Many grape varieties around the world of wine have names local to the region or country they&rsquo;re grown in, even though they&rsquo;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.

This white grape variety is called Pinot Gris in its home country, France. Gris means gray in French and it refers to the unusual color of the grape skins. The color can differ from grey, slightly purple or even orange or pink. For white grape varieties these colors are quite uncommon. Due to this it is sometimes used for blush wine, light ros&eacute; styled wine that is. The name is similar to the black grape Pinot Noir, and Pinot Gris is actually naturally mutated from this variety hundreds of years ago.

The same grape is also grown in Italy under the name Pinot Grigio. They grape may have originated in France, but it&rsquo;s here in Italy where the most acres are planted to the grape. Even though it&rsquo;s the same variety, the styles made are worlds apart. The French style, made in the wine region Alsace, can be full-bodied with intense aromas of peach and honey even though the wines are not sweet. The colored grape skin can also give these wines a deeper golden color. The Italian style finds its home in the Alps in the northern part of the country. The cool climate here provides fresh and light styles of wine, with aromas of green apple and lime often meant for early consumption.

Today the grape can be found in other countries like the USA and New Zealand where the chosen name of the grape stated on the label tends to link back to the style made either in France or Italy. Both styles can be great and it depends on the occasion which one that should be opened. The richer style made in Alsace is perfect to flavorful food where the elegant Pinot Grigio is best as is or to raw fish or seafood. Which is your favorite?

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

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

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

Don Angie

Whitney Grant

Don Angie

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 list&rsquo;s 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 Don Angie. Don Angie located in the West Village is a Michelin-starred restaurant serving American-inspired Italian classics with Asian elements incorporated into the menu as well.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Whitney I can&rsquo;t wait to hear what do you think of this wine list?

WG: Robert I am super excited to chat with you today about the wines here. Now if you are on foodie Tik Tok like me, you know there are a few items on this menu that have gone viral. I think it might be fun to start off today with some wine pairings for those popular dishes.

RT: Sounds fun! For those that aren&rsquo;t familiar with the Don Angie menu which items do you have pairings for?

WG: There is so much good food here but let&#39;s start with the chrysanthemum salad and stuffed garlic bread. For these starters, I think I nice crisp bottle of Sauvignon blanc would be excellent for the table to enjoy with the starters.

If you&rsquo;d like to enjoy a glass the Silvio Carta Vermentino would be a lovely accompaniment. The Vermentino will be light with well-rounded mineral and floral characteristics with citrus and green fruit flavors with nice acidity to complement the dishes.

For the main dish I would highly recommend the lasagna for two. This deconstructed pinwheel lasagna has been seen on the today show is one of New York&rsquo;s most popular lasagna dishes. For this is would recommend pairing with another Italian classic Chianti Classico made from the Sangiovese grape. The 2019 Monterinaldi Chianti Classico would be a great choice. This wine is a beautiful ruby color, with complex red fruit flavors, full-bodied and really pairs wonderfully with the lasagna.

&nbsp;For wines by the glass with this dish, I would recommend Timbre &#39;Opening Act Pinot Noir from Monterey, California. The red fruit flavors and acidity complements the lasagna nicely.

RT: Now I&rsquo;m hungry, those dishes and pairings sound good. Taking another look at the by-the-glass list, is there anything you would recommend trying?

WG: I would suggest giving one of the Lambrusco a try. Lambrusco today is not the same overly sweet cheap wines that gained a poor reputation decades ago. Producers in Italy are now producing quality wines that are dry or semi-dry and would definitely recommend giving it a try. It is served chilled, fruity, bubbly and refreshing, perfect for a hot summer night. At Don Angie I would recommend the Montanari, &#39;Opera&#39; Lambrusco di Modena Secco. Expect juicy red fruit flavors of cherry and raspberry, nice acidity, and light tannin.

RT: Lambrusco today is certainly not what it was in the 1970s and 80s. What about a bottle of wine to impress my guests?

WG: On the &ldquo;Don&rsquo;s Secret Stash&rdquo; list there are some incredible limited quantity selections. If it&rsquo;s available and it&rsquo;s in your budget you&rsquo;ve got to go with the 2017 Harlan Estate from Oakville, California. These wines are super rare and popular with both critics and wine collections. This wine is a blend but promdomientanlty Cabernet Sauvignon, you can expect rich blackberry and current flavors, mineral characteristics of graphite and crushed stoned. This wine is full-bodied with integrated tannins.

RT: Harland Estate is a cult favorite, they produce great wines. So Whitney, I see there have a few natural wines specified on the menu, is there anything you&rsquo;d recommend?

WG: Yes for those that are not familiar with natural wines, basically what that means is these wines are produced with minimal intervention. Typically you&rsquo;ll see wild or natural yeast fermentations, meaning no commercial yeast inoculations are used, often the grapes are farmed organically or biodynamically, there are minimal or sometimes no sulfites added, and no artificial flavoring or coloring is used.

If you are looking to explore on of Don Angie&rsquo;s natural wines I would recommend the Vinous Obscura Fiano Blend from my hometown of Willamette Valley, OR. 40% Fiano, 40% Semillon, and 20% Muscat. Now, this is an orange wine where these traditionally white wine grapes are fermented on the skin for 21 days giving it a beautiful orange color. With this wine, you can expect honey, chamomile and beeswax flavors.

RT: Whitney Thank you so much for all your great suggestions and helping us navigate Don Angie&#39;s Wine List. I can&rsquo;t wait to go try them myself.

WG: Thanks for having me Robert, this was an exciting list to review and I hope the listeners get the chance to enjoy some of these wines!

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 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;

&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

Grgich Hills Estate is a family-owned winery located in the Napa Valley of California. Founded in 1977 by Croatian-born winemaker Mike Grgich, the winery is known for producing premium wines using sustainable and organic farming practices.

Mandolin Aegean Bistro

The Surf Club

Itamae

Itamae Miami

Veranda

Boia De

Huertas

Kesté Pizza & Vino

Keste Pizzeria

Taverna di Bacco

Tavern on the Green

Leyland Brooklyn

Junoon

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

404

This page could not be found.