<a href="https://majorfood.getbento.com/new-york-city-and-boston/">Dirty French</a>&nbsp;is a bistro-style restaurant in Lower Manhattan and Miami &nbsp;that serves classic, traditional French dishes and brings them into contemporary New York by utilizing modern techniques and adding bold twists inspired by our current love of global cuisine.

But when it comes to the wine list, French wines dominate and they are curated from every region, including the lesser-known Savoie region. So let&rsquo;s head over to the mountainous region of the Alps and explore the wines of Savoie.

Where else in the world can you ski in your shorts and sip champagne, and breathe in the pristine alpine air while goat bells ring in the distance? This is Savoie. The eastern border of France and just a short drive through Mont Blanc and you&#39;re in Switzerland and Northern Italy, but we&rsquo;re here for the wine. So let&rsquo;s pop the cork on what the experts have to say about wines from this region.

Savoie&rsquo;s 2,000 hectares of vineyards stretch across four areas: Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Isere, and Ain. This mountainous region provides plenty of sloping hillsides while the large lakes help moderate the climate. The cooler temperatures and shorter summer work well for white wine grapes such as &nbsp;In fact, 70 percent of the wine produced in Savoie is white. Of all 23 grape varieties planted here, five are white and only two are red grape.

The most popular white wines from Savoie are produced from the following varietals.

Jacquere produces an early drinking, lively dry wine with flavors that range from floral and fruity (pear, white peach, grapefruit) to mineral and flinty. This varietal is the most commonly grown and used.

Altesse or Roussette &nbsp;is a white variety that ages well, achieving a noted complexity after just a few years in the bottle. Roussanne is known in Savoie as Bergeron, an aromatic wine with firm acidity.

Chasselas produces light-bodied, easy-drinking dry wines that are best drunk young. Gringet is a native varietal in this region, but despite its heritage here, it has only 54 acres of varietals, perhaps because it produces low-alcohol, easy drinking white wines, however, this grape has also produced some elegant and refreshing sparkling wines.

&nbsp;

Moving on to red wine from Savoie; the main red grape varieties are mondeuse and persan. Mondeuse is a native grape first cultivated by the Gauls, a Roman writer noted the grape as being &ldquo;the grape variety that ripens amidst the snow&rdquo; This grape brings a deep purple color to the wine with a well-structured acidity and well-integrated tannins that allow the wine to age well.

Persan is also a native variety but it is difficult to grow and prone to downy mildew. It produces dense tannins and acidity, and while wine from this grape can be harsh when young, it ages well and can kept for over ten years. &nbsp;

Of course, although these are the grapes that provide wine with interesting notes and are designed to thrive in this environment, today&rsquo;s winemakers in this region often turn to the more well-known varietals that can also thrive here and are more resilient to changing weather patterns.

To find a few of the best bottles on the wine list at this restaurant, head on over to<a href="https://uat.corkrules.com/dirty-french/episodes/19">&nbsp;the CorkRules&rsquo; podcast on Dirty French</a>&nbsp;where certified sommelier Michaela Quinlan shares her expertise and offers a few professional suggestions on wines to choose and, most importantly, enjoy.

Cheers!

&nbsp;

About the CorkRules Podcast:&nbsp;Each week we pour a glass and share top restaurant wine list picks, providing you with the knowledge to confidently navigate the wine list thanks to sommelier recommendations, suggested food pairings and expert insights

About CorkRules:&nbsp;CorkRules, the first digital wine app experience aimed at making it easier for you to navigate the restaurant wine list, provides you with personalized wine recommendations from your favorite restaurants. Through CorkRules you can find the perfect wine for every occasion based on your preferences, connect with friends and wine experts to discover new wines to try and learn about wine. CorkRules makes it easier to discover and drink what you love. &nbsp;

Dirty French is a bistro-style restaurant in Lower Manhattan and Miami  that serves classic, traditional French dishes and brings them into contemporary New York by utilizing modern techniques and adding bold twists inspired by our current love of global cuisine.

Dirty French Wines from Savoie

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

With the exception of sommeliers and vintners, for most of us who love wine, no matter how many bottles you drink in your lifetime, and no matter how delicious, you rarely think of the terroir, the grape, or the growing process as you drink it.

