Appetites: 3 'weird' wine recommendations
France. Italy. California. More recently, Argentina and Chile.
These places are known for their wines — and for good reason. They're tried and true. But they're not the only places to look when searching for a bottle.
Growler Magazine senior editor John Garland looked into "Wine From Weird Places," and suggests people expand their wine horizons to include places such as Bulgaria, Canada and Uruguay.
"This horizon-expanding wine is being pushed on consumers like it hasn't in the past," Garland said. "Just anecdotally, you can walk down the aisles of a wine shop or look at the glass list at a restaurant and you can expect to see the old standbys like cabernet and pinot grigio, but then you're going to find weird grapes, too, like plavac mali, hárslevelű and saperavi. And you wonder, 'Where the heck did all this come from?'"
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For the record, the answers are Croatia, Hungary and the Republic of Georgia, respectively.
Garland spoke with MPR News about what's driving this trend, whether people are looking for something better or just different, and where to start looking for wine from "weird" places.
Click on the audio player above to hear their conversation.
3 'weird' wine recommendations and approximate costs from John Garland
• Verus Riesling (Slovenia): Intense floral and lime flavors, zesty and balanced. ($17)
• Korta Katarina Rose (Croatia): Plavac mali and zinfandel, in a fresh and strong rose. ($25)
• Pheasant's Tears Saperavi (Republic of Georgia): Opaque, inky, earthy and bold ($18)