Friday 4 October 2013

Oktoberfest Wines


Oktoberfest is the world's largest fair held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany highlighting Bavarian culture since 1810. Similar festivals are celebrated around the world and which also share a similar attribute of consumption of vast quantities of beer. You might wonder what Oktoberfest has to do with wine making, but there is a clear connection to beer making, hence the reason for the Oktoberfest sale on German wine kits and beer kits at the Wine Kitz stores in New Minas, Digby and Bridgewater.

Aside from the obvious subject of beer, we will explore the world of German wine. Most German wines are produced in the western side of Germany, primarily along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest vineyards dating back to the Roman era. Interestingly, more than 2/3's of the wine produced in Germany is white. The better known wines include Liebfraumilch, Gewürztraminer, Piesporter and Riesling. Riesling is the benchmark grape in Germany and is grown in most of the area in German vineyards. Müller-Thurgau which was available as a limited edition wine in the stores earlier this year, is an alternative grape to the Riesling providing a more neutral flavour than Riesling. Liebfraumilch is a semi-sweet white produced in Germany primarily for export. It's name literaly means “beloved lady's milk”. Piesporter is a light bodied wine ranging from dry to off-dry is made in and around the village of Piesport on the north bank of the Mosel wine region. Finally, Gewürztraminer is a grape variety with a pink to red skin colour, however, it is a white wine grape. This wine has a sweetness with armomas of roses, passion fruit and floral tones. The name literally means “spice/perfume from Tramin”. Enjoy German wine!

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