It was one of those nights where there was so much to do that having to think about dinner just seemed too hard. That’s right! It was frozen pizza night! I’m really digging the fact that you can get cauliflower pizza crust in the frozen section of so many stores now. Making my own at home was one of my least favorite things to cook.
This was a totally new wine for me this week. I had never even heard of Zweigelt before, so I was eager to learn more. Named for it’s creator, Professor Fritz Zweigelt, this grape was a cross between Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent. It has since become the most widely grown grape in Austria. It’s a fairly hearty growing grape unless there are potassium deficiencies in the soil. It produces red wines with a slight purple hue to them that are known to have soft tannins. Aging is common in both barrels and stainless-steel tanks.
This particular bottle was from where else, but Weinland, Austria. Perfect right? It is part of the larger Bergland region and wine has practically always been grown here. There was a dip during the 14th-16th century followed by a near stop in the 19th century. However, the region is working its way back today to its former glory.
This wine was from Weinland, Austria and sampled on December 1, 2019. I was listening to “Mrs.” by Leon Bridges. The color was a deep ruby with just a tinge of purple. It was very dark. From the glass I smelled dark cherry and cola. There was some zing to it on the first taste. I noted a light body with low tannins, but a higher acidity. It tasted very sweet, especially for a red. It was also very funky, like mushrooms. It did not taste very good with the roasted vegetable pizza.
I gave this wine a rating of 1. I’m not sure if my bottle was corked or not, but I could only get three sips of this in. Sour mushrooms are not for me.
Sources:
https://www.austrianwine.com/our-wine/grape-varieties/red-wine/zweigelt