As our community continues to grow, we were thrilled to discover some exceptional wines/producers posted by our CorkRules community in 2023. Check out these fabulous white and red wines:

White Wines:

1) <a href="https://www.klwines.com/p/2021-dyquem-y-bordeaux-blanc/1697735?searchId=863411e7-c495-4eba-ac28-33c1288da6e7&amp;searchServiceName=klwines-prod-productsearch&amp;searchRank=15">Y D&#39;Yquem Bordeaux Blanc:</a> This luxurious French wine is truly a gem. It presents an intoxicatingly rich aroma of honey, apricot, and vanilla. The color is medium gold which reflects its age and oak maturation. On tasting, it&#39;s opulent yet perfectly balanced - dry but with luscious fruit sweetness complemented by vibrant acidity. Its full body envelops your palate while maintaining elegance throughout. Renowned critic Robert Parker described it as &quot;liquid gold.&quot;

<a href="https://www.aowinery.com/product/Chardonnay-Napa-Valley-2020">2) Alpha Omega Chardonnay:</a> From Napa Valley comes this elegant Chardonnay offering soft aromas of citrus blossom mixed with tropical fruits like pineapple &amp; mango &ndash; very inviting! The color is light golden reflecting its youthfulness &amp; varietal character well. Taste-wise, it leans towards high acid coupled with moderate alcohol levels &ndash; crisp yet smooth without being overly buttery or oaky as some California Chardonnays can be.

<a href="https://www.gramercywine.com/wines/Paolo-Bea-Santa-Chiara-2018-w8496386e5">3) Santa Chiara Paolo Bea:</a> An Italian natural wine that&#39;s unlike any other! With medium intensity aromas of ripe stone fruits like peaches mixed with wild herbs and flowers; it&#39;s complex yet intriguing to the nose. A deep golden hue gives away its extended skin contact during fermentation (a characteristic of orange wines). Taste-wise, it straddles between dryness &amp; acidity offering a unique textural experience due to its tannin presence - rare for whites!

<a href="https://commonvines.square.site/product/Dalia-Maris-B-Bianco/3732">4) Dalia Maris B Bianco: </a>Hailing from Italy, this white has a soft floral bouquet intermingled with hints of green apple and pear aromas &ndash; fresh and inviting! Its light straw color suggests youthfulness and vitality. The taste profile leans towards high acid with subtle mineral undertones &ndash; refreshing without being overly sharp or austere. Medium-bodied at most, it pairs beautifully with seafood dishes.

Red Wines: 

<a href="https://www.plummarket.com/store/2021-tenuta-dell-ornellaia-le-volte-toscana-igt.html">1) Le Volte Dell&#39;ornellaia: </a>This Tuscan blend boasts rich dark fruit aromas underscored by notes of tobacco leaf &amp; spice box- truly seductive. The color is a deep ruby, indicative of its concentration and structure. On the palate, it offers high tannins balanced by good acidity &amp; alcohol levels &ndash; a medium to full-bodied wine with complexity and length.

<a href="https://www.grapesthewineco.com/wines/Joseph-Phelps-Insignia-Napa-Valley-2019-w49786770k">2) Insignia: </a>A Napa Valley classic! This Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blend exhibits rich cassis, blackberry jam aromas coupled with vanilla undertones from oak aging. Its color is an intense deep purple reflecting its power and depth. Taste-wise, it&#39;s dry with robust tannins that are well-integrated into the wine&#39;s full body &ndash; a hallmark of quality winemaking.

<a href="https://www.ungraftedsf.com/store/p/chappellet-cabernet-sauvignon-pritchard-hill-napa-valley-2019">3) Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon:</a> Another stellar offering from Napa Valley! With opulent dark fruit aromas laced with graphite notes - this wine captivates your senses right away. It sports a deep garnet color denoting its intensity and age-worthiness. On tasting, you&#39;ll find firm tannins supporting ripe fruit flavors along with high alcohol giving it great structure - undeniably full-bodied!

<a href="https://www.totalwine.com/wine/red-wine/cabernet-sauvignon/pine-ridge-cabernet-napa-valley/p/105424750?s=1501&amp;igrules=true">4) Pine Ridge Vineyards:</a> Known for their Cabernet Sauvignons; this particular one didn&#39;t disappoint either! Medium intensity blackcurrant &amp; cherry aromas intermingled with cedar hints make up the nose profile here while its medium-deep ruby hue reflects both varietal character &amp; vinification techniques used (like oak maturation). The taste reveals moderate tannin levels paired well against refreshing acidity- making it more approachable in comparison to others on this list yet still retaining good body.

