Semi-sweet Riesling, a type of wine falling out of style. It&rsquo;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.

One of the most well-known countries for high quality sweet, and partly sweet, wines would be Germany. This is based on old climatic factors since it used to be a very cold country, sometimes struggling to fully ripen the grapes. Unripe grapes will result in a wine with a very high and sharp acidity. To solve this and make the wines more drinkable winemakers resorted to keeping part of the sugar in the wine to balance the acidity.

This style of wine has had quite a bad reputation as they once were made in large volumes from lesser grapes, resulting in a low quality product. Today, the production is very different and the semi-sweet wines are often very good and there are a number of styles to explore, often made from Germanys most iconic variety, Riesling.

In Germany wines are sorted into different quality levels depending on the sweetness of the grape must before fermentation. The riper the grapes, the better the quality was the device when the system was born. Even though that might not be true today, the system is still in place. The six different levels existing today are called pr&auml;dikat, the first one being kabinett. Kabinett is the driest style, though in reality often off-dry or even sweeter. Great with dishes like ceviche with a slight chili heat to them. Next up is sp&auml;tlese and auslese, both of which could technically be dry wines, but almost always end up as semi-sweet or sweet. The following three are all dessert style wines called beerenauslese, trockenbeerenauslese or eiswein depending of the production method. These are all great, but designed for dessert pairings only.

If you&rsquo;ve tried these styles and would still prefer a style without sweetness, look for the term trocken on the label as it translates to dry in german. Despite the high quality of sweet wines Germany also produces some exceptional dry white wines, regarded as some of the best in the world. In other words, a country with many talents.

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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

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

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, certified sommelier and wine educator, and Robert Tas go downtown to Brentwood in West Los Angeles to review the wine list at Toscana. 

Wine List Review of Toscana in Brentwood, L.A.

Grace Hood

Toscana

Toscana

RT: Hello and welcome to CorkRules!&nbsp;

A podcast where, in each episode,&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 CorkRules. We created CorkRules to demystify wine lists 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;So, sit back and listen as we review your favorite wine list. Today Grace and I are reviewing Brentwood hot spot Toscana. Can&rsquo;t wait to hear your thoughts.

GH: Another day, another Italian wine list! Hahah This spot def leans into their Italian roots, and then have some nice selections for French and American wines as well &nbsp;&nbsp;

RT: Love the sound of it. Shall I assume we will be starting with bubbly!

GH: You know me too well Robert! So, under their sparkling category, they have a section dedicated to one Italian vineyard in particular &ndash; Franciacorta. If it was me, I would do with their Ca del Bosco Cuvee Prestige or their Secolo Novo 2008 vintage. &nbsp;

RT: Yum love the sound of either of those.

GH: But if you&rsquo;re not feeling too adventurous then they have some lovely classic champagnes as well. I would go the 2015 Pol Roger brut rose or the Krug Grand Cuvee 170 special Editions 

RT: Great choices. Can&rsquo;t go wrong with any of those. Now how are they looking for whites?

GH: If you&rsquo;re feeling like sticking with the Italian theme, I would choose the 2019 Jermann Friuli Pinot Grigio, the 2019 Pieropan Soave Classico or the 2019 Antinori Chardonnay from Umbria. Gave y&rsquo;all some variety there!

RT: You certainly have. What do they have for non-Italian whites?

GH: We&rsquo;ve got California options! For something lighter you could go with 2018 Grenache Blanc from the Loomis vineyard, or if you wanna go classic California Chardonnay, you could do the 2020 Flowers from Sonoma Coast, or the 2019 Paul Hobbs from Russian River Valley. 

RT: Love those choices. Thanks for that Grace. Can&rsquo;t wait to hear your picks for the reds. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

GH: Hahah you got it, Robert. Looking into the Italian reds, wow they have really gotten into details here! Starting off with Barbera &ndash; my pick would be the 2000 from Braida in the Asti region. Then moving right along in my personal favorite, Barolo. I would go with the 2013 Bovio Reserva. &nbsp;

RT: Let me guess&hellip;is Barbaresco next? &nbsp;&nbsp;

GH: It absolutely is Robert! Good guess haha and my pick would be this 2014 Bruno Giacoso which I have had before and is very good.

RT: Love it. How about some Rosso&rsquo;s and Brunello&rsquo;s?

GH: Coming right up! My pick for Rosso di Montalcino would be 2016 Tassi and my Brunello di Montalcino pick would be 2008 Saldero.

RT: Wow those sound superb! Which brings us to super Tuscans?

GH: You know it does Robert! This is definitely the biggest category on the list. But my top two picks for super Tuscans would be 2011 Podere or the 2014 Corte Alla Flora

RT: Love it. And how about a California pick for our non-Italian drinkers?

GH: Oh I&rsquo;m gonna hit you with some personal favorites. The 2006 sine qua non &ldquo;shot in the dark&rdquo;, the 2014 Calera Pinot Noir, and they&rsquo;ve got a 2012 Harlan estate. Thank me later friends! &nbsp;

RT: Grace, thank you so much for helping us navigate the wine list at Toscana. &nbsp;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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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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