The Most Unusual Wines I Have Tried (and loved)

                               

                                   Photo by Luiz M. Santos from pexels.com

I am neither a huge wine lover nor a wine connoisseur, but I do appreciate a glass of good wine with a good meal and I love trying wines from different countries. Here are a few of the most unusual wines I have tried:

Portuguese Port. It’s hardly unusual I know, but when I first went to Porto I discovered that there were four(!) kinds of port wine — ruby (the one most of us are familiar with), white, tawny and rosé! And also there are dry varieties (dry white port is my absolute favourite!), so on your next visit to Porto make sure to do port wine tasting with fado in wine cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia.

Hungarian Tokaji wine. When I tried it in Hungary I was told this sweet wine is made from raisins which give it its characteristic sweetness, rich fruity aroma and the colour of liquid gold. Doing some research for this article I have found out that it’s made from botrytized grapes, which basically means grapes that have been affected by “noble rot” — a type of mold that dehydrates the grapes thus concentrating their sweetness and flavour.

Canadian Ice wine. I discovered this wine by chance in my local Lidl store in Ireland (I have yet to visit Canada) and I just had to try it as it sounds like something from a fairy-tale. And as it turns out the reason it’s called ice wine is that it’s made from grapes harvested in December or January when the temperatures reach at least -8ºC. According to the information from Pillitteri Estate Winery, “once harvested the grapes are pressed immediately giving a minimal amount of juice that is very concentrated. The end result is a unique dessert wine commonly referred to as “The Nectar of the Gods”.

Móinéir Irish Wines from Wicklow Way Wines. How would you feel if I told you about Strawberry, Blackberry and Raspberry wines? We’ve all read or heard about Blackberry Wine (Joanne Harris) and Dandelion Wine (Ray Bradbury), and it turns out they not fictional, but very real delicious wines! No, we can’t grow grapes in Ireland, but we’ve learnt to make wine from berries! Contrary to my expectations Wicklow Way wines were not sweet: strawberry wine was the most wine-like of the three and had the most delicious strawberry flavour (it was my favourite)! Blackberry wine was the sharpest and probably my least favourite, and rasbperry wine was somewhere in the middle. I did not think these wines were a good pairing for food, but rather to be enjoyed with dessert or as a digestif.

French Rosé Pamplemousse. I discovered this wine cocktail while on holiday in Bayeux, France and I fell in love with this delicious light summer drink. What a refreshing idea to mix dry rosé wine with grapefruit juice! In France we bought it in a supermarket, but you can easily make your own at home.

Funny enough most of the wines I have written about are sweet, while I normally prefer dry wines, but they are all worth trying, just remember to drink responsibly.