&nbsp;

Forget everything you think you know about sweet, syrupy wines. Lambrusco is a sparkling red wine from Italy&rsquo;s Emilia-Romagna region that&rsquo;s as light and bubbly as a summer day.

The Lowdown on Lambrusco

Lambrusco comes in a variety of styles, from dry to sweet, and red to ros&eacute;. But unlike its fancy cousin Prosecco, Lambrusco tends to have a lower alcohol content and a fizz that&rsquo;s more playful than palate-cleansing.

What Makes Lambrusco Different?

Lambrusco is made using a method called Charmat, where the second fermentation (which creates the bubbles) happens in large tanks instead of individual bottles. This keeps the price tag down, making Lambrusco a super affordable option &ndash; we&rsquo;re talking around $15 to $30 a bottle!

So, What Does it Taste Like?

Lambrusco&rsquo;s flavor profile can vary depending on the type, but generally you can expect a fruity taste with hints of cherry, plum, and sometimes even violet. There&rsquo;s a touch of sweetness too, but not enough to make your teeth ache.

Lambrusco Food Pairings

Lambrusco&rsquo;s versatility is another reason to love it. It&rsquo;s perfect for an aperitif, or pair it with lighter fare like pasta dishes, grilled pizza, or even cured meats. Feeling fancy? Sparkling wine and chocolate is a classic pairing, and Lambrusco&rsquo;s subtle sweetness makes it a great match for dark chocolate.

The Perfect Summer Sipper

With its light, refreshing taste and easy-going bubbles, Lambrusco is the ideal wine for kicking back and enjoying some warm weather. So next time you&rsquo;re at the wine store, ditch the usual suspects and grab a bottle of Lambrusco. Your taste buds (and your wallet) will thank you!

Check out these staff favorites:

<a href="https://www.grapesthewineco.com/wines/Medici-Ermete-Lambrusco-Reggiano-Concerto-2020-w14205594n">Medici Ermete - Lambrusco Reggiano Concerto 2020 - $22.99</a>

The Medici Ermete winery was founded in 1938 in Sorbara, in Modena&rsquo;s Lambrusco DOC zone. It is one of the most respected producers of Lambrusco in Italy [2]. This particular bottle is a Concerto Lambrusco Reggiano from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy

The Wine Itself

Concerto Lambrusco is a single-vineyard Lambrusco made from the Lambrusco Salamino grape. The wine undergoes a second fermentation in large pressurized tanks, which gives it its signature bubbles. The Concerto Lambrusco Reggiano 2020 is a DOC wine, meaning it meets the strict quality standards set out for Lambrusco from Reggio Emilia.

What it Looks Like

Concerto Lambrusco is a bright ruby red color.

Aromas and Flavors

The Concerto Lambrusco has a fruity nose with aromas of black cherry, plum, and violets. On the palate, the wine is dry and refreshing with flavors of red berries and a touch of spice. The bubbles are light and playful, making it a very easy-drinking wine.

Food Pairings

Concerto Lambrusco&rsquo;s versatility makes it a great food pairing wine. It&rsquo;s perfect for an aperitif, or pair it with lighter fare like pasta dishes, grilled pizza, or cured meats. Because of its subtle sweetness, it&rsquo;s also a great match for dark chocolate.

<a href="https://www.grapesthewineco.com/wines/Saetti-Rosso-Dell-Emilia-Viola-Lambrusco-2022-w10029770n">Saetti - Rosso Dell Emilia Viola Lambrusco 2022 - $23.99</a>

100% Lambrusco Salamino (a particular sub-variety of Lambrusco known for thick skins, dark color, high acidity and tight bunches). Certified-organically farmed, hand-harvested fruit from 50-year-old vines, crushed and spontaneously fermented in small steel tanks. Fermentation is spontaneous and is taken to complete dryness. Secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle, initiated by the addition of fresh grape must. The bottles are hand-riddled and -disgorged. No sulfur is added at any stage of the process, and the grapes are grown in full respect of nature.

Luciano Saetti makes stunning, evocative Lambrusco just outside of Modena. He is of a generation that decided to return to traditional methods and eschew modern practices that contributed to Lambrusco&#39;s poor reputation. The 2.8 hectares of vines he works were planted by his family in 1964. Prior to his taking over, they sold off most of their fruit to the local coop.

