Nothing screams cheesy quite like a heart-shaped pizza and pasta dish at restaurants decked out in pink and red streamers and balloons on Valentine&rsquo;s Day. And it doesn&rsquo;t get more clich&eacute; than scarfing it down with a bottle of Champagne. Bubbles are festive, but aren&rsquo;t you tired of spending the holiday of love and romance the same way every year?

Valentine&rsquo;s Day should be an authentic celebration of the love and joy shared between two people, and there are plenty of ways to convey this without reaching for that same old yellow-label Champagne or eating from last year&rsquo;s prix-fixe menu.

&ldquo;Cultivating an experience where both people are discovering something new together is a great way to spend the holiday,&rdquo; says Samantha Hohl, a sommelier in Boston.

&ldquo;Getting out of your comfort zone and trying something new, whether it&rsquo;s food or wine, is a fun way to get close to your person. I always like to find a place where my partner and I can sit down and go on an adventure together,&rdquo; Hohl continues.

The key to success on Valentine&rsquo;s Day is opting for off-the-beaten-path restaurants with wine lists as exciting and extensive as dinner menus &mdash; otherwise, spend the evening at the restaurant with a thoughtfully curated wine list and take it from there. Look for farm-to-table establishments, where dishes are created with local delicacies and intention, or restaurants that focus on small plates for sharing with a partner. Restaurants with serious wine programs that offer wine-pairing menus can provide an enchanting date night experience by giving dinner guests a chance to experience a journey through the glass and on the plate.

&ldquo;My husband and I like to go to restaurants with wine pairings with their tasting menus, like <a href="https://bellagio.mgmresorts.com/en/restaurants/le-cirque.html">Le Cirque</a>, inside the Bellagio Hotel,&rdquo; says Las Vegas sommelier Maria Valetta. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very classy restaurant, but it&rsquo;s not stuffy. The sommeliers there are so knowledgeable and entertaining, and they always have great stories about the pairings for each course. To have that special wine with every dish &mdash; like pairing foie gras with Sauternes &mdash; is an exciting and mind-blowing experience to share with a partner.&rdquo;

And never underestimate the power of simplicity.

<a href="https://alcoveboston.com/">&ldquo;Alcove in Boston&rdquo;</a> is a really fun restaurant with an awesome wine list separated by different adjectives. The food program is straightforward and focused on New England coastal dishes, but the wine list is so fun and approachable. You can order wines under categories like &lsquo;crisp and refreshing,&rsquo; &lsquo;mineral driven,&rsquo; or &lsquo;advanced textures,&rsquo;&rdquo; says Hohl.

Of course, restaurants are always necessary to enjoy an evening of romance. Sometimes all you need is your favorite takeout and the cozy comforts of home to set the mood, and wine can undoubtedly come in handy for those intimate moments too.

&ldquo;Opening up a bottle that you love and sharing it with someone you care about can make for an extraordinary moment and celebration of love,&rdquo; says Grace Hood, a sommelier in San Diego. &ldquo;Your whole mood changes after you open a special bottle. It sets a nice mood, an elevated ambiance that can really play up the romance.&rdquo;

Hood adds, &ldquo;Not to mention, wine makes a great gift.&rdquo;

Valetta recommends looking for bottles that can amplify the loving theme of Valentine&rsquo;s Day, like the vibrant and thirst-quenching <a href="https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/product/Love-You-Bunches-2022">&ldquo;Love You Bunches&#39;&#39; </a>carbonic Sangiovese by Santa Barbara winery Stolpman Vineyards or Jean-Louis Chave&rsquo;s fruit-forward and peppery <a href="https://www.astorwines.com/item/11871">&lsquo;Mon Coeur&rsquo; </a>C&ocirc;tes du Rh&ocirc;ne, which translates to &ldquo;my heart.&rdquo; Want to go the expensive route? <a href="https://www.morrellwine.com/wines/Chateau-Calon-Segur-St-Estephe-2017-w0493344es">Ch&acirc;teau Calon S&eacute;gur</a> makes one of the most recognizable bottles of Bordeaux with a heart-shaped label. However, more affordable options help crank up the heat, too, like <a href="https://www.slodownwines.com/products/2019-love-hammer">&#39;Slow Down Wines&rsquo;</a> Lovehammer Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley.

