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?

When talking about sparkling wine, most tend to think about Champagne. Champagne is a wine region in northern France, exclusively making sparkling wine. The method used here is even called the champagne method, meaning the wines ferment a second time in the bottle with added yeast and sugar, creating bubbles captured in the bottle. When the fermentation is done, the bottle will be opened to remove the yeast sediment, creating a beautiful and clear wine. At the same time, dosage will be added. Dosage is a mix of the same wine as well as sugar. The more sugar used in the mix, the sweeter the final wine will be. This method evolved due to the cool climate in this region, creating wines with a very sharp acidity. By adding a bit of sugar, the acidity will be perceived as softer, making the final wine more balanced.

The most common labelling term for dosage is Brut. This is a dry Champagne that is allowed a few grams of sugar to achieve this balance. Dry wines could also be labelled as Brut Nature or Zero Dosage, indicating that no sugar at all has been added providing an even crisper style of bubbly. Extra Brut is the term in between, with just a tad of added sugar, even lower than Brut. This scale is used for most sparkling wines around the world when made with the same method as Champagne, for instance in wine regions for Cava in Spain and Franciacorta in Italy.&nbsp;

However, other scales of measuring the sugar level and the sweetness in the wine can be used. For the sparkling wine Prosecco, made in northeast Italy, the labelling terms are a bit more confusing. Brut is still used for a dry wine, but the term Extra Dry means the wine will have a bit of added sweetness and Dry tells you that the wine is actually semi dry, containing up to 32 grams of sugar per liter. That is four times more than a common Brut usually have today. Misunderstandings can therefore be quite common!

A wine with more sweetness will appear more flavorful and with riper fruit aromas, while a dry wine will be crispier with citrus aromas. Which style is the best is up to personal taste, so get to tasting!

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

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

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

Sons & Daughters

Grant Wood

Sons and Daughters

Sons &amp; Daughters

RT: Hello and welcome to CorkRules!&nbsp;

A podcast where we review a wine list from your favorite restaurants. I&rsquo;m your host Robert Tas along with Grant Wood, wine educator and certified sommelier

Hello Grant, great to have you back for another great wine list.

GW: Hello Robert!

RT: Before we jump in, let&rsquo;s talk about CorkRules.

We created CorkRules to demystify wine lists because we know from experience, that sometimes wine lists can be intimidating, and even a little daunting.

Our aim is to help prepare you to navigate that list, find those hidden gems, value wines or that special bottle that will take your dining experience over the top.

RT:&nbsp;So, sit back and listen as we review your favorite wine list.

RT: Sons &amp; Daughters is a modern, progressive California restaurant located right in downtown SF with a thoughtful and elevated interpretation of Northern Californian cuisine while carrying a Michelin star.

Let&rsquo;s start with their wines by the glass and then look at their bottle list, shall we?

So btg, the multi-vintage I Clivi RBL Brut Nature which is a sparkling Ribolla Gialla from Colli Orientali del Friuli would be a really fun start for me.

For a nice white, I&rsquo;d go for the 2018 Filippo Grasso &lsquo;Mari di Ripiddu is a great Etna Bianco which is clean, fresh and full of citrus and herbal tea for me.

Lastly, a great red to try btg is the 2018 Martha Stoumen Carignan from Mendocino. 

Let&rsquo;s crack into some bottles now! I always love the Brut rose from RH Coutier in Ambonnay from Champagne, but you also can&rsquo;t go wrong with something like the 2012 Agrapart &amp; Fils &lsquo;Mineral&rsquo; extra brut from A Avize which was a great vintage for Champagne as well.

&nbsp;

One other fun and budget-friendly sparkler is the 19&rsquo; Pet Nat of St. Laurent from Cruse Wine Co. 

On to whites, domestically I think the 16&rsquo; Hiyu &lsquo;Moonhill Farm&rsquo; from the Columbia Gorge is a great wine from a producer dedicated farming within the rhythm of nature.

Moving to white Burgundy, I&rsquo;d go for the 2013 Pierre Morey &lsquo;Les Charmes&rsquo; premier cru from Meursault if you want something a bit more classic and rounder.

For something a bit different, I&rsquo;d go for the 2017 Von Winning &lsquo;Forster Ungeheuer&rsquo; Riesling GG from Pfalz which will be very food versatile full of character.

Moving on to lighter reds, I&rsquo;d go for the 2018 Arnot-Roberts &lsquo;Peter Martin Ray Vineyard from the Santa Cruz Mountains which I just think is killer or I&rsquo;d go for the 2018 Jean-Claude Lapalu &lsquo;Alma Mater&rsquo; from Brouilly which again is another great wine for pairing and a good value on this list.

Robert, I know you love your bigger reds so I&rsquo;d encourage you to try the 98&rsquo; Ch. Pavie Decesses Grand Cru Classe from BDX&rsquo;s right bank otherwise I&rsquo;d steer you towards 97&rsquo; Spottswoode CS from Napa Valley. 

I&rsquo;m sure you&rsquo;d love the 04&rsquo; Paolo Scavino &lsquo;Carobric&rsquo; from Barolo. Something different at a friendlier price point would be Ian Brand&rsquo;s Grenache from Chalone coming in at under a hundred bucks.

To finish things on a sweet note, go for the Pommeau De Normandie Le Pere Jules 5yr which is the marriage of freshly pressed cider and Calvados which I think is just so cool.

Overall, I really like this wine list for its approachability, diversity, and is not showy at all. It&rsquo;s nice to see an understated list that over-delivers on overall quality.

Cheers!

&nbsp;

Grant, thank you so much for all your great suggestions and helping us navigate Sons&rsquo; and Daughters&rsquo; wine list. I can&rsquo;t wait to go try your great suggestions.&nbsp; &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: <a href="mailto:Info@CorkRules.com">Info@CorkRules.com</a> 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.&nbsp;

And finally, drink what you love and please make sure you drink responsibly.

&nbsp;

Thank you.

&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

Murphy-Goode is a family-owned winery located in the heart of California's wine country. They are committed to producing high-quality, handcrafted wines that showcase the diverse terroir of Sonoma County. With a focus on sustainability and innovation, Murphy-Goode is dedicated to preserving the land and producing wines that reflect the unique character of the region.

Elevated Latin-American comfort food & daily happy hour specials in an elegant, heritage building.

28-50 Wine Workshop & Kitchen

28-50

Bleu Provence

KOCHINYC

Kochi

Wally's

Hav & Mar

Bern's Steakhouse

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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