This blog post marks the 100th weekly blog post that I’ve written for City Vino, and in celebration of that milestone, store owner Rita Allan suggested that I write about my “A-ha! wines”—the wines that got me interested in wine, that have impacted me, that have changed how I think about wine, and have left an indelible mark on me.
The most-planted red grape and overall, second-most-planted grape in Austria, is Zweigelt. Its origins date back to 1922, when Dr. Friedrich Zweigelt, of the Center for Viticulture and Horticulture at Klosterneuberg, cross pollinated St. Laurent with Blaufränkisch.
About 99 percent of the wine produced in the world is meant to be consumed young and is not intended to be aged. The compounds in wine that allow it to be aged are tannins, acidity, and alcohol, which act as natural preservatives. Tannins are substances found in grape skins and seeds, as well as in young oak barrels. Acid is a natural substance in grapes and is what gives wine its brightness. Alcohol is an antiseptic.
Labor Day is rapidly approaching, and we are here to tell you that you can indeed drink white wine after Labor Day. White wine can be a very approachable, quaffable, and refreshing drink to have during the warmer summer months. However, white wine comes in many styles and weights, and there is one perfect for most every pairing option, even when the weather starts turning cooler as summer fades to fall and into winter.
The majority of white wines sold throughout the world are fermented and aged in stainless steel or other inert vessels, to preserve the fruit and other aromas and flavors. The grapes are harvested, fermented at a cool temperature, to retain their freshness, and then clarified and bottled, all in less than a year.
