Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 <a href="https://www.jamesbeard.org/awards">James Beard Awards!</a> These talented individuals and establishments have demonstrated exceptional skills and contributed to the culinary world in remarkable ways. Here&#39;s a praise for each winner:

&nbsp;

Outstanding Chef: Rob Rubba of Oyster Oyster in Washington, D.C., showcases a mastery of flavors and a commitment to sustainable and plant-based cuisine.

Outstanding Restaurant: Friday Saturday Sunday in Philadelphia, PA, captivates diners with its impeccable service, innovative dishes, and an inviting atmosphere.

Best New Restaurant: Kann in Portland, OR, brings a fresh and exciting culinary experience to the city, pushing boundaries and delighting taste buds.

Outstanding Restaurateur: Ellen Yin, the driving force behind High Street Hospitality Group, including Fork, a.kitchen + bar, and High Street Philly in Philadelphia, PA, has created a dining empire known for its exceptional quality and diverse offerings.

Outstanding Hospitality: The Quarry in Monson, ME, stands out for its warm and welcoming atmosphere, ensuring that guests feel truly cared for.

Emerging Chef: Damarr Brown of Virtue in Chicago, IL, has emerged as a rising star, showcasing culinary creativity and a deep passion for his craft.

Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: Margarita Manzke of R&eacute;publique in Los Angeles, CA, creates stunning desserts that are as visually captivating as they are delicious.

Outstanding Bakery: Yoli Tortilleria in Kansas City, MO, crafts artisanal tortillas that elevate any meal with their authentic taste and texture.

Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program: Ototo in Los Angeles, CA, offers an impeccable selection of wines and other beverages that enhance the dining experience with every sip.

Outstanding Bar: Bar Leather Apron in Honolulu, HI, is a haven for cocktail enthusiasts, delivering exceptional libations with skill and flair.

Best Chef: Midwest: Itaru Nagano and Andrew Kroeger of Fairchild in Madison, WI, create a culinary symphony, fusing local ingredients with inventive techniques.

Best Chef: Mountain: Kris Komori of KIN in Boise, ID, showcases the diverse flavors of the region, combining culinary traditions with contemporary flair.

Best Chef: South: Natalia Vallejo of Cocina al Fondo in San Juan, PR, celebrates the vibrant flavors of Puerto Rican cuisine with a modern twist.

Best Chef: Northeast: Sherry Pocknett of Sly Fox Den Too in Charlestown, RI, captivates diners with her creative dishes rooted in indigenous ingredients and traditions.

Best Chef: Southwest: Andrew Black of Grey Sweater in Oklahoma City, OK, dazzles diners with his innovative approach to regional ingredients and bold flavors.

Best Chef: Southeast: Terry Koval of The Deer and the Dove in Decatur, GA, showcases a deep understanding of Southern cuisine, blending tradition with contemporary techniques.

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic: Chutatip &ldquo;Nok&rdquo; Suntaranon of Kalaya in Philadelphia, PA, takes diners on a culinary journey through the flavors of Thailand, beautifully balancing authenticity and innovation.

Best Chef: New York State: Junghyun Park of Atomix in New York, NY, crafts refined and intricate dishes that pay homage to Korean cuisine with a contemporary twist.

Best Chef: California: Justin Pichetrungsi of Anajak Thai in Sherman Oaks, CA, showcases the rich and complex flavors of Thai cuisine, creating a memorable dining experience.

Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific: Vince Nguyen of Berlu in Portland, OR, presents a menu that celebrates the bounty of the Pacific Northwest, highlighting local and sustainable ingredients.

Best Chef: Texas: Benchawan Jabthong Painter of Street to Kitchen in Houston, TX, brings the vibrant and diverse flavors of Thai street food to the heart of Texas, creating an unforgettable culinary experience.

Best Chef: Great Lakes: Tim Flores and Genie Kwon of Kasama in Chicago, IL, craft innovative Filipino-inspired dishes that celebrate the flavors and traditions of their heritage.

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Special mentions for the wine-related categories:

&nbsp;

Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program: Ototo in Los Angeles, CA, impresses with its curated wine selection, showcasing a diverse range of varietals and regions.

