Chablis &ndash; 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&rsquo;s a renowned wine, few knows what it really is. 

According to popular belief, Chablis is the name of a French grape variety. However, it is not. Chablis is actually a wine region part of Burgundy, in northern France. The climate here is very cool and lately very challenging with spring frost killing the vine buds, or hail crushing the grapes before mature in summer time. The grape grown is always Chardonnay giving sleek wines with a high acidity and aromas of green apple, lemon and chalk. Compared to a lot of other Chardonnay wines, Chablis does not have aromas from oak ageing. Some wines are aged in French oak, but if so, the barrels used will be too old to inflict any flavor. Instead, the body of the wine will get a little bit rounder. Comparing to some Chardonnay with an oily texture and flavor of butter and vanilla, this is far off. Due to this, many who claims not to like Chardonnay will drink Chablis on a regular basis.

Chablis has four quality levels depending on where in the region the grapes are grown; Petit Chablis, Chablis, Premier Cru and Grand Cru. Looking to volume, Chablis will be the dominant one. The vineyards are split into the different classifications depending on soil type, exposure to sun and other environmental factors. The Grand Cru vineyards will receive the most sun giving them a bit more ripe fruit aromas and higher concentration. Petit Chablis is not grown on the chalky soil typical to the region, making the style lighter and with less mineral notes.

The setbacks the region has faced in the last couple of years due to the northern climate have been dire. The late spring frost, summer hail and early autumn rain have all had a part in ruining the crop, giving the producers less grapes than what would be possible almost every year in the last eight years. This means that prices are on the rise, so if you like Chablis, now would be the time to invest!

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

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

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

Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels

Alexis Rogers

La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels

Compagnie des Vin Surnaturales

RT: Hello and Welcome to CorkRules!

&nbsp;I&rsquo;m your host Robert Tas along with Alexis Rogers, wine educator and restaurant sommelier

Hi Alexis, 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.

AR: Glad to be here, thanks for having me.

RT:&nbsp; Today we are talking about Compagnie des Vin Supernaturels Wine Bar NYC in lower Manhattan. Compagnie comes to us from the same group behind Experimental Cocktail Club. This chic wine bar is known for their bangin&rsquo; Happy Hour featuring 25 wines by the glass and another 450 wines from around the world. The list is 70% French and is lovingly compiled by Sommelier Caleb Ganzer while Chef Eric Bolyard put out beautiful seasonal small plates perfect for pairing. Alexis, I know you&rsquo;ve picked out some great French wines for us&hellip;.

&nbsp;

AR: I have! But I don&#39;t actually know what the first glass is! There is an option on the glass pour list to &ldquo;Guess the Glass&rdquo;. Blind Tasters Rejoice! This is a great opportunity to test your abilities and win the bottle. I would be interested to know how specific they require your guess to be - just grape? Country? Region? Subregion? Vintage? Producer? Either way, it&rsquo;s fun and a great way to attract serious wine lovers - aside from the 40+ page wine list that is. Wine SHOULD be fun though. Blind tasting is all about narrowing down what a wine is NOT. Such as &ldquo;Finished too tart to be Napa Chard, or too minerally to be S African Chenin, a distinct rose and lychee aroma can only mean Gewurtztraminer but it&rsquo;s too lean to be Alsace - must be Germany? Cherry cola taste? That&rsquo;s gotta be Sonoma Pinot. It&rsquo;s about using clues and ruling out grapes and regions until you land on the most likely call.

RT : That DOES sound fun, you probably have to have a pretty solid foundation of wine knowledge for that though.

AR: Yes, or have tasted a lot of wines from all over the world. Speaking of wine from all over the world, this next pick is from Switzerland. It&rsquo;s the Domaine Piccard Coup de Fouet Villette Grand Cru 2018. This bottle is orange wine made from the Chasselas grape. Native to Switzerland near Lake Geneva, this grape is the classic pairing for authentic fondue. Chasselas produces wines with notes of red apple, apple blossom, melon, mint and smoke. This grape is very terroir influenced and any descriptors used to describe it can also be used to describe the country as well - crisp, clean, bright, fresh - even if they are a bit neutral. Haha&hellip; This bottle is also a skin-contact - or orange wine so we will see our varietal notes but in general, a bit more savory with added texture and funkiness. The mouthfeel on this wine is thrilling from start to finish. This unfiltered bottle has a tiny bit of cloudiness, a bit of tang, and a lil sparkle on the tongue. Well, more like a sprinkle.

RT: A Sprinkle? What do you mean? Is it a sparkling wine?

AR: No, not fully sparkling, but it does have a small amount of effervescence.

RT: That sounds like it hits all the &ldquo;wine nerd&rdquo; bullet points - obscure grape, non-classical region, orange wine. Sounds fun!

AR: Haha!!! For Sure - def a geeky wine. This next wine will also separate those in the know pretty distinctly - it&rsquo;s from Beaujolais. New or non-explorative wine drinkers will only think of the Fruit Punch-esque Beaujolais Nouveau and think this bottle &ldquo;unrefined&rdquo; But those in the know will make the joke that it&rsquo;s technically a Cru Burgundy. The bottle is Domaine Chapel Charbonnieres Fleurie. Made from the Gamay grape, Fleurie is one of 10 crus in the region recognized for making wines of exceptional quality and is noted for its feminine, floral characteristics. Tasting notes on this include juicy strawberry, rasp preserves, pink flowers, violets, hints of licorice, potting soil and crushed rocks. It&rsquo;s fruity, earthy, minerally, AND floral. These wines are just FUN to drink. Pair this low tannin, med-bodied wine with a charcuterie board as it goes with everything on it - meats, cheeses, pickles, fruit, mustards, jams - Cru Beaujolais tackles them all. This particular bottle is made from high-quality organic grapes w/ minimal intervention and no added sulphites and is a beautiful indication of the convergence of high-quality site and talented winemaking.

RT: Wow, that could be a whole meal right there! Alexis, thank you for being with us to talk about the very cool list at Compagnie Wine Bar and giving us a little insight on blind tasting, that was cool!&nbsp; 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 or wherever you get your podcasts.

And finally, drink what you love and please make sure you drink responsibly.

&nbsp;

END

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

Sharecropper's is a family-owned winery based in Columbia Valley, USA. They specialize in producing high-quality, affordable wines that showcase the best of the region's terroir. Founded in 2007, the winery has since grown to become a respected name in the industry, with a reputation for producing exceptional wines that are both approachable and elegant.

Neapolitan wood-fired pizzas with vegan & gluten-free options doled out in a shoebox-sized space.

Popina

The Atlantic Grill

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

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