With the exception of sommeliers and vintners, for most of us who love wine, no matter how many bottles you drink in your lifetime, and no matter how delicious, you rarely think of the terroir, the grape, or the growing process as you drink it.

That&rsquo;s all about to change. Listening to Chris Phelps talk about his first foray into making wine makes you appreciate his deep knowledge and consideration for the grape and the land.

In Episode 283 of CorkRules, Robert Tas talks to Chris about his background in wine, how his son encouraged him to start making wine, and origin story of&nbsp; <a href="https://www.advivumcellars.com/">Ad Vivum,</a> but throughout this interesting conversation, one thing is clear: Chris has an immense passion for the land, the grape, and, of course, the alchemy that happens when you bring the grape through fruition, fermentation, and finally wine.

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Wine for Body, Mind and Soul

Like so many passionate vintner&rsquo;s Chris&rsquo; path into the vineyard was shaped by fate. Originally enrolled in pre-med at Davis University, he spent a summer firefighting where he encouraged a friend, a passionate wine geek, to join him at Davis where they ran a viticulture/enology program. The tables turned when the friend later encouraged Chris to jump from medicine to wine.

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Fast forward a few years of studying and working in France and at various vineyards, including a wine ch&acirc;teau within the village of Puisseguin-Saint-&Eacute;milion in Bordeaux, and Chris is now a consultant for wineries, including Inglenook in Napa Valley, and Grounded Wine Company.

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For Chris, the joy of selecting a varietal that produces exceptional and original fruit is just the beginning. He talks passionately about finding those unique grapes, picking them at the right time, not an hour later or earlier, and how the moment of tasting the raw, as yet unfermented fruit, a few days after cold soaking, reveals the aromatics and top notes.

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Today, Chris produces small productions of select wines, usually just several hundred cases each year. The wines are selectively and directly distributed locally at wine shops and restaurants. He is the winemaker, and his son runs the business side of sales and promotion. The father-son team also run Coil Wines where they produce a Mendocino County Pinot Noir and a rare old-vine Napa Valley Chenin Blanc.

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Chris believes the secret to good wine lies in the love of the land. He spends time in the vines, getting to know them, watching how they grow so he knows when they should be harvested. Timing is key when picking grapes, the sugar content and ripe factor play a major role in the final product. And of course, good vintners know that the vitality of the terroir is, well, vital for the health, growth, and taste of the grape. He pays attention to which grapes do well in which area of the land. He takes note of the sun, water, wind, and minerals in the soil all of which play a role in the magical science that turns vine into wine.

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However, Chris also believes that wine is about more than selective wine tasting and the snobbery that may be encountered within the industry. Wine is about life, and his philosophy rings true with many wine lovers across the globe for whom the love of the juice reaches far beyond tasting notes: it&rsquo;s about sharing and pairing; it&rsquo;s about long conversations and enjoying an evening of&nbsp; convivial company.

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As Chris so eloquently states, &ldquo;Ad Vivum was the first single-vineyard wine to emerge from a unique name: Ad infers movement toward a goal with intention. Vivum is the synthesis of two Latin words &mdash; vivere (to live) and vinum (wine). Ad Vivum, is, therefore, where wine and life meet.&rdquo;

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Cheers to that, Chris, and may your wine glass be always half full.

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With the exception of sommeliers and vintners, for most of us who love wine, no matter how many bottles you drink in your lifetime, and no matter how delicious, you rarely think of the terroir, the grape, or the growing process as you drink it.

Chris Phelps on Wine and Life

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

Alexis Rogers

Le Bernardin

Le Bernardin

RT: Hello and Welcome to CorkRules!

&nbsp;I&rsquo;m your host Robert Tas along with Alexis Rogers, wine educator and restaurant sommelier

Hi Alexis, welcome back to 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.

AR: Hi Robert! Thanks for having me! I&rsquo;m beyond pumped to be rooting around in the gargantuan, award-winning wine list at Le Bernadin in this special double episode!

RT:&nbsp; That&rsquo;s right, we are talking about a restaurant that has frequently been voted &ldquo;Best in the World, is on every restaurant top 10 list that exists, holds 3 Michelin stars - the highest award a restaurant can earn and has a Wine Spectator Grand Award-winning wine list. Anything said about it just feels like an understatement. It&rsquo;s THAT spectacular. The original Le Bernadin opened in Paris in 1972 - started by siblings Maguy and Gilbert Le Coze. It was a smashing success and the NYC location followed in 1986. After Gilbert passed in 1994, Chef Eric Ripert took over kitchen operations and is now co-owner along with Maguy. The menu focuses mostly on fish - the best fish served with the utmost skill and luxury. Alexis, I assume the wine list follows suit?

AR: Absolutely. This 80+ page list showcases over 1000 bottles of all sizes, from almost every known wine region in the world with a humongous span of vintages. It is the masterpiece and crowning achievement of Master Sommelier Aldo Sohm. Well, one of his crowning achievements. To hear more of me cooing over the talented sommelier, winemaker, and author, you can check out our episode on Aldo Sohm Wine Bar. He&rsquo;s really cool.

