Certified sommelier Maria Valetta explores the <a href="https://uat.corkrules.com/smith-&amp;-wollensky/episodes/6">wine list of Smith and Wollensky</a>&nbsp;on the upper east side of New York City. Top wine varietals under the spotlight include a 2020 Louis Jadot Macon Village, the PAX 2019 Gamay, the 2018 Aperture Cabernet from Sonoma showcased on their Captain&rsquo;s Pocket List Page or the 2018 Hourglass Blueline Estate Cabernet from Napa.

When it comes to defining wine, you can categorize them by region, varietal, or style, but to really get to grips with understanding the world of wine, it makes sense to go to the source. The grape.

The type of grape is known as the varietal, and whereas once upon a time the varietals were specific to a region, in contemporary vineyards, varietals are planted, crossbred, and potentially, genetically modified. Additionally, the flavors, skins, and chemical compounds of each varietal will change depending on the terroir, temperature, and weather.

There are over a thousand different varietals of wine grapes but the following eight are the most commonly known grape household names. chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, &nbsp;pinot gris, and riesling, cabernet sauvignon, syrah, zinfandel, and pinot noir.

However, beyond these eight common varietals there exists a large and adventurous world of wine varietals to explore, each with its own unique characteristics based on environment, age, and production method.

At <a href="https://www.smithandwollenskynyc.com/">Smith &amp; Wollensky</a>, prime, dry-aged steaks are the cornerstone of their menu, but if fish, lobster or oysters are on your mind, you won&rsquo;t be disappointed with the Cold Water Lobster Tails or the Scottish Salmon Waldorf. Pair the salmon with the Benton Lane Pinot Noir from the

Willamette Valley to experience how a light tannin red works well with the meaty fish. Pinot noir is a lighter-bodied wine with notes of cherry, cranberry, and rose. It&rsquo;s drier and has a higher acidity with smooth tannins. The higher acidity and tannins pairs well with oily, meaty fish dishes. The tannins help bring out flavor that is carried in the fat, and in symbiosis, the fat tempers the tannins&rsquo; astringency, which allows the other characteristics in the wine to rise on the palate.

And with the Lobster, &nbsp;try a bottle of the Louis Jadot, Macon-Villages Chardonnay

Burgundy, and see how the chardonnay&rsquo;s notes of yellow citrus, pear, green apple pairs well with the rich seafood. Chardonnay is a full-bodied white that won&rsquo;t be overpowered by the richness of the lobster. When pairing wine with food, just like every good match, it&rsquo;s all about bringing out the best in each other.

On CorkRules podcast episode five, Maria identifies a few value wines on the list that should not be missed, she points out a few outliers that are well worth trying, and she shines a light on the meaning of verticals to help demystify the world of wine.

Cheers.

At Smith & Wollensky, prime, dry-aged steaks are the cornerstone of their menu, but if fish, lobster or oysters are on your mind, you won’t be disappointed with the Cold Water Lobster Tails or the Scottish Salmon Waldorf. Pair the salmon with the Benton Lane Pinot Noir from the

Top Wine Varietals at Smith & Wollensky

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

rhodora wine bar

Grace Hood

Rhodora

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!

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;Today we&rsquo;re reviewing the wine list for the Brooklyn wine bar Rhodora. Grace what are your initial thoughts?

GH: So, this place has a really amazing concept &ndash; they&rsquo;re all about sustainability, heralding themselves as a zero-waste establishment, which we love to see. Apparently, they are the first restaurant in America to have this zero-waste concept, in that nothing goes to the landfill, there isn&rsquo;t even a trash can on premise! Instead, the scraps get put in a trash compactor and turn it into mulch for their flower beds outside the restaurant &ndash; how delightful is that! But this place is definitely first and foremost a wine bar &ndash; the food menu is pretty limited but gives you some lovely shared plates tapas style options.

RT: Love that they&#39;re committed to environmental causes. More places need to follow suit. So, what are your thoughts on the wine list?

GH: So, with Rhodora, we&rsquo;re exploring a trendy buzzword in the hospitality industry &ndash; natural wine. Which essentially just means it&rsquo;s a wine that was made in the most organic, ancient, back to basics way. It&rsquo;s all about letting the grape and the terroir shine through by having minimal human intervention, as opposed to these big production wineries that will manipulate their wine with food coloring and flavor chips to make the wine taste how they want it to, rather than how it naturally should be.

RT: Oh, wow you definitely have a point there Grace. So where should we start on the Rhodora natural wine menu?

