Grüner Veltliner
Country of Origin: Austria
Brief Description:
This mineral variety of white wine grapes grows at the steep vineyards of the Danube west of Vienna; to produce a spicy fragrance of freshly ground white pepper. This food-friendly wine is especially well suited to modern cooking with fresh ingredients like seafood and selfish dishes. Grüner Veltliner also goes well with Thai stir-fries, baked Lobster and coriander chicken or even asparagus.
Culinary Tourism:
Lower Austria’s Wine Route runs through all eight wine-growing areas of the province: Carnuntum, Weinviertel, Wachau, Thermenregion, Donauland, Kamptal, Traisental, and Kremstal.
Fun Facts: Grüner Veltliner is the most widely planted grape variety in Austria, accounting for 37 percent of the country's total vineyard area, about 50,875 acres.
Where to purchase it in the US:
Grüner Veltliner is available at many liquor stores.
Frankovka modrá
Country of origin: Slovakia
Brief Description:
This deep ruby red wine with hints of purple from the Slovakian wine growing districts stretch out throughout the South, e.g. Carpathian Mountains. Due to its scents of ripe fruit, fig, cherry, strawberry, and raspberry, the wine goes perfectly with spiced dishes, leaner meats, tomato based sauces and strongly flavored cheeses such as Slovakian kurací paprikáš, Catalan escalivada, and feta, pepper jack, and limburger.
Culinary Tourism:
The "Little Carpathian Wine Road", an area with hundreds of years of wine growing and wine producing traditions, embraces small cellars and facilities for wine tasting, tasteful local cuisine and traditional wine growers events: every other year in September, the festival of picking the grapes "Vinobranie" takes place in Pezinok; every year in April, there is the wine fair and in November there is the "St. Martin blessing of the young wine". The surroundings of Pezinok offer visitors a network of marked hiking trails suitable for leisurely hiking
Fun Facts: This ancient variety, also known as lemberger and blaufrankisch, probably originated in Germany or Austria during the 8th century.
Where to purchase it in the US:
Frankovka modrá is not available at all stores. If your local liquor store does not have it can be ordered online at
www.theriverwines.com
Tokaji Furmint
Country of origin: Hungary
Brief Description:
Crisp, medium-bodied, single vineyard white wine with vibrant aromas of quince and citrus. The finish of this elegant beverage is dry, very clean, and warming. Due to its zing of lime, the rich and uplifting taste of this wine enables it to be perfectly paired with meatier fish dishes like this miso glazed roasted black bass.
Culinary Tourism:
The Tokaji Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape being a World Heritage Site became world famous graphically demonstrates the long tradition of wine production in this region. Visitor can taste the most delicious wines in this easily accessible region from Budapest; which also makes up for the perfect base for exploring the surrounding winegrowing villages with plenty of hotels and guesthouses to choose from.
Fun Facts:
Two powerful men
Louis XIV, the Sun King, was such an admirer of Tokaji that he termed it the "Wine of kings, the King of Wines".
Emperor Franz Josef had a tradition of sending Queen Victoria a gift of Tokaji every year on her birthday, twelve bottles for each year of her age. By her 81st birthday (1900), this totaled an impressive 972 bottles.
Where to purchase it in the US:
Tokaji is available at many liquor stores throughout the country.
Palinka
Country of origin: Hungary
Brief Description:
This fruity brandy, usually made from plums, apples, pears, apricots, is a special family of drinks which embraces clarity and a countless number of fruit. It is a distillate made exclusively of fruit grown in Hungary, without any sugar or additives, with a minimum of 37.4% alcohol.
Culinary Tourism:
The annual International Festival of Palinka is only one event not to be missed next year, April 18 – 20 offering some spectacular entertainment. Besides that, local Palinka factories can be visited throughout the country.
Fun Facts:
According to the "dry test," after drinking one glass of Palinka, wait five to ten minutes and then inhale from a second glass. You should be able to detect only a fruity aroma if you are drinking true Palinka.
Where to purchase it in the US:
Palinka is available at some liquor in stores in New York, such as
CROWN Wines & Liquors Inc.
1587 2nd Avenue (82nd St.)