Thank you to our community, these wine posts were terrific! Keep them coming! Wishing you all the best in 2024.

Cheers! #drinkwhatyoulove

As our community continues to grow, we were thrilled to discover some exceptional wines/producers posted by our CorkRules community. Check out these fabulous white and red wines:

CorkRules App Users Top Wine Posts of 2023

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

Yardbird

Robert Tas talks wine with Maria Valetta, wine educator, and certified sommelier, also known as Maria The Wine Blonde on Instagram.

Wine List Review of Yardbird Venetian, Las Vegas

Maria Valetta

Yardbird Venetian

&nbsp;

Wine list

<a href="https://www.venetianlasvegas.com/content/dam/venetian/restaurants/yardbird/beverage-menu.pdf">https://www.venetianlasvegas.com/content/dam/venetian/restaurants/yardbird/beverage-menu.pdf</a>

&nbsp;

Dinner

<a href="https://www.venetianlasvegas.com/content/dam/venetian/restaurants/yardbird/dinner-menu.pdf">https://www.venetianlasvegas.com/content/dam/venetian/restaurants/yardbird/dinner-menu.pdf</a>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

RT): Hi Everyone, welcome back to CorkRules! The wine APP AND podcast that&rsquo;s here to help YOU navigate all your favorite restaurant wine lists.

I&rsquo;m your host, Robert Tas, along with Maria Valetta, wine educator, and certified sommelier, also known as Maria The Wine Blonde on Instagram. Welcome back Maria

&nbsp;

MV: Hi Robert! Hi everyone.. stick around because today&#39;s episode is all about comfort food!

&nbsp;

RT:&nbsp; That&rsquo;s right Maria, We are talking about Yardbird Las Vegas in the Venetian hotel and casino. Classic southern comfort food is the kind of food that brings people together and that&rsquo;s exactly what Yardbird restaurant is all about. Their famous 27-hour brined, fried chicken is a must-try and so is their over-the-top,

all-American, weekend brunch! Maria I can&rsquo;t wait to see which wines you pair with Fried Chicken!

&nbsp;

MV: haha! This is going to be fun! So if you like your Yardbird fried chicken dipped in their Honey Hot sauce&hellip; , then go for a glass of the Champagne Brut - Drappier Carte d&rsquo;Or France NV&nbsp; it will cut the spice real nice,&nbsp; but if you like your bird just simply crunchy then I would say go for the Chalk Hill Sonoma Coast, Chardonnay California 2020 15 which would also go well with that buttery skillet cornbread!

&nbsp;

RT: And how about something for those ST. Louis Ribs ?

&nbsp;

MV: For those, a glass of The Paring Pinot Noir - Santa Barbara, California 2018 for a lighter bodied wine that always over-delivers or the Merlot Blend - Gundlach Bundschu Mountain Cuv&eacute;e Sonoma County, California 2018 15 personally I&rsquo;d go with the gunbun whoever said no more merlot hasn&rsquo;t has good merlot!

&nbsp;

RT: Now I know this spot is known for their Bourbon but they have to have a decent wine bottle list too I would guess?

&nbsp;

MV : They do! They have about 150 options by the bottle and all ranges of prices&hellip; which is great. They label the sections differently.. instead of&nbsp; just old world and new world they also add in a section called homeland, so homeland whites and homeland reds&hellip;which are all wines from the US, Washington, Oregon, California and even Virginia.&nbsp; For some reason New world white wine section has German and Austrian wines but those are very much old world wine producing regions and so that would be the one tweak I would make is moving them to the old world white section to be listed among France, Italy and Spain

&nbsp;

RT: Yes that makes more sense, It&rsquo;s always important to clarify things for our listeners.

So sounds like they have wines from all over what are the standout value wines?

&nbsp;

MV: So this really got me excited, they have a Sparkling wine made in the traditional method (so champagne style) but it&rsquo;s from England, it&rsquo;s the Chapel Down Classic Brut Kent nv 89

&nbsp;

RT: really? How cool!

