<a href="https://1803nyc.com/">1803</a>&nbsp;is a Cajun restaurant that brings a little of New Orleans&rsquo; eclectic culture to the streets of New York. It&rsquo;s a sexy, sultry space with a penchant for Deep South decadence and jazz. For a memorable culinary experience, this is the place to bring a date.

Cajun cuisine was developed by Acadians (who were originally French) when they were deported from Acadia (an area that stretched from Massachusetts to Gaspe, Canada) to Louisiana during the 18th century. The Acadians developed a unique cuisine that was a melting pot of &nbsp;West African, French and Spanish cooking techniques. This rustic fare was based on locally available ingredients, including crawfish, shrimp, pork and sausage and aromatic green bell peppers, onion, and celery. These vegetables are known as &quot;the trinity&quot; by Cajun chefs, to which they may add parsley, bay leaf, green onions, dried cayenne pepper, and dried black pepper, white pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika.

So, what style of wine pairs well with Cajun food?

Steer clear of full-bodied reds that are rich in tannins. These wines are too heavy for the spices and the tannins will taste metallic when combined with seafood or spice. If you have your mind set on a red wine, consider choosing a lighter pinot noir or gamay that are low in tannins and won&rsquo;t overpower the spice or clash with the aromatic flavors.

However, it may be wiser to stick with white when dining Cajun style. Thanks to the abundance of locally-sourced seafood, catfish and shellfish dominate Cajun recipes. A riesling or gewurztraminer are wines that pair well with any Cajun seafood dish, these light German wines are well-structured and can handle heavier dishes without contradicting or altering the flavor of the spices.

If the dish is heavy with tomatoes, a medium-bodied and acidic red wine works well to match the acidity in the tomatoes. If the wine is low in acidity, the high acidity in the tomatoes will make the wine taste flat and metallic. So, with tomato-based sauces choose a Rioja, zinfandel or pinot noir. &nbsp;You could also choose a &nbsp;full-bodied white such as chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, or Chenin blanc.

Of course, there are many more high acidity wines and low tannin wines to choose from, for expert advice, enlist the help of the sommelier, or pop over to the CorkRules <a href="https://uat.corkrules.com/1803/episodes/15">podcast with certified sommelier Grace Hood </a>where she identifies a few bottles of bubbles and offers expert advice on wines to pair with Cajun food. &nbsp;

&nbsp;

About the CorkRules Podcast:&nbsp;Each week we pour a glass and share top restaurant wine list picks, providing you with the knowledge to confidently navigate the wine list through sommelier recommendations, suggested food pairings and expert insights

About CorkRules:&nbsp;CorkRules, the first digital wine app experience, makes it easier for you to navigate the restaurant wine list, and provides you with personalized wine recommendations from your favorite restaurants. Through CorkRules you can find the perfect wine for every occasion based on your preferences. Connect with friends and wine experts to discover new wines to try and learn about wine. CorkRules makes it easier to discover and drink what you love. &nbsp;

1803 is a Cajun restaurant that brings a little of New Orleans’ eclectic culture to the streets of New York. It’s a sexy, sultry space with a penchant for Deep South decadence and jazz. For a memorable culinary experience, this is the place to bring a date.

Pairing Wine with Cajun Food at 1803

Omakase is experiencing a surge in popularity, let’s dig into what it is and of course what wines to drink.



 Omakase, a term that translates to "I'll leave it up to you" in Japanese, is rapidly gaining popularity in the culinary world. This dining experience places your meal entirely in the hands of the chef, who meticulously crafts each course based on seasonal ingredients and their personal creative flair. It's not just about seafood; while sushi often features prominently due to its status as a cornerstone of Japanese cuisine, an omakase menu can include anything from Wagyu beef to seasonal vegetables.

Omakase and Wine Pairing: A Booming Gastronomic Journey

California Chardonnay: it's a name synonymous with sunshine, buttery richness, and maybe even a splash of white wine envy (looking at you, Bridget Jones). But how did this grape, originally hailing from France, become a Californian icon? Buckle up, because we're diving into the world of CA Chard, from its unexpected origins to the reasons it continues to reign supreme on wine lists.