New York, NY 10028
Tel.: (212) 472-8610
Pilsner Urquell
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Brief Description:
The flavor begins with the intense taste of Saaz hops, which blends with the malty sweetness of the barley to produce a harmonious bitterness and creamy body.
Pilsner Urquell should never be paired with a lightly-flavored dish. The full-flavored nature of the beer simply cannot be balanced by anything less than a dish of equally complex flavor notes. Try regional food pairings from the Czech Republic, Southern Germany and Northeastern Austria.
Culinary Tourism:
A sightseeing tour to the historic Pilsner Urquell Brewery and the celebrated Koneprusy Caves, the longest cave system in the Czech Republic, will reveal the history of "Pils" beer.
As beer is considered a part of the Czech Republic’s heritage, the First Beer Museum in the world as opened in 1987.
Fun Facts:
The art of perfection: Before pouring, glasses can be cooled by rinsing them for 5 seconds in cold water. The 35mm head with no visible bubbles and only slightly above the glass’s rim should be pure white, to protect the beer and retain its sparkle.
In a Czech beer house, the bartender will refill your glass every time you empty it – until you place your coaster on top of your glass, signaling that you have had enough.
Where to purchase it in the US:
Pilsner Urquell is already popular in the US and available at some supermarkets and many liquor stores.
Hofbräuhaus Original
Country of origin: Germany
Brief Description:
This light Lager with toasted grain, floral hops, fress grass creates a crisp, slightly bitter aftertaste.
Culinary Tourism:
Besides the famous Oktoberfest, guided tours of the traditional Munich brewery allow for glimpses behind the scenes, brewing processes, brewhouses, the fermenting room, the conditioning tanks, and the filling lines. Besides the beer variety, wines are part of the culinary agenda as well: The Palatine region is only one to be mentioned. Besides the culinary pleasure of drinking, the beautifully set vineyards serve as magnificent hiking locations.
Fun Facts:
The Beer Nation of the world imposed the German Reinheitsgebot was imposed when under German rule, and has been retained, which states the standards for the sale and composition of beer.
Where to purchase it in the US:
Hofbräuhaus beer is available at some supermarkets and many liquor stores
Zubrowka, also known as Bison Grass Vodka
Country of origin: Poland
Brief Description:
This dry herb-flavored vodka, distilled from rye
has been produced since the early Middle Ages for medicine purposes and drinking pleasure.
Zubrówka is usually served pure and chilled mixed with apple juice or over vanilla ice cream.
Popular Recipe:
The Greenpoint
Take half a handful of cubed fresh apple pieces and 5 fresh mint leaves and muddle at the bottom of a long glass.
Then add:
• Ice 2/3 of the way up
• ½ oz. Bison Grass Vodka
• 2 oz. Apple Juice
Add Bison Grass garnish
Culinary Tourism:
In order to round the drinking experience, Poland offers a lot of high class culinary pleasures that wait for you to be discovered. Trendy cuisine is mixed with traditional ingredients to create a truly memorable experience.
Fun Facts:
Because bison grass contains the toxic compound coumarin, which is prohibited as a food additive by the Food and Drug Administration, importing Żubrówka into the United States was banned in 1978 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. When produced according to traditional methods (between one and two kilograms of grass per thousand liters of alcohol), Żubrówka contains approximately 12 milligrams of coumarin per liter. In 1999, Polish distilleries introduced reformulated US-export versions of the product, sometimes using artificial flavors and colors, always with the emblematic blade of grass in every bottle, but "neutralized" and coumarin-free.
Where to purchase it in the US:
Zubrowka can be purchased in the US through www.adamba.com
Luksusowa
Country of origin: Poland
Brief Description:
One of the oldest Polish vodka in continuous production, being first sold in 1928; its harsh taste with a powerful kickback, made from Poland's select potato crop grown exclusively in the Baltic coast region of North Poland originated in Poland over 600 years ago.
Popular Recipe:
Warsaw Cocktail
2 1/2 oz. Luksusowa
Black Current Juice
Garnish with fresh lemon
Fun Facts:
This vodka is distilled from potatoes, which makes it unusual in the contemporary vodka market. It takes ten times more potatoes than it would take of grain to make Luksusowa
Where to purchase it in the US:
Luksusowa can be purchased in the US through www.adamba.com.