Last week, we presented wines from Italy to pair with the food on your Thanksgiving table. This week, we are travelling to Eastern Europe in order to bring some new and interesting options to your holiday feast. A visit to Eastern Europe must include wines made from grapes local to the region. Off we go.
Good Day, City Vino, fans! Your somewhat humble (sorta, kinda) blog writer, Kathy, is glad to be back writing after a several week health hiatus. Yes, it started with mild COVID, which I had managed to elude for two and a half years. Then on its heels, a severe sinus infection chaser. My sense of smell and taste were altered for a good three weeks, but it’s all coming back to me, so let’s get to it and talk wine! Woo!
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.
Austrian vineyards are all located on the east coast of Austria, surrounding the capital city of Vienna, and near the borders with the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovenia. The grape growing is away from the Alps and is centered around the flatter part of the country, so that the grapes have enough warmth to ripen.