Buckle up, because we're diving into the world of CA Chard!

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

As the days grow longer and warmer, it's time to trade in your full-bodied reds and crisp whites for a glass of refreshing rosé. This versatile wine is not only perfect for spring but also pairs beautifully with a wide variety of foods all year round.



Rosé originates from France, specifically Provence - the world’s leading rosé region. It has been produced there since 600 BC when Greeks brought vines to southern France. Unlike its red and white counterparts, rosés are made using an array of grape varietals including Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault among others.

Spring into Rosé: The Perfect Wine for Warmer Weather

We are interested in understanding your dining and wine consumption habits to gain valuable insights into the wine and restaurant industry.

State of Wine and Restaurant Survey 2024

Aligoté: Burgundy's Unsung Hero Steps Out of the Shadows

For Chardonnay lovers seeking a refreshing, value-driven alternative, Aligoté, Burgundy's "other" white grape, beckons with its crisp acidity, subtle minerality, and undeniable charm. Often overshadowed by its more illustrious neighbor, Aligoté is finally gaining recognition for its unique qualities and exceptional quality-to-price ratio.

Aligoté: Burgundy's Unsung Hero Steps Out of the Shadows

A Hungarian Legacy: Imagine yourself in Tokaj, Hungary, a region steeped in winemaking tradition. For centuries, Furmint has thrived in its volcanic soil, basking in the warm sunshine. These grapes, loved for their thick skin and high acidity, became the cornerstone of Hungary's most famous wine: Tokaji. These sweet, honeyed treasures were once enjoyed by royalty and popes!

Furmint: Hungary's Hidden Gem for Wine Lovers

Check out these four whites wines under $24, from some great producers across various terroirs – France, Italy, Spain. Spring is in the air.

Four must try white wines for under $24 from France, Spain, and Italy

Eric Asimov's recent article isn't just about the "luxury" of sommeliers vanishing from restaurants. It's a stark warning about the potential collapse of a vibrant corner of our social and cultural ecosystem: the world of wine.

Why the Decline of Sommeliers Is a Crisis for All of Us

Matteos Ristorante Italiano

Certified sommelier and wine educator Maria Valetta and Robert Tas review the wine list at Matteo’s in Las Vegas where they offer a deliciously Italian menu in a contemporary setting. 

Wine List Review of Matteo's Las Vegas

Maria Valetta

Matteo's

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Matteo&rsquo;s, Las Vegas

Robert Tas 
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CorkRules, the wine app and podcast that&#39;s here to help you navigate all your favorite restaurant wine lists. I&#39;m your host, Robert TAS, along with Maria Valletta, wine educator and certified sommelier, also better known as Maria the wine blonde on Instagram. Welcome back, Maria. 
 
Maria Valetta 
Well, hello, Robert. Today we&#39;re talking about a northern Italian favorite in Las Vegas, aren&#39;t we? 
 
Robert Tas 
We sure are. That&#39;s true. Today we&#39;re highlighting the wine list at Mateo&#39;s restaurante, located, of course, in Restaurant Row at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in beautiful Las Vegas. Restaurant tour Mateo Ferdanindi and chef Ariana set out to create an approachable dining experience. And you can be sure there&#39;s something for everyone on this Northern Italian food menu. Don&#39;t miss the delicate homemade pasta dishes that are the favorites amongst the power lunch crowd and a dinner, and you can expect to see dozens of small plates being passed at the table&#39;s, family style. Maria, this place sounds like an amazing dining experience. My kind of place. How does this wine list stack up for you? 
 
Maria Valetta 
This list, actually, Robert, has so many lovely indigenous Italian varietals on it. Definitely exceeded my expectations. It&#39;s going to be a perfect companion to the food, and I can happily say there are plenty of options that are reasonably priced. So I love this list. And also, you should know that they offer a corkage fee where you&#39;re welcome to bring in your own wines as long as they&#39;re not on their present wine list. So for $40 a bottle, that gives you even more options. Another thing us winos love. 
 
