Green Wines

I have scheduled this post for 7 a.m. (PST) on St. Patrick’s day since that is when my DBS surgery is supposed to start. This fun ‘holiday’ was an important one in my family. You can read why below (and it is not because we are Irish). I originally penned this post for a wine blog I wrote for a local wine bar and tasting room that has since closed. I wrote in this March of 2020:

My great grandfather came to the US from Germany and settled outside Milwaukee, the city known as Brew City. In 1915, he and his brothers opened Star Brewing Company in Lomira. While it wasn’t “the beer that made Milwaukee famous,” (that would be Schlitz) Star brewed for almost 40 years. I have lots of beer memories of Milwaukee. Visiting the site of the old brewery - it was torn down in 1984. Drinking Blatz beer and playing cribbage all day with my grandfather (I was twelve years old!). Sitting on his musty couch listening to Brewers baseball games on the radio and drinking Blatz beer (I was still a minor). Opening the back door to let in the delivery man bringing more Blatz beer.

These are fond memories and begin to explain my family obsession with drinking green beer on St. Patrick’s Day. Family legend had it that leprechauns brewed green beer, and my parents would invite their friends over to try this mystical brew. Alas, there are no leprechauns, and the green beer was Coors with a few drops of green food coloring. Blatz was not available in California where we lived.

This St. Patrick’s Day I am thinking of wine. Turns out there are a handful of small wineries in Ireland. Apparently there are no Leprechauns there, as well, because there are no green wines produced there. I can’t confirm that green food coloring sales escalate in March every year, but it seems likely.

So, where did all the winemaking Leprechauns go? Apparently, they are alive and well in Portugal where Vinho Verde is made. Translated to “green wine,” this wine is a blend of many Portuguese varietals. WineFolly.com calls Vinho Verde a “boozy dry limeade,” and asserts, “Not only is this stuff crazy refreshing, Vinho Verde wines also typically have low alcohol (around 9% ABV) making them an ideal quenching beverage.”

A few leprechauns also appear to have settled in Austria where Gruner Vetliner is made.   That’s right, “gruner” means “green!” The green Vetliner grape makes a dry white wine with flavors of lime and green pepper. While this is a white wine, it traditionally comes in green bottles. And there’s always green food coloring!