RT : Yeah, after that episode you specifically asked &ldquo;Can I do Le Bernadin?&rdquo; and here we are! So let&rsquo;s dive in!

AR: So the reason I called this a double episode is because in the first part, I&rsquo;m going to pretend like quite literally, &ldquo;money ain&#39;t a thang&rdquo; and discuss wines that are splurges among splurges. Not just unicorns, but giants, fairies, and centaurs. Wines you&rsquo;ve only heard stories about. Then in the 2nd part, we&rsquo;ll take a more realistic approach - but splurging nonetheless because that&rsquo;s just what you do here.

RT: I love it! Off to Dreamland we go!

AR: Obviously we are going to start with a glass of champagne, duh, THE glass of champagne. Bollinger La Grand Ann&eacute;e 2014 Vintage. A glass of this 61% pinot and 39% chardonnay is made from grapes that come from 19 crus and possesses exceptional intensity and minerality. Its winemaking is all above-and-beyond. It&rsquo;s riddled and disgorged by hand and is aged over 2x as long as legally required. Bollinger has been awarded the Royal Warrant by the English Royal Family since 1884. The Royal warrant is an award of Excellence reserved for those that service the monarchs. The House is famous worldwide among the most elite for their precision and unflinching and uncompromising standards of quality. So yeah, it&rsquo;s VERY expensive. A single glass is over $100. So, what does it taste like? Quince, bergamot, hazelnut, almond, buttery lemon and a sea salt finish. Phew! I would recommend pairing this with the pan-fried King Scallops with citrus butter. But for the ULTIMATE indulgence, go with an order of the Imperial Golden Osetra Caviar, the most expensive caviar in the world. Historically, if roe from A Russian Osetra was caught in the Caspian sea, it was immediately set aside for the Russian Czar. Marked by its striking gold color and large, firm, buttery texture - it is quite literally, The King Of Caviar.

RT: Wow, an opening fit for royalty on so many levels! Let&rsquo;s keep racking it up!

AR: I&rsquo;m going to stick with the glass pour list and if you thought $100+ a glass was something, brace yourself for a glass 3x that price and over 100 years old. 1912 D&rsquo;Oliveras Verdeho, a fortified wine made from 100% verdeho grapes. Of the 4 main styles of Madeira, verdelho represents a med-dry style w/ notes of caramelized orange and creme brulee with a finish focused on dried citrus fruits and fig. This 1912 vintage was aged in barrels until 2008 - 96 years! That provided a wine of almost incomprehensible integration and development. With age, flavors tend more towards dried fruits and nuttiness. TBH, I wouldn&#39;t pair this spectacular glass of wine with anything, just enjoy it as it is and appreciate what 110 years can do to this nearly indestructible wine.

RT: It&rsquo;s impossible to fathom a bottle of wine still being able to be consumed after 100 years! And still enjoyable! I can see why it comes with that price tag now. What unbelievable bottle is next?

AR: Alright, here&rsquo;s where we go ALL out and order the 2nd most expensive bottle on the list. The bottle alone costs as much as a car. Well, it&rsquo;s technically 2 bottles. It&rsquo;s a 2005 Domaine Romanee Conti-Montrachet Grand Cru. It&rsquo;s the best of the Best&hellip; in a magnum. Undoubtedly the question on everyone&rsquo;s mind right now is &ldquo;WHY is it so expensive? What justifies a $25,000 price tag? Firstly, it&rsquo;s the producer. Domaine Romanee Conti is the most famous and exclusive producer in Burgundy - and probably the world, It is named after its most famous holding. The original vineyard was acquired by the Abbey of Saint Vivant in 1232, bought by an aristocratic family in 1631 that named it Romanee for reasons unknown that have caused speculation for hundreds of years. 150 years later, it became the subject of a vicious bidding war between Louis 15th&rsquo;s famed mistress Madame du Pompadour and her political enemy, The Prince of Conti. The Prince blamed the influential mistress for his loss of stature in the eyes of the King, costing him - among other honors -the Polish throne, As a result of the bidding war, the purchase price of the land shot sky high. It&rsquo;s said that the prince never shared the wine from this vineyard with anyone - close friends and family included. The land was seized and auctioned off with the onset of the French Revolution. It was eventually purchased by the Duvault- Blochet family, which owns it today. They have expanded their holdings in the region over the years but have never compromised on the quality of their wines. This particular bottling is 100% Chardonnay from the Grand Cru site of Montrachet. The 2005 vintage is rated as &ldquo;Legendary&rdquo; and will be viable to drink for another 10 years. The Domaine produces 600 cases a year of GC Montrachet so every bottle is precious and seeing as this is technically 2 bottles, that makes it twice as valuable. All of these factors - producer, location, Grand Cru Rating, legendary vintage, and further aging potential - conspire together to make this bottle one of the most expensive bottles most of us will ever come across. Even if money were no option, I&rsquo;d still savor every sip as I would have in my hand, the absolute most beautiful and ethereal expressions of Chardonnay available. I would be hesitant for anything else to touch my palate while consuming this Nectar of Gods, but you HAVE to eat here and you&rsquo;ll definitely need something to soak up the magnum&#39;s worth of alcohol So pair this with the Dover Sole - a beautiful fish for a beautiful wine,

RT: Geeze! Splurge doesn&#39;t even begin to cover that! You really are drinking history here though. Out of curiosity, if this is the 2nd most expensive wine on the list - what&rsquo;s the first?