Outstanding Bar: Bar Leather Apron in Honolulu, HI, offers an exceptional selection of wines, spirits, and cocktails, ensuring a memorable drinking experience for all.

&quot;At CorkRules we&rsquo;d like to congratulate&nbsp;the winners of the 2023 James Beard Awards! You inspire us with your passion and innovation. The restaurant industry continues to reimagine itself and these winners are leading the inspiration&rdquo;, Robert Tas, CEO/Founder of CorkRules.

Cheers to all the winners.&nbsp;

Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 James Beard Awards! These talented individuals and establishments have demonstrated exceptional skills and contributed to the culinary world in remarkable ways. Here's a praise for each winner

2023 James Beard Award Winners Spotlight

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

Drops of God, the popular manga series by Tadashi Agi and Shu Okimoto, has been adapted into a television series by AppleTV and has some buzz in the wine world. The AppleTV series tells a story about a competition between Camille's (Fleur Geffrier) estranged daughter and Issei (Tomohisa Yamashita), the protégé after the death of Camille's father, a famous wine collector, to win his world-renowned wine collection valued at $100M+.

Drops of God: The AppleTV Series That Could Save the Wine Industry

Certified sommelier and CorkRules’ resident Somm, Michaela Quinlan shares her expertise on the wine list of il Buco. il Buco’s wine cellar holds a selection of over 400 wines and includes an exciting range of lesser-known, artisan wines from Europe. This restaurant has been called "one of the best and most exciting in America" by Gourmet magazine and the wine list has won Wine Spectator’s "Award of Excellence" several times.

Artisan Wines at Il Buco

Orange wine is made from white grapes, but the skin stays in contact with the juice longer during the maceration period, which increases the tannins and turns the normally white wine a more golden hue. The longer the contact,  the darker the hue, which increases the tannins and a stronger intensity. Pinot gris and malvasia are two common grape varieties used to make orange wine, but if you dig a little deeper, explore a little further, you can find some delightful orange wines along the border between northeastern Italy and Slovenia where orange wines are madefrom indigenous grapes on the region, including sauvignon vert (friulano), ribolla gialla, and pinot grigio.

Pairing Orange Wines at Pasquale Jones

The Lobster Club in the Seagram Building, New York City is a Japanese Brasserie that is renowned for its unique interpretation of Japanese cooking and Sushi, and what’s even more exciting is that it has an extensive wine list.

Fine Wines at The Lobster Club

Unless you are born into a vineyard, grow up in wine country, a career in wine is not a go-to profession for most graduates. But for some people, their love of wine and career path are intertwined. This is how it was for Jane Lopes, sommelier, co-founder of Legend Imports, and author of Vignette: Stories of Life and Wine in 100 Bottles.

Stories of Wine & Life with Jane Lopes, Sommelier, Author and Co-Founder of Legend Imports

CorkRules has been presented with the BMMA ‘Best New Mobile App” Platinum award, the highest award achievement in category.

CorkRules Wins the 2023 BMMA Platinum Award for "Best New Mobile App"

Pairing wine with Asian food is a common dilemma. Just what should you order with the Spicy Yellowtail Yu Sheng or the Mongolian Lamb Chops? How do we make palatable choices that cross cultures and bring out the best in each location’s use of herbs and spices?

Pairing Wine with Asian Food at Buddakan

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

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Audrey

Cowboy Star

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Itamae

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Join us each week as we pour a glass and share top restaurant ‘wine list’ picks, providing you with the knowledge to confidently navigate the ‘wine list’ through somm recommendations, suggested food pairings and masterclass insights.

Smoke Ridge Bbq

Available Wines
Total Wines - 5

Varvaglione

Fashion Edition 12 e Mezzo Malvasia Bianca del Salento 2019

Salento, Italy

Varvaglione

12 e Mezzo Negroamaro del Salento 2016

Salento, Italy

Nuà

Prosecco NV

Prosecco, Italy

Teal Lake

Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot NV

South Eastern Australia, Australia

Olivares

Altos de la Hoya Monastrell 2017

Jumilla, Spain