&nbsp;

MV: yes! Finally! I&rsquo;ve been waiting for the English sparklers to hit the wine lists here in Las Vegas so bravo Yardbird! When we were visiting London we had a chance to try a few sparklers from England and I am telling you this is going to be the next great sparkling wine region it&#39;s going to give champagne a run for its money. and again going to be so awesome with the fried chicken and waffles &hellip;all those bubbles are going to help cut through the grease., lift and lighten your palate and cleanse it for your very next bite and it&rsquo;s a steal of a price

&nbsp;

RT: that&rsquo;s a paring I can get behind.. any other good pairings?

&nbsp;

MV: Now you mentioned Ribs before.. my hubby loves some smoked &amp; slow-cooked ribs and the Ridge Lytton Springs dry creek 2018 is going to be a killer bottle option for that hickory smoked goodness. This wine is a field blend of mostly Zinfandel with some Petite Syrah and a few other complementary grape varietals. Lots of beautiful fruit expression here, and full-bodied with plush tannins. (find it under the petite syrah heading)

&nbsp;

RT: Sounds delicious. Anything else really interesting? you said Virginia earlier and that got me interested?

&nbsp;

MV: yes they have the Barboursville Cabernet Franc Reserve 2015 on the list.. this estate winery is near the beautiful blue ridge mountains, owned by an Italian family and the wines have received numerous awards so def worth a try at this great price.

&nbsp;

RT: Nice so speaking of top award-winning wines.. any top dollar wines that really deliver?

&nbsp;

MV: let&rsquo;s see here..&nbsp; Normally I&rsquo;d say only new world to stand up to all the richness in these dishes, but I do believe the Domaine Bachelet-Ramonet B&acirc;tard-Montrachet Grand Cru Burgundy 2011 will be a wow factor&hellip; because of the new French oak, and the power of the terroir&hellip; this is from the area in Burgundy considered to be the best place on earth for white wines!

&nbsp;

RT: That&rsquo;s A stunner for sure! Any reds that would be of equal wow factor

&nbsp;

MV: definitely , try The Mascot Napa Valley 2016 &nbsp;we just had a bottle of the 2014 and it was just insanely delicious 2016 is an even better vintage&hellip; this is made from the younger hillside vines of the famed Harlan Estate. Bill Harlan&#39;s son Will Harlan is the winemaker. 90% Cabernet Sauvignon with Petit Verdot &amp; Cab Franc.

&nbsp;

And one more beauty, before we run out of time, the Sine Qua Non&nbsp; Squeezebox 2018

This is a newer Syrah from this cult wine producer, there are a few other supporting grapes in this but mostly syrah..loads of baking spices and berries in this beaut! Go for the sweet tea braised short rib!

&nbsp;

RT: Sweet tea short ribs and syrah! I love it!

&nbsp;

RT: Well thank you Maria and thank you, everyone, for joining us on another episode of CorkRules. Be sure to download the app from the Appstore to get your personal restaurant wine recommendations right to your phone. You can find more wine educational tips from Maria on Instagram @mariathewineblonde and on the CorkRules app.

&nbsp;

MV: It&rsquo;s here! The CorkRules App! Download it for free today from the app store so you can browse restaurant wine lists, connect with your friends, and start drinking wines you love.&nbsp;

Have a favorite wine List? Let us review it here. Send us your requests at <a href="mailto:info@corkrules.com">info@CorkRules.com</a> You can find previous episodes on your favorite podcast platform and on The CorkRules app. Be sure to follow @CorkRules on Instagram for episode updates. Prices and selections subject to change, please drink responsibly.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

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

Drumheller is a boutique winery located in the heart of Washington's Columbia Valley. Their winemaking team is passionate about crafting wines that reflect the unique character of the region's diverse terroir.

Meson

Brasserie Mon Chou Chou

BondST

Buenos Aires Restaurant

Buenos Aires

Meadowsweet

Casa Mono

Atera

La Cava

LAVO Italian Restaurant

Lavo

Quality Italian

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

Paneria - Casa Madre Lariano

Available Wines
Total Wines - 4

Cantina Kurtatsch

Brenntal Gewurztraminer Riserva NV

Gewurztraminer

Italy

Parusso

Barolo NV

Nebbiolo

Barolo, Piedmont, Italy

Lornano

Chianti Classico NV

Sangiovese

Chianti, Tuscany, Italy

Derbusco Cives Millesimato Brut, Franciacorta DOCG NV

Franciacorta, Italy