Robert Tas 
I love that. I love that you can check the list and see if it&#39;s on the Cork Rules app. Well, that&#39;s a plus. Sometimes you just have to bring that special bottle from home that you want to share with all your loved ones. 
 
Maria Valetta 
That&#39;s right. And we bring a wine when we can, and normally we also order a bottle at the restaurant, so then this way we&#39;re supporting the restaurant, too. I feel like that&#39;s really good etiquette when you can do that. 
 
Robert Tas 
And I always say that you got to tip on both bottles because the servers do great jobs, and we want to make sure, like you said, support them.

&nbsp;

Maria Valetta 
I agree. They are doing the work and pouring it for you. They don&#39;t just stick it on the table and have you do it yourself. 
 
Robert Tas 
Exactly. So, all right, how does this place wines by the glass stack up? 
 
Maria Valetta 
So this is a place where you don&#39;t have to order by the bottle, especially if you&#39;re at the bar by yourself, because the Bly, the glass options are interesting enough. And standouts for me are the Riviera Liguori di Ponente. So this is from Ligoria, Italy, where you find that beautiful region of Portofino. Yeah. And Pagato is a white wine that&#39;s all about this kind of floral and fruit aromas with a slightly rich texture. So try it with the sepia, which is the grilled baby calamari with the Calabrian pepper crema. I love that dish. Now, if you can&#39;t help yourself and go straight to the pasta here, because you&#39;re going to see these pasta dishes just, like, zooming by you, and you&#39;re like, oh, my gosh, I&#39;m definitely going for the pasta, and that&#39;s my first course, and it&#39;s worth every calorie here. Then this duo with a pairing is going to be fantastic. The Piedmontesi pasta, which is the braised beef short rib annulote with a Nebbiolo reduction. And then the 2018 Valtiglione, Piemonte, Italy. This is a buy the glass wine. And it&#39;s so great to see this Nebbiolo based wine and then pairing it with a sauce that&#39;s made with Nebbiolo. 
 
Robert Tas 
I love it. I love it. I can&#39;t agree more. When you have a grape specific wine sauce, it makes so much sense to order a glass by the same type of wine to go with that meal. 
 
Maria Valetta (<a href="https://www.happyscribe.com/transcriptions/d9ce5c2cf4e2484b93d2ec1fba1f8c42/edit?organization_id=8890186&amp;position=206.36&amp;utm_source=happyscribe&amp;utm_medium=document_deep_link&amp;utm_campaign=editor_copy_section&amp;utm_content=d9ce5c2cf4e2484b93d2ec1fba1f8c42">03:26</a>) 
Yeah, it&#39;s like when I&#39;m cooking, I throw a splash in my cooking while I&#39;m drinking my wine. It&#39;s perfection together.

&nbsp;

Robert Tas 
I like it. I like it. All right, so how about those wines by the bottle? You said there was quite a few reasonably priced. Why don&#39;t you select a few value ones for us? 
 
Maria Valetta 
All right, now, if you want to start with bubbles, then I recommend the Franciacorta - Ferghettina, &ldquo;brut&rdquo;, Lombardia, Italy. It&#39;s a dry style, champagne style, made sparkling from Lombardia, Italy.. Everybody knows that. And then for whites, definitely go with the 2020 Arneis Roagna, Piemonte, Italy One of my favorite interesting Italian grape varieties. Now, for reds, on the lighter body side, I would check out the 2015 Piedirosso, Kerres, &ldquo;I Pentri&rdquo;, Campania, Italy. So Pierre Roso is native to campagna. That&#39;s the area where you&#39;ll find the town of Positano. There&#39;s very little of this grape grown in Italy, so this is a gem to find on a list here. It&#39;s easy drinking. It&#39;s a bright red, it&#39;s fresh, and it&#39;s amazing. 
 
Robert Tas 
Amazing. Any Barolos Barbaresco&#39;s on that list that are wallet friendly. 
 