Chris Phelps on Wine and Life

Aldo Sohm Wine Bar

Alexis Rogers

Aldo Sohm

Aldo Sohm Wine bar

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 Alexis Rogers, wine educator and restaurant sommelier

Hi Alexis, thanks for joining us on another episode!

AR: Always a pleasure Robert, even more so today as we are talking about one of my personal heroes!

RT: Well, then I&rsquo;m definitely glad we&rsquo;re doing this list today!&nbsp; CorkRules was created to demystify the wine lists at some of your favorite restaurants - an experience that intimidates most of us.

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.

Today we are discussing Aldo Sohm Wine Bar, which takes its name from its famous wine director. Said to be modeled after his own living room, this sleek Midtown joint is everything a good wine bar should be.

Alexis, the wine list does feature very cool, wine-nerdy wines and the menu has a great assortment of elevated snack plates designed to share and pair. I recently had the pleasure of going Aldo Sohm&rsquo;s Wine Bar and I loved the vibe and ambiance. But have to say it was intimidating even reviewing the list so I&rsquo;m super excited for us to tackle it.

So Alexis, why don&rsquo;t you first tell our listeners a little about Aldo.

AR: Aldo Sohm is an award-winning master sommelier and writer. He is the Wine Director at Le Bernadin - a multiple Michelin starred restaurant with more James Beard Awards than any other restaurant in New York. He has also done a lot of very cool collaborations including a French knife company to make his very own corkscrew and with famed Austrian producer, Kracher to make some killer wine. I&rsquo;m a total fangirl and just think he&rsquo;s so COOL!

RT : Haha. The measure of a good man is his wine list so let&rsquo;s take a look at that. What immediately stood out to you about this list?

AR: Being Austrian born, his pride in the wines of his native country is obvious here. He has sizable sections of both reds and whites dedicated to Austria. The whites are easy to spot on the menu because &frac12; of them are marked by grape bunches - indicating here that they are natural wines. Austria has some of the highest wine production standards in the world and they take their beautiful land very seriously. Most producers are organic, sustainable and/or biodynamic. This country&rsquo;s wines are marked by precision and their widespread use of their native grapes. The bottle that immediately grabbed my attention was 2018 Zweigelt by Kracher but I found it in an unexpected place - sweet wines. Zweigelt is a cross between 2 other Austrian red grapes - St Laurent and Blaufrankish and is bursting with bright red cherry and raspberry juices, and notes of black plum, licorice, pepper and chocolate. Now imagine these flavors concentrated into a luscious, sweet wine. This Beerenauslese level wine is very rare and would be a shame to miss. Definitely try this with the Duck Foie Gras for an absolute roller coaster ride and tactile flavor sensations. This might be rare but it&rsquo;s extraordinarily inexpensive so go for that 2nd glass for sure!

RT: That combination sounds incredible! Sometimes, you just need a glass or two of something and not a whole bottle and this sounds like a perfect example of that! Tell us more about the glass pour offerings here.

AR: I&rsquo;m absolutely in love with this By The Glass program. Personally, I would skip the bottles here and order glass by glass and small plate by small plate. Starting with the Croque Monsueir and a glass of the Franzin Quarzit Schiefer Trocken riesling from Mosel Germany. Next up are those Truffle Parmesan fries. I love bubbles with salty fried snacks so the Serrant L&rsquo;Overture Premier Cru Brut Champagne would fit the bill perfectly. The truffle and the toasty cheesy autolytic notes of the champagne will line up perfectly and the tight little bubbles will cleanse your palate of all that french-fry grease. If you&rsquo;re looking for something meatier and more substantial, Braised Short Rib with a glass of the La Banierre Crozes Hermitage Syrah will do the trick. Expressive Syrah always has a sort of smoked-meat essence to it. Meaty peppery savory goodness, meet meaty savory peppery goodness.

RT: My mouth is watering, all of that sounds incredible! I really need to make it over to Aldo Sohm for a few glasses!. Alexis, thank you so much for picking out some of these must-try pairings for us! 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.

&nbsp;

END

Meson

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Global dishes, small plates & cocktails in a lively space with DJs & views of sunsets over the bay.

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The Left Bank Restaurant

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