Wine can bring out the best in food, and yes, that does include seafood, but it&rsquo;s not only white wine that pairs well with seafood, despite the popular misconception, some red wine pairs well with some seafood. When you are choosing wine to pair with seafood, you should pay more attention to the wine notes, sweetness and dryness, than the color of the wine.

So how do you choose which wine pairs well with seafood. Certified sommelier, Michaela Quinlan reviews the wine list at Oceana where she reviews the list and offers pairing suggestions.

The wine list at Oceana is an extensive, award-winning 33-pages. A list of this size would take quite some time to navigate, but Michaela quickly identifies fabulous standout wines from around the globe and offers a few tips on pairing wine with seafood to help you make a wiser and tastier choice all in under five minutes.

Let&rsquo;s start with the bubbles because who doesn&rsquo;t like adding a little sparkle to the beginning of the meal?

All of the sparkling whites, whether French, Italian or Spanish,&nbsp; Champagne, Prosecco, Cava, will complement fried dishes like calamari, or any seafood fried and cooked in batter, but these bottles also pair deliciously well with caviar.&nbsp; At Oceana, you can order several by the glass, including&nbsp; Prosecco, Palidin, Extra Dry, Millesimato, Veneto, Italy 2020.

Moving on to the more obvious choice of white wine with seafood, to choose wisely, all foodies should understand which whites pair well and why. For example, a dry white wine like pinot gris or sauvignon blanc pairs best with meaty fish like cod and tilapia.

Moving on to the Spanish whites Michaela recommends the Albari&ntilde;o,&nbsp; Valtea, R&iacute;as Baixas, 2020.

The traditional cuisine of Portugal and Spain are seafood rich, so it makes sense that the local varietals of albarino and veldehro pair well with shellfish dishes of mussels, crab, scallops and lobster. These wines are light and fresh with notes of lemon and the right acidity and crispness, to complement the delicate flavors of the shellfish. Just as shellfish should not be overcooked, the wine should not overpower.

If chardonnay all day is your comfort zone, you are in good company. Chardonnay is popular for good reason. These fuller whites are heavier than the pinot gris or sauvignon blanc, but work well with bass, oysters, salmon, and even lobster. The heavier the seafood the more full-bodied the wine is a good rule to follow. At Oceana, the Chardonnay, Saint-V&eacute;ran, Domaine Luquet, Burgundy, 2020 is a good way to go.

Interested in more wine tips and recommendations? Click the link and listen to <a href="https://corkrules.com/episode/details/3">the podcast wine review</a> of Oceana.

Cheers.

Wine can bring out the best in food, and yes, that does include seafood, but it’s not only white wine that pairs well with seafood, despite the popular misconception, some red wine pairs well with some seafood. When you are choosing wine to pair with seafood, you should pay more attention to the wine notes, sweetness and dryness, than the color of the wine.

Wines that Pair Well with Seafood at Oceana

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

Corkbuzz

Grace Hood

Corkbuzz

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 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 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;Ok Grace so I know you&rsquo;ve been very excited about this episode, b/c today we&rsquo;re finally talking about the legendary New York city wine bar Corkbuzz. &nbsp;

GH: You are so right Robert! I was so excited when I learned Corkbuzz was next on our list. I have been a fan of Corkbuzz for years, mainly&nbsp;b/c it was one of the first really noteworthy wine spots to be owned and operated by a lady sommelier, Laura Maniec! She&#39;s a LEGEND in the industry&nbsp;- one of the only female master sommeliers in the world, and a leader in our industry.&nbsp;

RT: Amazing. Love highlighting the women of the wine industry. I can&rsquo;t wait to hear your thoughts about it. What makes Corkbuzz so unique Grace?

GH: So since Corkbuzz is run by sommeliers, they are really passionate about wine education. This is a place where you really can spread your wings and open&nbsp;yourself&nbsp;up to lots of different types of wines you haven&#39;t had before. They have a massive wine by-the-glass&nbsp;list as well as a variety&nbsp;of wine flights! They do have a lovely food menu as well, with one who section just dedicated&nbsp;to charcuterie boards, which people&nbsp;are all about these days.&nbsp;

RT: I love it &ndash; so how are we going to navigate their wine list?

GH: To be honest I know we mainly review bottles on this podcast, but since Corkbuzz is so unique&nbsp;and they have such an incredible wines by-the-glass, I&rsquo;d love to highlight&nbsp;some of those options! You&#39;ll be able to try to make incredible&nbsp;wines that you probably wouldn&#39;t order by the bottle. So this is the place to be curious and adventurous!&nbsp;

RT: I love it. You know we&rsquo;re all about wine education here on CorkRules.

GH: And since this is going to be kind of a unique episode, I&#39;m going to highlight some of the special things they have on the wines by the glass and then also give my own personal takes on wines that I would try if I was hanging at Corkbuzz. If that&rsquo;s ok with you guys!

RT: Let&rsquo;s go for it. Take us away Miss Sommelier.