Maria Valetta 
Wallet friendly. Barolo. Barbaresco. Funny. No, actually, though, if you like those wines, rollo and barbaresco, but not the prices that come with them, then try this, the - cascina chicco &ldquo;ginestra&rdquo;, piemonte, italy 2015 Now, this is made from the same grape, so it&#39;s still Nebbiolo, but younger vines on average age of about 20 years. So you&#39;ll still get this, like, violet and brightness and cherries and tar and spice, but they do less time of maceration, so four to five days versus about 15 for the barolo and less time aging overall. So it will be less tanic, but then therefore easier to drink young like this and definitely better priced.

&nbsp;

Robert Tas 
I like that. I like that. All right, forget price. We want to celebrate something big. We want to ball out. What do you got? 
 
Maria Valetta 
Okay, well, then you have to start with champagne. You just have to and they have one of my favorite producers, Pierre Peters. They have les Chatillon&rsquo;s &ldquo;brut cuvee speciale&rdquo;, le Mesnil sur Oger, France special from Le Manels de OJ. And this is a 2010 vintage champagne. Champagne is the way to go, right? 
 
Robert Tas 
Always. 
 
Maria Valetta 
If you&#39;re balling out, I like that. 
 
Robert Tas 
You can&#39;t go wrong with that. All right, so we got our champagne toast out of the way. How about maybe an old world and a New World red to get us going? 
 
Maria Valetta 
That&#39;s a good idea, actually. And this may be the time to drop some dough on some Barolo. So I would recommend the Mascarello Montprivato Barolo from Piedmont. 2013, a great year for Barolo. And then in the new world, cali would be the way to go with the Crutz Beckstaffer, George II Vineyard, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2018. Think like sexy Rutherford Dust famous vineyard here. And 2018 is actually fairly easy. Drinking a luscious vintage. Everyone I&#39;ve had of 2018 hasn&#39;t been overly tanic, it&#39;s just been really easy to drink. But I would have them decant this one for about an hour ahead of time and then pair it with meat. So the Anielo, which is the seared Australian lamb chops with rosemary and red wine reduction, that&#39;s going to be the good pairing to pick for the end of the meal.

&nbsp;

Robert Tas 
That&#39;s an amazing tasty pairing to end on. Thank you so much, Maria, for exploring the wine list of Mateo&#39;s Restaurante Italiano in Las Vegas with us today. Thank you, everyone, for joining us here on Cork Rules. Of course, you can find more wine tips for Maria on Instagram at maria the Wine Blonde. And of course, remember our only rule is to drink what you love. 
 
Maria Valetta 
It&#39;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. Have a favorite wine list? Let us review it here. Send us your request at info at. You can find previous episodes on your favorite podcast platform and on the CorkRules app. Be sure to follow Cork Rules on Instagram for episode updates, prices, inspections subject to change. Please drink responsibly.

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Andrew Edmunds

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Castello del Trebbio is a historic winery located in the heart of Chianti. The winery is known for producing high-quality wines using traditional winemaking practices. Castello del Trebbio is committed to sustainable winemaking practices and has implemented various measures to reduce their environmental impact.

Updated takes on Vietnamese staples plus cocktails are served in an elegant, understated space.

Delfina Restaurant

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AFICI

Afici

Ancora

Muller & Lux

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Spruce

Chez Panisse

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Rich Table

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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

Van Da

Available Wines
Total Wines - 7

Duckman

Joao Pato, 'Baaaga Duck' Portugal 2020

Baga

Portugal

Batard Langelier

Polaris Muscadet-Sevre et Maine Sur Lie 2021

Melon de Bourgogne

Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, France

Schlossmuhlenhof

Weingut, 'Boden Funk' Muller-Thurgau, Rheinhessen 2021

Rheinhessen, Germany

Bojo do Luar

Doralice 2021

Loureiro

Vinho Verde, Portugal

Pascal Bellier Cheverny Rouge, France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire 2019

Sauvignon Blanc

Loire Valley, France

Familie Bauer

Gruner Veltliner NV

Gruner Veltliner

Niederosterreich, Austria

Silver Gate

Pinot Noir NV

Pinot Noir

California, USA