GH: At only 2 pages, this is a pretty approachable list. Coupled with the fact that their prices are really really affordable. The average bottle price looks to be around $80, which is a steal when it comes to New York City fine dining. This is the place to take that chance and get some really unique wines you haven&rsquo;t tried before. And since this is a wine bar, the staff will be really educated on the list and you&rsquo;ll be able to fully nerd out with them, or trust that they will guide you to something you&#39;ll really enjoy. Now if you&rsquo;re asking what I would drink &ndash; I&rsquo;m starting with the sparkling pinot gris from the Alsace region. I absolutely love the still pinot gris&rsquo; from that &aacute;rea &ndash; which is the most northern in all of Europe that produces wine. So think about these slightly mountainous cool climate &aacute;reas with all this rich f&eacute;rtile soil. Alsace makes some fabulous and totally under-the-radar light whites. And speaking of lighter style french whites, I&rsquo;m super curious about the 2020 Jerome Jouret sauv blanc from Ardeche, which is in the southeast region of France. Usually, you see sauv blancs coming from the west of France &ndash; either in the Loire Valley or in Bordeaux. So I&rsquo;m really interested to see how a sauv blanc from an untypical region would taste.

&nbsp;

RT: Oh totally. All great points Grace. What else caught your eye?

&nbsp;

GH: Well, they have a pretty extensive Orange wine list! And I know for a lot of people, Orange wine is a little intimidating or just strange for most wine drinkers who haven&rsquo;t had a lot of experience with Orange wine. Like we talked about on another episode, Orange wine is just a white wine grape that has been done in a red wine style. In that the grapes were fermented whole berry or whole cluster, instead of the juice being pressed off like a normal white wine. So you&rsquo;re going to get this really interesting rich lush mouth feel. Because there are so many different varietals on this Orange wine list, my suggestion would be to pick one of your favorite white wine grapes, and order the Orange wine made out of that! That&rsquo;ll be a really cool contrast &ndash; your palate can draw from the memories of that grape as done in a white wine style, and you can compare it to the grape done in an Orange wine style. Just because I&rsquo;m a huge nerd and I love rare grapes, I&rsquo;m going to be choosing the muscadet 2019 from Jura. Usually, muscadet is grown in the west, so its interesting to see it grown in jura which is in the east borderline with Switzerland. Pick your favorite white grape and go with it in an Orange wine! Have fun with it!

RT: Love that approach Grace. Makes the orange wine list not so daunting. Now what are you thinking for reds?

GH: Oh man, there are so many good options! One that stuck out to me was the 2013 merlot from Dario Princic from the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. It&#39;s one of the only older red vintages on the menu so I def want to give that one a go &ndash; anticipating how lush and soft it will be! Another one I&rsquo;m interested in is the 2017 Syrah Crozes-Hermitage from the Aleofane vineyard in the Rhone valley. Rich and decadent without too much acidity. And one that I&rsquo;ve got questions about, is a Slovenian pinot noir! Slovenia is one of those countries that has been producing wine for centuries, but a lot of it doesn&rsquo;t make it to the domestic marketplace because there is no demand for it &ndash; but that&rsquo;s only because people don&rsquo;t know Slovenia makes wine, let alone how good it is. Places like Rhodora, with their thoughtful and affordable list as well as knowledgeable staff, will be the perfect place to go out of your comfort zone and try something new.

RT: Amazing Grace. Great choices as always. Thank you for helping us navigate the wine list at Rhodora.

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.

&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. Follow us on social media @CorkRules and @wineswithgrace

&nbsp;

And finally, drink what you love and please make sure you drink responsibly.

&nbsp;

Thank you.

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End

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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

Piattelli is a family-owned winery located in the heart of Argentina's wine country. They specialize in producing high-quality wines that showcase the unique terroir of the region.

Eddy V's Prime Seafood Restaurant

The View

Il Capriccio

Clarity

Bellissimo Restaurant

Bellissimo

Sandbar

Mirabelle Restaurant & Tavern

Mirabelle at Three Village Inn

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

Les Saveurs Gourmandes

Available Wines
Total Wines - 7

Château la Canorgue

Luberon Blanc NV

Assemblage

Rhone, France

Pierre Amadieu

Le Pas de L'Aigle Terroir d'Exception Gigondas Grande Reserve NV

Grenache

Gigondas, Rhone, France

Pierre Amadieu, Cotes du Rhone, Grand Romane Blanc NV

Cotes du Rhone, Rhone, France

Domaine de la Verriere

Viognier NV

Viognier

Vaucluse, France

Domaine de la Verriere Ventoux Le Haut de la Jacotte NV

Rhone, France

Pierre Amadieu

Gigondas NV

Gigondas, Rhone, France

Vignobles Mayard

Domaine du Pere Pape Chateauneuf-du-Pape NV

Blend

Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Rhone, France