<a href="https://majorfood.getbento.com/new-york-city-and-boston/">Dirty French</a>&nbsp;is a bistro-style restaurant in Lower Manhattan and Miami &nbsp;that serves classic, traditional French dishes and brings them into contemporary New York by utilizing modern techniques and adding bold twists inspired by our current love of global cuisine.

But when it comes to the wine list, French wines dominate and they are curated from every region, including the lesser-known Savoie region. So let&rsquo;s head over to the mountainous region of the Alps and explore the wines of Savoie.

Where else in the world can you ski in your shorts and sip champagne, and breathe in the pristine alpine air while goat bells ring in the distance? This is Savoie. The eastern border of France and just a short drive through Mont Blanc and you&#39;re in Switzerland and Northern Italy, but we&rsquo;re here for the wine. So let&rsquo;s pop the cork on what the experts have to say about wines from this region.

Savoie&rsquo;s 2,000 hectares of vineyards stretch across four areas: Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Isere, and Ain. This mountainous region provides plenty of sloping hillsides while the large lakes help moderate the climate. The cooler temperatures and shorter summer work well for white wine grapes such as &nbsp;In fact, 70 percent of the wine produced in Savoie is white. Of all 23 grape varieties planted here, five are white and only two are red grape.

The most popular white wines from Savoie are produced from the following varietals.

Jacquere produces an early drinking, lively dry wine with flavors that range from floral and fruity (pear, white peach, grapefruit) to mineral and flinty. This varietal is the most commonly grown and used.

Altesse or Roussette &nbsp;is a white variety that ages well, achieving a noted complexity after just a few years in the bottle. Roussanne is known in Savoie as Bergeron, an aromatic wine with firm acidity.

Chasselas produces light-bodied, easy-drinking dry wines that are best drunk young. Gringet is a native varietal in this region, but despite its heritage here, it has only 54 acres of varietals, perhaps because it produces low-alcohol, easy drinking white wines, however, this grape has also produced some elegant and refreshing sparkling wines.

&nbsp;

Moving on to red wine from Savoie; the main red grape varieties are mondeuse and persan. Mondeuse is a native grape first cultivated by the Gauls, a Roman writer noted the grape as being &ldquo;the grape variety that ripens amidst the snow&rdquo; This grape brings a deep purple color to the wine with a well-structured acidity and well-integrated tannins that allow the wine to age well.

Persan is also a native variety but it is difficult to grow and prone to downy mildew. It produces dense tannins and acidity, and while wine from this grape can be harsh when young, it ages well and can kept for over ten years. &nbsp;

Of course, although these are the grapes that provide wine with interesting notes and are designed to thrive in this environment, today&rsquo;s winemakers in this region often turn to the more well-known varietals that can also thrive here and are more resilient to changing weather patterns.

To find a few of the best bottles on the wine list at this restaurant, head on over to<a href="https://uat.corkrules.com/dirty-french/episodes/19">&nbsp;the CorkRules&rsquo; podcast on Dirty French</a>&nbsp;where certified sommelier Michaela Quinlan shares her expertise and offers a few professional suggestions on wines to choose and, most importantly, enjoy.

Cheers!

&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 thanks to sommelier recommendations, suggested food pairings and expert insights

About CorkRules:&nbsp;CorkRules, the first digital wine app experience aimed at making it easier for you to navigate the restaurant wine list, 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;

Dirty French is a bistro-style restaurant in Lower Manhattan and Miami  that serves classic, traditional French dishes and brings them into contemporary New York by utilizing modern techniques and adding bold twists inspired by our current love of global cuisine.

Dirty French Wines from Savoie

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

Dear Margaret

Tina Johansson, WSET Diploma Graduate and Michelin restaurant sommelier, and Robert Tas review the wine list at Dear Margaret, an authentic French Canadian restaurant in Chicago.

Wine List Review at Dear Margaret, Chicago

Tina Johansson

Dear Margaret

RT: Hello and Welcome to CorkRules!

I&rsquo;m your host Robert Tas along with Tina Johansson, WSET Diploma Graduate and Michelin restaurant sommelier.

Hi Tina, thanks for being back with us on 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.

TJ: Thank you, happy to be back Robert.

RT: Today we&rsquo;re diving into the wine list of Dear Margaret in Chicago. It&rsquo;s run by chef Ryan Brosseau who opened the restaurant in honor of his grandmother Margaret just over two years ago and it&rsquo;s already a success. Margaret was French-Canadian so of course the food here is as well, but still working with local producers.

TJ: Yes, how about duck leg cassoulet or caramelized sweet potato with black garlic? They also have a healthy selection of fine cheeses which is hard to say no to. Everything is presented with a comforting, homemade vibe which very much lives up to the romantic image of one&#39;s grandmother&rsquo;s cooking. The wine list is quite short with about 20 listings each of red and white, but despite that, they manage to represent the world of wine quite well with wines from classic areas like Chablis and Champagne, to areas on the rise at the moment like New York and Bierzo in Spain.

RT: I do like the more rustic cooking from time to time and with all the accolades this restaurant has gotten in two short years, I&rsquo;m sure the food is even better than it sounds! So what are we drinking first, something fresh to start off with together with servings like the Pommes Dauphines with oyster mousse? Maybe they have something Canadian on the list?

TJ: I&rsquo;m afraid there&rsquo;s nothing Canadian on the list, yet at least! But I would propose we start with something from another cool climate region &ndash; Nahe in Germany. The 2020 D&ouml;nnhoff Oberh&auml;user Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett, so Riesling with a bit of sweetness to handle the high acidity that comes naturally in a wine from such a cool climate. The sweetness will also go great with the sweetness coming from the fried potatoes.

&nbsp;

RT: Off to a good start with a producer like D&ouml;nnhoff. What else would you drink with the hearty food cooked in Dear Margaret?

TJ: Why not go to red next, something with a bit of body and fruit concentration to handle the flavors. They hold the 2018 Enrique Mendoza La Tremenda, the Mendoza family is one of the leading producers of Alicante in southern Spain. The Monastrell grape used is perhaps not very well known outside of Spain, but it gives ripe and generous fruit aromas but with a good tannin structure. And fairly priced like so many of the bottles on the list here!

RT: Continuing with something from a very warm climate instead that is, what a fun comparison. What&rsquo;s your best wine on the list then? The bottle to pick for a big celebration to make the night extra special?

TJ: Since the list is a bit short it&rsquo;s a bit easier to choose just one bottle for once. There is one wine that really stands out to me. The 2018 Domaine du Closel La Jalousie, a Chenin Blanc from Savennieres in the central Loire Valley of France. It&rsquo;s one of my favorite producers of Chenin Blanc because all of their wines have a deep fruit concentration but sharp acidity. It&rsquo;s the kind of wine you could also age for a long time, if you&rsquo;re patient enough to wait that is&hellip; I can tell you straight away that I won&rsquo;t be, so I&rsquo;d be happy to have this with some of the cheeses here that we talked about earlier. For me, this is one of the best wine styles with a selection of different kinds of cheese.

RT: I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ll be patient either, so I&rsquo;ll take you up in that celebratory bottle as soon as possible. Thank you for your great recommendations, Tina.

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 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 wherever you get your podcasts.

And finally, drink what you love and please make sure you drink responsibly.

&nbsp;

END

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A Fish Called Avalon

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Bernardus Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence Rose NV

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