Luciano, however, thought that they could do better and so after a successful first career as an egg distributor in Modena, he founded Vigneto Saetti in 1998. He saw the value in the family&rsquo;s old vines of a particular local strain of the Lambrusco grape called Salamino di Santa Croce. It&rsquo;s thick-skinned, tight-bunched, darker-colored and higher in natural acidity than some other more common varieties of Lambrusco.&nbsp;

Lambrusco is a crisp, dry wine that pairs well with Italian food, fried foods, hearty meats, and salty cheeses. It&#39;s best served chilled at around 45-55 degrees Fahrenheit, so you can refrigerate it for about an hour before serving.

Enjoy!! Cin cin!!

&nbsp;

Forget everything you think you know about sweet, syrupy wines. Lambrusco is a sparkling red wine from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region that’s as light and bubbly as a summer day.

Lambrusco: The Party in a Bottle You Need to Try under $25

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

Whitney Grant

The Butcher's Table

The Butcher&rsquo;s Table

RT: Hello and Welcome to CorkRules!

A podcast where, in each episode, we will review a wine list from your favorite restaurants. I&rsquo;m your host Robert Tas along with Whitney Grant, wine educator and certified sommelier,

Hello Whitney, it&rsquo;s great to have you back on with CorkRules.

WG: Hi Robert! Thanks for having me! I&rsquo;m excited to share these wine selections with you and the CorkRules listeners.

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: So, sit back and listen as we review your favorite wine list.

RT: Today we are talking about The Butcher&rsquo;s Table. Nominated for Seattle&rsquo;s Best Steakhouse by Thrillist. This sleek steakhouse and takeaway butcher counter offers classic preparations, prime wagyu cuts and has a stellar wine list. Whitney I can&rsquo;t wait to hear what do you think of their wine offerings, where should we start with this list?

WG: How about we start with a few wines by the glass?&nbsp; &nbsp;

RT: Take it away, Whitney

WG: Let&rsquo;s start with the Tablas Creek Vineyards white blend from Paso Robles in California. This is a blend of 5 Rhone varietals. Grenache blanc, roussanne, viognier, marsanne, and clairette blanche. Crisp acids, with a rich mouthfeel, floral and tropical aromatics, structure, spice, freshness and minerality. Don&rsquo;t sleep on Paso! This hidden gem in California has amazing wineries producing excellent wines at better prices than wines in Napa or Sonoma.

WG: Next I would recommend the 2019 Flowers Chardonnay from the Sonoma Coast in California. This with has bright citrus notes, white flowers, white peach and hints of flint. Nice acidity balanced with flavor of orchard fruits, with a long bright finish. Flowers vineyard pioneered pinot noir and chardonnay. Focused on farming responsibly, harvesting by hand and using 100% native fermentation making wine with minimal intervention. Flowers is an iconic Sonoma producer.

&nbsp;RT: What wine by the glass would you recommend for red wine drinkers?

WG: The Jean-Luc Colombo &ldquo;Les Abeilles&rdquo; Red Blend is a 2018 C&ocirc;te-du-Rh&ocirc;ne blend. Cotes-du-Rhone accounts for more than half of the production of appellation wines in the Southern Rhone Valley of France. This blend is 60% grenache, 30% syrah, 10% mourvedre. Expect intense purple color with a nose of violets, plum, and casis. Silky dark red fruit with a hint of spice on the palate. Great food friendly wine!

 
RT:___

Finally the Melville Estate 2018 Syrah from the Santa Rita Hills in California. This is a plum colored wine with notes of fig, eucalyptus and pepper corns. Dark lingering fruit, black olive, delicate tannins with fresh acidity and a powerful finish. Melville estates was established in 1996&nbsp; in the heart of the Santa Rita Hills in California.

RT: The wine list at Butcher&rsquo;s Table is organized by Old World and New World. Could you tell us about that differentiation?

WG: Old World wines are wines made in the traditional wine-growing regions of Europe whereas New World is basically everywhere else.