Another fun option could be Gerard Bertrand&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.plummarket.com/store/2022-gerard-bertrand-cote-des-roses-rose-languedoc.html">Cote du Roses Ros&eacute;</a>, which comes in a beautiful bottle with a rose design. &ldquo;I would love for someone to show up at my door with five of those bottles turned upside down and wrapped with a bow like a ros&eacute; bouquet,&rdquo; says Valetta.

&ldquo;Playing around with different wines and looking for bottles with a special meaning or name that centers on love, joy, and companionship could make for a unique Valentine&rsquo;s Day wine lineup,&rdquo; Valetta continues.

Nothing screams cheesy quite like a heart-shaped pizza and pasta dish at restaurants decked out in pink and red streamers and balloons on Valentine’s Day. And it doesn’t get more cliché than scarfing it down with a bottle of Champagne. Bubbles are festive, but aren’t you tired of spending the holiday of love and romance the same way every year?

Make This Valentine’s Day One to Remember with These Exceptional Wines and Restaurants

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

Camille’s

Sam Hohl, certified sommelier and wine educator, and Robert Tas take a trip to Camille’s in Rhode Island. 

Wine List Review of Camille's, Rhode Island

Sam Hohl

Camille's

Camille&rsquo;s

RT: Hello and welcome to CorkRules!&nbsp;

A podcast where, in each episode,&nbsp;we will review a Wine List from your favorite restaurants. I&rsquo;m your host Robert Tas along with Samantha Hohl, certified sommelier and wine educator.

Hello Sam,&nbsp;it&rsquo;s great to be back together for another episode.

&nbsp;SH: Hi Robert!

&nbsp;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:&nbsp;So, sit back and listen as we review your favorite wine list.

Camilles

&nbsp;

Overview

Camilles is located in Providence, Rhode Island and has been open since 1914! They&rsquo;re known for their classic Italian dishes and elegant atmosphere, and of course their wine selection.

Where to start

This wine list features lots of Italian options to complement the menu along with plenty of California bottles, and includes some New and Old World selections too. There&rsquo;s some wonderful choices in a variety of price ranges so it really is great if you&rsquo;re looking for something tasty and affordable or something to celebrate over and you like a particular style.&nbsp;

Starting off with a white I&rsquo;d go for the 2018 Jermann &ldquo;Dreams.&rdquo; This is a chardonnay from the Friuli region of Italy, and is food-ready. This bottle has tropical notes and stone fruit, some honey and vanilla tones and is balanced by minerality and zingy acid. Try with the clams casino or the Gulf Shrimp wrapped with Prosciutto di Parma since this bottle will pair well with shellfish but it can also stand dishes with a little meatiness.

For the red lovers out there the 2015 Col D&rsquo;Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna Nastagio will be a great choice. This bottle comes from the largest organic estate in Tuscany and has farmed their vineyards, their olive groves and even their gardens organically since 2010. It&rsquo;s got a really beautiful balance of tannins and acid along with notes of dark cherries, vanilla, dried herbs and leather. It&rsquo;s going to pair well with flavorful and savory dishes like the arancini with mushrooms or the bolognese made with simmered beef.

Value

This list has lots of value options to satisfy whatever your preference is, but one that I would go for is the 2018 Zenato Lugana San Benedetto from the Veneto region of Italy. It&rsquo;s made from the Trebbiano di Lugana grape from vineyards surrounding Lake Garda. This white wine is zippy and bright with notes of tangerine and peaches and hints of banana. It&rsquo;s got a beautiful herbaceousness to it and some mineral qualities too. It will be complemented by some fresh and tropical flavors, so it would be fun to try with the sesame crusted Ahi with coconut lime risotto.

Celebratory 

There&rsquo;s plenty of celebratory bottles on here no matter what your go-to type of wine is. For me, I&rsquo;m thinking it&rsquo;s a big delicious Italian dinner- I&#39;m going to go with the 2013 Gaja Barbaresco. Gaja is a very well-known Italian producer and has been making wines for 5 generations in Piedmont. This particular vintage is highly praised, so getting the opportunity to experience this bottle is really special. It&rsquo;s got wonderful structure and complexity and lovely round tannins. All of the red cherry and strawberry notes are complemented by spice and leather. There&rsquo;s subtle dark fruit and floral tones as well. It&rsquo;s going to shine alongside one of their steaks, or the pistachio crusted lamb would also make this bottle sing!

RT: Sam Thank you so much for all your great suggestions and helping us navigate Camille&rsquo;s wine list. I can&rsquo;t wait to go try them myself. &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.

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End

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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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