Weekends are time for me to relax and have a nice wine and some cheese and nuts on the patio…..something that can be done without the worry of the virus finding a home in my body.

Are you a wine drinker?

I am….I prefer French and Spanish wines…although I have found few Argentine wines lovely and even one from New Zealand….but sadly I do not appreciate German or Austrian wines….they just do not pair well for me.

Ever tried a Austrian wine called Zweigelt?

Did you like it?

Did you know that it is wine perfected by a rabid Nazi?

Yep a Nazi viticulturalist came up with this wine…..

Whether or not we want to admit it, we are consuming a lot of alcohol while in quarantine. Nielsen, the market research firm, estimated that online sales jumped 243% during the prime stock-up weeks of the pandemic, with wine sales alone increasing by 66%. After a year of declining alcohol consumption, responses to Covid-19 have effectively undone last year’s teetotalist trends and made alcohol easier to get. Wine shops and restaurants have begun liquidating their inventories, increasing the number of weird, natural, and rare options for wine drinkers to explore at home. Many of these come from unusual places like the Czech Republic, Mexico, or Croatia, containing unusual grapes like malvasia, rebula, or blaufränkisch. And if you’ve been enjoying an Austrian wine called “zweigelt,” you’ve got a lot to learn about a wine with a history you may not want to hear.

Zweigelt is a red grape used in wine that typically bears its name; it tastes like Pinot Noir, but with a bit more boldness and only a fraction of the Sideways-attributed success. The export value of Austrian wine has increased tremendously in the last few years, with a nearly 20% volume increase in the United States in 2018 alone. Accessible to every level of red wine drinker, a bottle of zweigelt typically costs between $14 and $30 and pairs well with a vast range of foods. It is Austria’s second most important wine after Grüner Veltliner. Of the 35 organic wineries officially certified by Sustainable Austria, 32 of them grow zweigelt. The sharp, blue-colored grapes grow easily and in spades, making it readily available for bottling.

https://gen.medium.com/the-nazi-origins-of-your-favorite-natural-wine-ce81828f790d

There you have FYI….. a history lesson and a food post all in one…..enjoy.

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