Slainte, from Irish Family Vineyards

Type: Off-dry, uh… green?

Made From: Unknown blend of white wines

Plays Well With: Spicy, lively foods – almost anything but corned beef

Slainte (pronounced slan-chah) is Gaelic for cheers! If you really want to go Irish, you say Slainte Gael – cheers to Ireland.

We picked the Slainte wine up during our visit to Irish Family Vineyards, and for obvious reasons, held it until St. Patrick’s Day, this past Wednesday.

As you can see, the color is not typical – yes, it’s dyed, but that’s part of the fun. Which is the best way to describe this wine, anyway, because it does have a very light, almost soda-pop taste. Normally, it’s not a good thing in wine, but in this case, it’s very tasty.

The alcohol was only 13.5 percent, with a very light nose –  not perfumey or overpowering in any way. The mouthfeel was very rich and there was a hint of residual sugar and some of the Muscat flavors. So we’re guessing that Muscat was somewhere in the blend. Alas, the actual blend is not listed on the label nor the website.

Deciding what to serve with a green wine was a challenge. But given our mixed heritage of Irish-Dutch-English and Texan, the best answer for us was a spicy turkey skillet casserole. But spicy food of any culture would be complimented by the Slainte.

 

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