GH: Starting at sparkling b/c that&#39;s where we usually do. I&#39;m interested in trying the sparkling Beaujolais which is Burgundian Gamay noir. Could also be down with this yummy sparkling Chenin blanc from the Languedoc in the south of France. Both really unique small production cremants! Haven&#39;t seen either of these on wine lists in the states.&nbsp;

RT: Oh, yum those sound amazing. What would you do for whites then?

GH: In the whites, starting with lighter ones, I&#39;m def going to be trying this central coast picpoul from the Bonny Dune vineyard. You don&rsquo;t really see the picpoul grape outside of France so I&#39;m super curious about it. Then they have this super rare Italian white grape called Mataossu which almost went extinct a while back! Yes, you heard right - grapes can be endangered just like animal or other plant species. I don&#39;t know the last time I had Matassou was, it&#39;s also called lumassina sometimes just FYI. And then another really interesting white to try would be, and please forgive my pronunciation on this, the Tsitsqa Tsolikouri, which is from Georgia! See this is why I love places like Corkbuzz - they&#39;re bringing in wine from all over the world, reintroducing historic wine regions to the modern marketplace.&nbsp;

RT: Endangered grapes! Sounds like we should have David Attenborough narrating this episode haha

GH: haha I would love to hear David Attenborough talk about wine!

RT: Now I&rsquo;m not surprised at all to see that they have orange wine on the menu at Corkbuzz.&nbsp; This seems like it would definitely be the place to try orange wines.

GH: Totally have to give a quick shout-out on the orange/rose list - if you want to try a domestic orange wine. They have one from one of my favorite regions, you guessed it, the Willamette&nbsp;valley. It&rsquo;s a white blend from the day wines vineyards, and in this bottle, we&#39;ve got a killer mix of Riesling, muller-thurgau, gewurztraminer and pinot gris, which all grow fabulously in the cloudy drizzly pacific northwest. I&#39;ve had coferments&nbsp;of these grapes before from a friend who has a tiny production vineyard in Willamette, and it is not like your average orange wine. Since it&#39;s made from grapes that have a little bit of residual sugar, it has these really lovely fruity floral aromatics, compared to some other orange wines that tend to skew more sour, ya know? Don&#39;t&nbsp;sleep on this Oregon orange baby!

RT: Oregon Orange, love the play on words. Where to next?

GH : All right we&#39;ve arrived at reds! Now I know a lot&nbsp;about wine, like a lot&nbsp;a lot. I&#39;ve been in the game professionally for 15 years, but even I will never know every single thing in the wine world. It would be impossible! For starters, there are around 8000 species of vinis vinifera in the world! But this is why I love this industry b/c you will never ever stop learning. And with this in mind, I was super curious about this 2019 Colombera &amp; Garella Vispavola &#39;from Piedmont, Italy. I&#39;ve never even heard of that grape before! And turns out I am not alone Vispavola is a red Italian grape that is usually found in blends, so that would be a really interesting wine to try for sure. Another one that piqued my curiosity was the piquepoul noir from the south of France grown right on the Mediterranean. I&#39;m a big fan of piquepoul white so I&#39;d love to try that one.&nbsp;

RT: Too many grapes not enough time.&nbsp; Amazing Grace. Great choices as always. Thank you for helping us navigate the wine list at Corkbuzz.

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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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

Palmer & Co. is a Champagne House that has been producing exquisite wines since 1947. The winery follows a unique approach to winemaking, which involves selecting the finest grapes, respecting the environment, and blending the wines to create a unique style. The wines produced by Palmer & Co. are elegant, refined, and complex, and they have won numerous awards and accolades over the years.

French destination dining amid art deco decor in the historic 1920s-era Bowman Field airport.

Per Se

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

Bistro Le Relais

Gerard Bertrand 'Sphere' Fines Bulles Rose NV

Pays d'Oc, France

Chateau Naudeau, Bordeaux NV

Bordeaux, France

Château Saint-Florin

Bordeaux Rouge NV

Blend

Bordeaux, France

Domaine des Arbins

Beaujolais Blanc 2021

Chardonnay

Beaujolais, France

Chardonnay

Trefethen Family Vineyards Eschol Vineyard 2020

Oak Knoll District, USA

Sieur d'Arques

Aimery Cremant de Limoux Rose Brut 2016

Blend

France

Château La Galante

Bordeaux Superieur 2021

Blend

Bordeaux, France

Juan Gil

Albacea Monastrell Jumilla 2018

Garnacha

Jumilla, Spain

Juan Gil

Jumilla Yellow Label 2018

Monastrell

Jumilla, Spain

Rolet

Cremant du Jura Brut NV

Blend

Jura, France

Éric Texier

Adele Cotes du Rhone 2018

Blend

Cotes du Rhone, Rhone, France

Marc Brédif

Vouvray Classic 2021

Chenin Blanc

Loire, France

Chanson

Vire-Clesse 2017

Chardonnay

Burgundy, France

Chanson

Vire-Clesse 2017

Chardonnay

France

Bonny Doon

Grenache 2019

Grenache

Monterey County, USA