If fine French dining is your raison d&rsquo;etre, <a href="https://uat.corkrules.com/le-coucou/episodes/21">Le Coucou</a>&nbsp;is the place for you. Internationally acclaimed chef Daniel Rose made his name in Paris with his flair for French cuisine, and he brought his culinary creativity to New York where he established an elegant restaurant and exceptional dining experience.

And what better way to complement French fare than with a spectacular French wine? Bring on the Cru and let the fun begin.

But wait, should you splurge and opt for a grand Cru or will a simple cru do, and what&rsquo;s the difference anyway?

Let&rsquo;s demystify the terminology and move on to enjoyability.

Quite simply, the term &lsquo;cru&rsquo; is used within classifications of French wine to indicate a high-quality vineyard or group of vineyards. Cru literally means growth, and this term has been adopted in classification as a nod to the importance of the terroir.

Grand Cru is the recognized designation of higher quality wine. Grand Cru refers to the quality of a particular vineyard and the terroir in which the grapes grow. The terroir of the region that gains this accreditation is known to produce consistently high-quality vintages. Grand cru literally means great growth. The term is first found to be used in the region of Burgundy in the middle ages when the Cistercian monks and the Catholic Church classified each vineyard according to quality. In Burgundy, grand cru wines must be made with only grapes from villages that fall under a grand cru region.

Fast forward and move over to Bordeaux in 1855 when the term is officially recognized as a classification of the Left Bank Bordeaux (thanks to Napolean). The classification in Burgundy is all about the vineyards and terroir, but in Bordeaux, the classification of grand cru can be given to a winery that holds the status.

Premier cru wines are a step down from grand cru, however, since a premier cru vineyard could be literally next door to a grand cru vineyard, the difference in the quality of the wine may be negligible. Premier cru or 1er cru accounts for no more than 5% of the total Burgundian production, and grand cru makes up a tiny and exclusive 1% of production in Burgundy.

But if these high-status wines are outside of the budget, consider opting for village wines. These wines are from the same classified regions, but the yield allowed per hectare is more, allowing more of the grapes to grow, the vines themselves may be younger (old vines add complexity to wine). There are plenty of quality village wines on the market, and this is a great place for finding delicious wine at a good price.

If a white Burgundy is on your mind or you are looking for a grand cru wine, click over to the CorkRules <a href="https://uat.corkrules.com/le-coucou/episodes/21">wine review podcast</a>&nbsp;with certified sommelier Grace Hood. She&rsquo;s identified a few good bottles on the wine list at Le Coucou.

Cheers!

&nbsp;

About the CorkRules Podcast:&nbsp;Each week we pour a glass and share top restaurant wine list&rsquo; 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;

If fine French dining is your raison d’etre, Le Coucou is the place for you. Internationally acclaimed chef Daniel Rose made his name in Paris with his flair for French cuisine, and he brought his culinary creativity to New York where he established an elegant restaurant and exceptional dining experience.

Premier Cru & Grand Cru at Le Coucou

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

Ferraro’s Kitchen

Tina Johansson, Michelin restaurant sommelier, and Robert Tas join forces to navigate the wine list at Ferraro’s Kitchen in Miami where they serve authentic Italian cuisine by Igor Ferraro from Venice.

Wine List Review of Ferraro's Kitchen in Miami

Tina Johansson

Ferraro's Kitchen

&nbsp;

Ferraro&rsquo;s Kitchen

RT: Hello and welcome to CorkRules!

I&rsquo;m your host Robert Tas along with Tina Johansson, 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, happy to be back! Very excited to talk about Italian food and wine this time.

RT: Yes, today we are looking into the wine list of Ferraro&rsquo;s Kitchen in Miami. So here you can eat a classic Italian meal starting with antipasti, continuing with primi piatti like pasta and then secondi, the main course. Don&rsquo;t forget to finish with your dolci, the dessert, for a full Italian experience. The head chef, Igor Ferraro, is from Venice so you know the food will be authentic with inspiration from all over Italy.

TJ: Yeah, I used to live in Siena in the center of Tuscany, and teach about food and wine a couple of years ago and this menu, and wine list, really takes me back. All of my favorite dishes are here, like Vitello Tonnato from Piedmont, that&rsquo;s thinly sliced veal with a tuna sauce, Pappardelle al Chinghiale from Tuscany, that&rsquo;s your pasta with wild boar sauce and of course the Milanese, breaded and fried veal with tomatoes. If you think that sounds mouthwatering, just wait until you read the wine list! It&rsquo;s not the biggest list I&rsquo;ve ever seen but it features wine from all over Italy, even less-known regions like Molise. So of course, focus is on Italian wines, but they feature some highlights from the rest of the world as well.

RT: I&rsquo;m already hungry. So say I were to try the Vitello Tonnato you talk about, what would I drink? Since it&rsquo;s both meat and fish, do you propose white or red?

TJ: A classic rule for me with Italian food and wine is to eat and drink from the same region. So since Vitello Tonnato is from Piedmont, why not drink wine from there as well? I would go for the unique style of wine they are so known for &ndash; the grape variety Nebbiolo. It makes red wine, with intense aromas and high tannins, so quite structured even though it can be light bodied. For me, the perfect pairing would be what is usually considered the simpler style of Nebbiolo, that is the Langhe Nebbiolo. The Langhe area wines are not aged for as long as in the more famous regions of Barolo or Barbaresco, but that also makes it more fruit-driven and not as astringent to handle the dish better. I would drink the 2017 Langhe Nebbiolo, from La Spinetta, a well-known Barbaresco producer.

RT: That just sounds amazing. You can&rsquo;t go wrong with a classic pairing like that. Is there any Italian wine from the list that really stands out to you? Something else that&rsquo;s a must-try at Ferraro&rsquo;s Kitchen?

TJ: Yes, the 2018 Foradori Manzoni Bianco Fontanasanta. So Manzoni Bianco is actually the grape variety used and it&rsquo;s local to the northern part of Veneto. It&rsquo;s a crossing between Riesling and Pinot Bianco, so it can be quite aromatic. This wine is made a bit further north than Veneto, in the Dolomites mountains of Trentino. For me, it&rsquo;s an amazing wine showing Italy can make great whites as well as reds contrary to what many people seem to believe. A fun thing about the Foradori winery, and a sight to see while visiting them, are their mountain cows that are roaming the vineyards. Beautiful sights!

RT: You&rsquo;re painting quite the picture of the mountainous region, sounds like a fun wine to try!

TJ: Yes! It&rsquo;s one of the more &rdquo;low intervention&rdquo; or sustainable wines on this quite classic wine list for anyone more into this style of wine.

RT:: Always great to hear that sustainability is getting more important in the world of wine! And fun to be recommended something else than the famous, although outstanding, reds of Italy. Well, I&rsquo;m still thirsty, so let me know what wine you would drink from the list if you were celebrating.

TJ: Let&rsquo;s finish strong with a wine that always impress me. 1980 Le Pergola Torte from Montevertine. This wine is made from 100% Sangiovese from vineyards in Chianti Classico, but when they made their first vintage in 1977 it was not allowed by law to use Sangiovese only in this region. They did it anyway and sold it as just an &rdquo;Italian red&rdquo;, and it was a hit. With age this wine develop mature mushroom and dried flower notes. Truly a unique cult wine.

RT: Wow, thank you for that highlight from the list. I can&rsquo;t wait to go share a bottle over great pasta someday. Until then&hellip;

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 finally, drink what you love and please make sure you drink responsibly.

END

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