AR: Another Domaine Roamnee Conti! &hellip;and it&rsquo;s double the price.

RT: Alexis, it&rsquo;s been fun talking about these incredibly unattainable wines but I can&rsquo;t wait to see what you&rsquo;ve found for us normal folk!

AR: Now it&rsquo;s time to snap back to reality and search this list for some wine more within reach for the average person. We&rsquo;ll start with something BTG. I always like to start with just a glass to accompany appetizers as that gives me some time to dig deeper and pick a bottle for my entree - or vice versa. You already know that we&rsquo;re not going to talk about an Aldo Sohm list w/o talking about some Austrian wine! I picked a glass of the Zierfandler by Weingut Stadlmann. Zierfandler is a rare grape that&rsquo;s nearly exclusively a curiosity of the Thermenregion, which stretches from the outer limits of Vienna to just south of Baden. Of the 77 acres planted to Zierfandler, nearly off are located here. The grape is also called spatrot and is similar to traminer (the family of grapes gewurztraminer comes from) and produces minerally white wines with notes of spice, almond and tropical fruits. Pair this glass with the Shellfish Medley at Le Bernardin.

RT: I love learning about these relatively unknown native grapes. It just goes to show us how much there is to be discovered in the world of wine!

AR: I&rsquo;m with ya!

AR: Another way to &ldquo;control the splurge&rdquo; is to order a half bottle. A half bottle is a great way to taste incredible wines without shelling out for a whole bottle, and Le Bernardin has a huge selection! I chose the Dom Tollot-Beauf Chorey les Beaune. Located within the prestigious Cote d&rsquo;Or, wines from this village can present a bargain and are some of the few bottles of red Burgundy that most people can still afford. The wines are vividly colored w/ distinguishable tannins and notes of strawberry, dark cherry, gingerbread, and licorice. The well-rounded structure of these wines makes them super food friendly in general but Pinot Noir and Salmon are star-crossed lovers and should be together forever. The ginger marinade on the salmon at Le Bernardin will really play well with those gingerbread notes in the wine.

RT: I love the classic pairing of Pinot and salmon - and that it breaks the generally held rule that white goes with fish.

AR: Right! That general guideline basically exists to steer diners away from high tannins that can increase the perception of fishiness. So that means that the next wine we are going to talk about is definitely out. But it comes from a region that also represents great values on incredible wines, the Dao region of Portugal. 80% of production here is red wine and they are mostly based on the grape Touriga Nacional but are more often blends with appearances by Tinta Roriz (aka tempranillo), Jaen (aka Mencia) and Alfrochiero Preto (known as babosa negro in Spain). The wines are big and bold, spicy and tannic. I recommend ordering this bottle of 2013 Quinta de Saes Estagio Prolongodo Reserva towards the beginning of your meal so you can decant it and it will be ready to drink just in time for the arrival of your entree. This wine is dry, firm and savory with notes of sour red cherry, rasp and cranberry, spices from extended oak aging, rose petals and black pepper. This wine should absolutely be paired with the Filet so that some of that animal fat can tame these big tannins!

RT: Portuguese wines are definitely gaining in popularity and I&rsquo;m excited to see it! Alexis, thank you so much for tackling the humongous list at Le Bernardin and picking out wines we can both afford and wines we can dream of - and for the explanations on WHY these wines are so expensive. I know this was no small feat! To our audience, thank you all for joining us here on CorkRules for this special 2 part-er.

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 or wherever you get your podcasts.

And finally, drink what you love and please make sure you drink responsibly.

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END

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Alba

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Matteos Ristorante Italiano

Matteo's

Coffele is a small, family-owned winery located in the heart of the Soave Classico zone in Veneto, Italy. They are dedicated to producing high-quality, terroir-driven wines that express the unique character of their vineyards.

Delfina Restaurant

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AFICI

Afici

Ancora

Muller & Lux

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Spruce

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The Progress

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

Link & Pin Arboretum

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California, USA

Poema

Cava Brut Rose NV

Macabeo

Cava, Spain

El Coto

Blanco NV

Viura

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Cederberg

Chenin Blanc NV

Chenin Blanc

Western Cape, South Africa

Castello Banfi La Pettegola Toscana IGT, Italy, Tuscany, Toscana NV

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A to Z

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Oregon, USA

Langlois-Chateau

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Giulia

NV Borgo Magredo Prosecco, Italy, Veneto / Friuli-Venezia NV

Glera

Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy

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Jura, France

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La Renjardiere Cotes du Rhone NV

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