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

Smith & Wollensky

Maria Valetta

RT: Hello and welcome back to CorkRules! The wine podcast that&rsquo;s here to help you navigate all of your favorite restaurant wine lists! I&rsquo;m, Robert Tas

MV: And I&rsquo;m Maria Valetta, and today we have another great wine list to review for you

RT: That&rsquo;s right Maria, we are talking Smith and Wollensky a NY institution. They have been on the upper east side since 1977. It personifies New York dining at its best. &nbsp;It&rsquo;s known for serving prime cuts of meat and for its impeccable service. Some say it&rsquo;s the best steakhouse in Manhattan. This is the place where I, as a young pup, had my first business dinner, and it has been one of my favorites ever since. Maria, what do you think of their list?

MV: Well, this one is certainly on the heftier side &ndash; with 14 pages of wines to discover!

RT: As am I. LOL

MV: What really stands out to me with this one is the number of verticals they have.

RT: Maria, can you tell folks what is a vertical

MV: Great idea, So when it comes to &ldquo;wine speak&rsquo; a vertical refers to the same type of wine from the same exact winery BUT the difference on showcase here is vintage ( in other words, the year the wine was harvested), so you&rsquo;ll see here on Smith and Wollensky&rsquo;s list that you have a lot of wines on offer that look similar but the year (or what we call vintage) is different.

RT: So, Maria, please explain why verticals are a big deal &hellip;

MV: Great question, Robert, So the better question I think is&hellip; &nbsp;what&rsquo;s the fun part about verticals!? This is exactly the kind of place where someone who appreciates wine from a specific winery can have a lot of fun&hellip; because every harvest year the weather is different and that directly translates into the bottle, so having this incredible selection of vintages gives you the option to order 2 or 3 or 6 bottles and taste the difference between each one from one year to the next... It&rsquo;s really fascinating and it&#39;s not just for the experts, even those who have newbie wine palates can easily be guided to taste the differences in each bottle. Some years have more fruit and some for earth for example.

RT: I love it. I&rsquo;ve been fortunate to do a number of those types of dinners with my wine crew. Always amazing.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s rare for restaurants to have this kind of range.

MV: My advice, host a group event and order the 2013, 14, and 15 Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon, have them decant them and arrange 3 glasses and watch as your guests begin to discover the subtle but noticeable differences in each glass!

MV: Yup, it&rsquo;s a major differentiator for S&amp;W&nbsp;

RT: &nbsp;Alright Maria, let&rsquo;s talk about wines by the glass...

MV: yes, thanks for reeling me back in to our starting point Robert&hellip;I&rsquo;m drawn to the 2020 Louis Jadot Macon Village &hellip; It&rsquo;s a white burgundy (Here&rsquo;s a tip white Burgundy means Chardonnay) from a well-known wine producer with a great reputation and this has just enough body and zip to pair well with their lobster or crab cocktail

RT: So what about value wines&hellip; can you find a gem for us here?

MV: definitely a little more difficult here because the wines are on the pricier side, but take a look at this section called The Outliers..

RT: oh yes is see it labeled as &ldquo;the wines that just don&rsquo;t fit in&rdquo;

MV: EXAAAAACTLY a little experimentation calls for a little discount&hellip; haha! But this selection is great! 7 different wines, most around $100 and under! Yeah!! You just have to be open-minded&hellip; I mean sign me up for the PAX 2019 Gamay&hellip; This is a great producer with vineyard-driven wines so I am totally willing to see what they do with the GAMAY grape!

RT: Sounds Like a winner to me! (or your own comment then throw&hellip;):

And then what about that top-level wine but say under:

MV: well that&rsquo;s what those verticals we talked about are for&hellip; right? ..but

I would also really love to see my date impress me with the 2018 Aperture Cabernet from Sonoma showcased on their Captain&rsquo;s Pocket List Page or the 2018 Hourglass blueline estate cabernet from Napa Valley. I like a bold big California wine with my Steak dinner. And aperture is an up-and-coming producer to keep an eye on and Hourglass wines are a collectable favorite&hellip; they use a little of the petite Verdot grape in this cab and it makes it really luscious.

RT. You know I love those bold wines. Can&rsquo;t wait to try.

MV: Perfect pairing.

RT: Maria TY so much for all your great suggestions and helping us navigate S &amp; W&rsquo;s Wine list. Next time you dine at Smith &amp; Wollensky, be sure to tell them, you found them on CorkRules

Thank you everyone for joining us, Remember the only rule in wine is &ldquo;drink what you LOVE&rdquo;.

MV: Have a favorite wine List? Let us review it here on CorkRules. Send us your requests at <a href="mailto:info@corkrules.com">info@corkrules.com</a> and remember to check out all of our episodes on Corkrules.com.

&nbsp;

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Eatery for handcrafted cocktails & a creative menu of American dishes with some global flare.

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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

Kettner Exchange

Château Vannières

Bandol Rouge 2005

Blend

Provence, France

Cume do Avia

No 5 Colleita 2020

Galicia, Spain

Ornato

Pinot Grigio 2018

Pinot Grigio

Delle Venezie, Italy

Weingut R&A Pfaffl

Zweigelt vom Haus 2020

Zweigelt

Niederosterreich

Carignan

Tinto de Rulo, Maule Valley, Chile 2020

Maule Valley, Chile

Le Fraghe 'Camporegno' Garganega, Veneto 2020

Veneto, Italy

Days of Youth

The Diver Brut Rose NV

California, USA

Quivira Vineyards

Montepulciano - Sangiovese 2019

Blend

Dry Creek Valley, USA

Talley Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Edna Valley, USA, California 2019

Sauvignon Blanc

Central Coast, California, USA

Claudie Jobard, Pommard Premier Cru, Les Charmots 2018

Burgundy, France

Maison Noir

Oregogne Pinot Noir 2020

Pinot Noir

Willamette Valley, USA

NV Sorelle Bronca Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Brut, Italy, Veneto NV

Glera

Veneto, Italy

Királyudvar

Tokaji Furmint Sec 2017

Blend

Tokaj, Hungary

Illahe

Estate Pinot Noir 2021

Pinot Noir

Oregon, USA

Skinner Native Red, USA, California, Sierra Foothills, El Dorado 2019

Red Blend

Sierra Foothills, California, USA