wines, meaning they don&rsquo;t make unnecessary additions to the wine in order to show the true essence of the product. This wine will have blackberry and dark fruit flavors, with a nice backbone of earthy minerality and tannins. Pair with the Vermont Wagyu and that will be a meal you won&rsquo;t forget!

Sam, Thank you so much for all your great suggestions and helping us navigate Sportello&rsquo;s wine list. I can&rsquo;t wait to go try your great suggestions.&nbsp;&nbsp;

To our audience, thank you all for joining us here on CorkRules.

If you would like Sam 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.&nbsp;

And finally, drink what you love and please make sure you drink responsibly.

Thank you.

&nbsp;

BRAT

Bocca di Lupe

Gap Weekend: A Film Shoot in Wine Country

Alba Restaurant

Alba

10 Greek Street

L'Auberge Chez Francois

Andrew Edmunds

Salt Seafood and Oyster Bar

Matteos Ristorante Italiano

Matteo's

Peirano Estate is a historic winery located in the heart of the Lodi AVA. They are known for producing high-quality, estate-grown wines that showcase the unique terroir of the region.

A French-heavy wine list is paired with French & Mediterranean small plates in this rustic-chic bar.

Eddy V's Prime Seafood Restaurant

The View

Il Capriccio

Clarity

Bellissimo Restaurant

Bellissimo

Sandbar

Mirabelle Restaurant & Tavern

Mirabelle at Three Village Inn

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