In episode three of the CorkRules podcast, certified sommelier Grace Hood shares her expertise on how sommeliers create and organize a great wine list and provides a brief overview of how to pair wines. She also reviews the wine list of <a href="https://www.qualitymeatsnyc.com/">Quality Meat Steakhouse</a>, a restaurant renowned for serving the finest steaks and cuts of meat in NYC.

If you are looking for a robust cabernet sauvignon to pair well with the Bone-In Dry-Aged Prime Sirloin, consider the reasonably-priced Post &amp; Beam by Far Niente, 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley. It is the heavy presence of tannins in cabernet sauvignon that make it such an excellent match with a rare cut. The effect of tannins is in the texture, not the taste. Just as a strong cup of tea heavy with tannins makes the mouth feel dry, a heavy tannin wine is best to cut through fat.

At Quality Meat Steakhouse, the 15-page wine list provides a wide variety of types, styles, and vintages of wine with a vast array of tasting notes and subtle differences.

With so many choices, how do you make a wise, and informed choice of wine to pair with your food. It can take years to understand which wines pair well with what foods. Luckily, that&rsquo;s where a certified sommelier can help you. This is their area of expertise and experience, so why not take advantage of it and ask for their advice? For instance, if choosing the Fresh Cracked Lobster the Caposaldo, Pinot Grigio, Veneto, 2020 would be a wise choice. Dry white wines generally work better with shellfish because the shellfish is slightly sweet and mild, a crisp dry white helps accentuate the flavors without adding to the sweetness, much like a twist of lemon adds just a nice amount of acidity to help balance the fats and sugars.

If you don&rsquo;t have a sommelier by your side, these simple rules on pairing wine with food will help you decide what to choose.

<ul>
	<li>When it comes to acidity, the wine should be more acidic than the food.</li>
	<li>Likewise, the wine should be sweeter than the food.</li>
	<li>Choose wine and food that are comparable in flavor.</li>
	<li>Bold, tannin-heavy red wines pair best with heavier, red meats</li>
	<li>Crisp, dry white wines pair best with light-intensity meats</li>
	<li>Bitter wines, tannin-rich wines are best balanced with fat.</li>
	<li>When eating sauce-rich foods, pair the wine to the sauce, not the meat</li>
</ul>

If you want to hear more about the wine list at Quality Meat Steakhouse, check out the CorkRules <a href="https://corkrules.com/episodes">wine review podcast </a>where Grace identifies the notable wines from Bordeaux, points out the best-value wines on the list, and shares a little knowledge on the wine and moonshine history in the States.

Cheers.

In episode three of the CorkRules podcast, certified sommelier Grace Hood shares her expertise on how sommeliers create and organize a great wine list and provides a brief overview of how to pair wines.

Quick Tips on Pairing Wine at Quality Meat Steakhouse

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

Grace Hood, wine educator and certified sommelier, and Robert Tas visit Arroyo Chop House in Pasadena. 

Wine Review of Arroyo Chophouse

Grace Hood

Arroyo Chop House

Arroyo

RT: Hello and Welcome to CorkRules!&nbsp;

A podcast where&nbsp;we will review a wine list from your favorite restaurants. I&rsquo;m your host Robert Tas along with Grace Hood, wine educator and certified sommelier. Hello Grace,&nbsp;it&rsquo;s great to have you!

GH: Hey Robert! Happy to be here as always.

RT Before we jump in, let&rsquo;s talk about those wine lists. We created CorkRules to help 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 intimating, 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, Grace today we&rsquo;re chatting about Pasadena&rsquo;s modern steak house, Arroyo Chop House. What are your initial thoughts?

GH: So, my brother lives in Pasadena, and I had no idea this place existed! But looking at the food and wine menu, I&rsquo;m definitely going to make it a point to dine there next I&rsquo;m visiting him. Hi Spencer! haha

RT: What&rsquo;s better than a great meal shared with your family? I love it. Now we&rsquo;ve talked about a lot of steakhouses on CorkRules. Anything that makes this one stand out from the rest.

GH: Yeah so they herald themselves as &ldquo;a modern take on a classic American steak house&rdquo; and I did get that sense from their menus. It def has a fresh approach as opposed to the often times antiquated vibes of the old school steak houses. &nbsp;

RT: I can totally see that. We&rsquo;re always going to love the classics, but it&rsquo;s nice to see some modern concepts becoming just as successful. What kind of approach do they have to this wine list?

GH: Honestly, the first thing I noticed was that it&rsquo;s super affordable! A lot of the whites are under $100 and even the reds are super approachable around $150ish. Of course, there are some stunners and big baller bottles on the list, given that it is a steakhouse in a rather affluent neighborhood. They do have a focus on California but also have a small selection of international wines too. Something for everyone for sure!

RT: Love that! Gives people more incentive to get out of their comfort zone and try some new bottles. Should we start with sparkling as always?

MV: I mean twist my arm why don&rsquo;t you Robert hahaha they have a great selection of both domestic sparkling and French champagne. If you wanted to do something really special, I would grab a bottle of 2011 Sea Spray which is a blanc de noir from the famous and highly allocated Sea Smoke, out of the Central Coast region of California. This winery is so small production and so sought after that it doesn&rsquo;t have a tasting room and doesn&rsquo;t even sell in stores. You basically have to be on the allocation list if want this wine, especially their sparkling. Most people know Sea Smoke for their incredible pinots, but if you&rsquo;re know, then you know they make amazing sparklings from that pinot noir as well.

RT: Oh, that&rsquo;s awesome. I have heard of Sea Smoke but like many, I didn&rsquo;t know they made sparkling. Will def have to put that on the try list. Now what about some whites?

GH: On the lighter side, they have a really lovely Sauv blanc from Ladera &ndash; I remember that being one of the first California sauv blancs I had and it was really aromatic and refreshing. Then if you wanted to do some chardonnay, I would go with the one from Gran Moraine from the Willamette Valley&nbsp;

RT: I remember in another episode, you were talking about the difference between California Chardonnays and Oregon Chardonnays. It&rsquo;s the barrels mainly correct?

GH: Yes, that&rsquo;s partially right! The type of barrel used will really play a huge part in how a wine will end up tasting. So those buttery oaky flavors you get in California Chardonnay is from the new American oak that they use. As opposed to the subtle nuances of French oak that they used in Oregon Chardonnays. &nbsp;

RT: I love it. Different chardonnays for different palates. Now Grace since we&rsquo;re at a steak house we&rsquo;re definitely going to have to talk reds! What&rsquo;s sticking out to you?

GH: If we&rsquo;re thinking pinot noir, which tbh I always am haha I would grab the 2016 Foxen from Santa Maria Valley. Definitely one of the central Coast&#39;s premiere pinots. They&rsquo;ve also got two vintages of the SeaSmoke if you wanted to try their pinot noir as well as sparkling &nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;RT: Oh, Yum a whole Sea Smoke tasting sounds delicious. Now you know I love my big bold reds, what would you pair with Arroyo Chophouses award-winning steaks?

GH: Well you know my rule about big tannic wines &ndash; the older the better! And Arroyo Chophouse did not disappoint with their selection of older affordable reds. They have a 1999 Freemark Abbey cabernet from Napa valley which I would LOVE to try &ndash; if anyone orders it, DM me at wines with grace and tell me how it was hahah&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

RT: Oh, same here. Sounds delicious! Grace thanks so much again for helping us navigate the wine list at Pasadena&#39;s Arroyo Chophouse. 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. Follow us on social media @CorkRules and @wineswithgrace

And finally, drink what you love and please make sure you drink responsibly.

Thank you.

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End

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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

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