There are also some stylistic differences between the old world vs. the new world. Old world wines are typically lighter bodied, with lower alcohol, higher acidity, less fruit and more minerality. New world tends to have fuller-bodied wines with higher alcohol, lower acidity, and more fruit flavors.

We can take a closer look at the stylistic difference for a particular varietal chardonnay.

RT: Let&rsquo;s do it!

WG: Chardonnay is grown in the Burgundy region of France in the old world, let&rsquo;s take a look at both Chablis and Puligny Montrachet.

Chablis is a village appellation within Burgundy. These wines typically have high mouthwatering acidity with flavors of green apple, citrus, lemon and wet stone. These wines are almost always unoaked.

Puligny Montrachet is a village within Burgundy located further south than Chablis. These wines tend to have flavors of lemon, golden apple, pear, quince, and yellow plum. These wines will typically be made in French oak giving flavors of cinnamon, almond, and bread from lees contact.

There is a range of styles for New World Chardonnay from cool climate unoaked Willamette Valley Chardonnays or Warmer oaked California Chardonnay. Looking at this list there is one I would definitely recommend giving a try. The 2018 Chateau Montelenda. Expect cinnamon, ripe peach, aromas of melon, fig and pear. Subtle notes of honeysuckle, vanilla and clove with a bright finish, and full texture. Chateau Montelena is one of the most important and significant wineries that put Napa Valley on the map internationally when their 1973 Chardonnay won the Judgement of Paris.&nbsp;

RT: So Whitney, is there anything you would recommend that would really impress a guest?

WG: The Vega Sicilia &ldquo;Unico&rdquo; 1962 Ribera del Duero. Coming from a world-renowned iconic producer. The Vega Sicilia vineyard offers the best of the best from vineyard aspect, to soil, to the wood chosen at different stages of the 10-year barrel aging process. These wines are known for consistently having elegance, style, and strength and are in a category of some of the best of the best classic wines of not just Spain but the world.

Now a wine this old is not something you could find at your average wine store, if you want to get your hands on a 1962 you are going to have to look into specialized auctions, so if you are looking to impress a guest, this wine will certainly do so!

RT: Wow! Enjoying that wine would be quite the experience. While we all wish we could crack open a bottle like that not everyone has the budget for a 4 figure wine, is there anything on the list that you would recommend that won&rsquo;t break the bank?

WG: Yes! There are a lot more affordable options on the menu. I love Argentinian wine and the&nbsp; Bodega Colom&eacute; Estate 2019 Malbec is a great choice. Malbec is Argentina&rsquo;s flagship variety these wines are typically deep colored and full bodied, and generally you can get them at reasonable prices.&nbsp; This wine comes from Salta region close to the border of Bolivia, with some of the highest vineyards of the world with some over 3,000 meters in elevation. This climate produces wine with great purity and concentration.

This wine has that beautiful bright &amp; intense signature malbec color. With aromas of blackberries, red fruit, and exotic floral notes. It&#39;s full and lush with spiced oak notes and hints of pepper. Fresh acidity balances the big bold tannins, it&#39;s wonderful, it&#39;s complex, and the price is right!

RT: Whitney, thank you so much for all your great suggestions and helping us navigate The Butcher&#39;s Table wine list. I can&rsquo;t wait to go try them myself.

WG: Thanks for having me, Robert, I always enjoy chatting with you about great wines at great restaurants!

RT:To our audience, thank you all for joining us here on CorkRules.

If you would like us to review one of your favorite restaurants, please send us an 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.

And finally, drink what you love and please make sure you drink responsibly.

Thank you.

End

&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

Mojo is a boutique winery located in Paso Robles, known for its high-quality, small-batch wines.

Themed eatery styled after a bygone Tokyo backstreet, serving noodle soup, sides & vegan options.

The American Express Centurion Global Lounge Network

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

Panton Yokocho

Available Wines
Total Wines - 4

Piccini

Pinot Grigio delle Venezie NV

Pinot Gris

Italy

Terra Serena

Prosecco Treviso Extra Dry NV

Glera (Prosecco)

Prosecco Treviso, Italy

Turno de Noche

Malbec NV

Malbec

Mendoza, Argentina

Mirabello

Pinot Grigio NV

Pinot Nero

Delle Venezie, Italy