CorkRules - Episodes | Aldo Sohm Wine Bar Aldo Sohm

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About this Episode

Robert Tas and Alexis Rogers, wine educator and restaurant sommelier, join forces to discuss and demystify the wine list at the Aldo Sohm Wine Bar. This wine bar offers a changing list with over 40 by-the-glass and 200 by-the-bottle options. Additionally, this wine bar restaurant is truly wine focussed and has created a menu that was designed to complement the wines on the list.

Wines reviewed include:

Franzin Quarzit Schiefer Trocken riesling from Mosel Germany
Serrant L’Overture Premier Cru Brut Champagne
La Banierre Crozes Hermitage Syrah

Transcript: 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’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’m definitely glad we’re doing this list today! 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’s Wine Bar and I loved the vibe and ambiance. But have to say it was intimidating even reviewing the list so I’m super excited for us to tackle it.

So Alexis, why don’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’m a total fangirl and just think he’s so COOL!

RT : Haha. The measure of a good man is his wine list so let’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 ½ 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’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’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’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’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’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.

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