St. Patricks Day & "Green Wine"

For many of my friends, St. Patricks Day makes their list of Top Favorite Holidays. Its a day with many benefits:

1. You know exactly what you are going to wear given the small number of green things in your closet
2. You have an excuse to pinch people you don't like (Oh, I'm sorry I didn't see that green sweater you're wearing...)
3. All holidays are standard exception days from your New Years Resolution Diet
4. All cute guys & gals are immediately Irish - and asking for kisses!
5. Green food is fun

While green colored beer is a common standby for St. Patty's day festivals, a lesser known "green wine" rarely makes the scene - until now.


Workers using traditional tall ladders
during harvest of Vino Verde grapes

Vino Verde or "Green Wine" is a typically white wine that is grown in the northern regions of Portugal. While many people assume that its name alludes to its color, similar to the slight greenish hues which can be found in New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, it actually signals the fact that this wine is meant to be drunk young or within 1 year of production. In fact, Vino Verde actually comes in all 3 wine styles: White, Rose, & Red.

I know, it blew my mind too.

In the United States however, the term Vino Verde will always be used to single the white version of this group & is a great pick for those of you that lean towards Sauvignon Blanc, Torrontes, or Pinot Grigio. It is made primarily with two grapes: Alvarinho (Al-Vah-REE-Nyoh) (same grape as Albaino in Spain) which provides the body & alcohol, and Loureiro (Yeah-I-Don't-Know-Either), which supplies the aromatic notes of key lime blossom, kiwi, & pineapple which we all love.

I recently tasted an excellent example of Vino Verde at the South Beach Food & Wine Festival - Twin Vines Vino Verde. This wine, while not technically sparkling, does have a slight petulant  feel on the palate. On the nose you defiantly smell fresh pineapple & kiwi, with a tiny bit of zippy floral. This wine is high in acid, due to the soils it is grown in, and thus has notes of limestone on the palate as well. While this wine was free at the festival, a quick online search has prices between $6-10, standard for the Vino Verde category as a whole.

Be sure to serve this wine well chilled to maximize the refreshing acidity. Pairs well with shrimp & other white fish in addition to many summer style salads; however, with an average alcohol of only 9-11% you can even pair this with just a cool seat by the pool.

One more thing for you wine dorks out there....In researching this wine for the post, I stumbled across a cool aspect. Vino Verde, while once grown close to the ground like many agriculture products, now is almost exclusively grown on very tall trellises, telephone poles, high fences, and even trees! Why? Long story short, the Portuguese are practical. They use the prime area close to the ground to grow mainstream crops for food. And since the grapes used to produce Vino Verde wines like good air circulation (to reduce rot) why not stick them high up in the air?

I almost want to give them a high-five for that one :p