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

701 West

Sam Hohl

701 West

RT: Hello and Welcome to CorkRules!&nbsp;

A podcast where, in each episode, we will 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 Samantha, it&rsquo;s great to have you!

GH: Bonjorno Roberto!&nbsp;

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.&nbsp;

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. So, sit back and listen as we review your favorite wine list.&nbsp;

So, Sam today we are checking out the wine list for 701West -

Overview&nbsp;

701 West is an absolute gem for wine lovers! They&rsquo;re unique in that wine is the star of the show, and the sommeliers and chefs work together to tailor custom pairings to the wine. This collaboration provides opportunities to try uncommon wines with carefully crafted plates.&nbsp;

Being so close to the Theater District, 701 West is not to be upstaged- they have tableside preparations and even a Champagne trolley!

It&rsquo;s easy to see that wine is the spotlight here-the wine list is extensive and global! It includes many wonderful bottles from classic wine regions in France, Italy, and Spain, but this list just keeps on going. They have wines from places like Slovenia, England, and Lebanon. The extensive list is organized by type of wine followed by offerings and regions.&nbsp;

Standouts

This wine list has so many wines that stand out. A few fun bottles that caught my eye were the 2010 Cornalin de Vetroz from Switzerland. We hear a lot more about cheeses coming from Switzerland, but there are some delicious wines produced from these beautiful alpine regions. This wine is going to have dark juicy fruit flavors and silky tannins. It&rsquo;s great with meat and cheese and would pair wonderfully with the Lou Bren sheep&rsquo;s milk cheese or the prime filet mignon.&nbsp;

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If you&rsquo;re in the mood for bubbles, why not try an English cuv&eacute;e? The Nyetimber Brut Classic Cuv&eacute;e is made from estate-grown grapes in the south of England. It&rsquo;s aged for more than 3 years and has flavors of baked apple, almond, and honey. With its toasted flavors and fine bubbles, this cuv&eacute;e is great with seafood and would be delicious with the broiled sea scallops.

Value Wines

A fun value wine on this menu is the 2016 Muscat of Spina from the Rhouse Estate in Greece. The family who owns the winery focuses on using indigenous grapes, and this wine showcases the Muscat of Spina varietal. The wine has delicate floral aromas and flavors of pear and white peach. It&rsquo;s great with seafood but also pairs nicely with fried dishes and fresh salads.&nbsp;

Celebration Wine

A wonderful celebration would be the 1992 Fiorano Bottle 26. This is a mature white wine, which is such a wonderful and rare experience all its own. This wine is made from the Malvasia grape, and due to its aging, it has complex flavors of butterscotch and tropical fruit. It also has really solid minerality with notes of crushed stone. This is all complemented by a refreshing acidity, making it a balanced wine that reveals more personality as you drink it. This wine is definitely worth celebrating over!

RT: Amazing! Thank you so much Sam for helping us navigate the 701 West wine list.

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:

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.&nbsp;

&nbsp; 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.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

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

Veuve du Vernay is a renowned French winery which produces high quality sparkling wines. Established in 1847 by Joseph du Vernay, the winery is now owned by Groupe Patriarche and is known for its commitment to producing exceptional sparkling wines that are enjoyed around the world.

Sleek eatery with a casual vibe serving French inspired fare alongside a deep wine list.

Krasi

Sazon

La Boca

Coppa

Helm Oyster Bar & Bistro

Helm Oyster Bar and Bistro

Ledger Restaurant & Bar

Ledger

Row 34

The Ordinary

The Fig

Harvest

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

Bar Bête

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