Zweigelt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zweigelt is a red wine grape variety developed in 1922, at the Federal Institute for Viticulture and Pomology at Klosterneuburg, Austria, by Fritz Zweigelt (who was later to become the director of this institute). It was a crossing (or intra-specific hybrid) of Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent. It is now the most widely-grown red grape variety in Austria, as well as having some presence in Canada's vineyards.

Zweigelt is said to combine some of the best qualities of its parents: winter hardiness (resistance to frost), late bud-break, and early ripening. It does have a tendency to over-crop, leading to low quality if not corrected.

[edit] Synonyms

Zweigelt is also known as Rotburger (not to be confused with Rotberger), Klosterneuburg 71, Zweigeltrebe, and Blauer Zweigelt.

[edit] Zweigelt wine

Because of the popularity of this grape in Austria, Zweigelt wine is very widespread there. It is also making inroads in the Canadian wine regions of Ontario and British Columbia and there are limited plantings in Hungary.

At its best, it combines the bite and fruity character of the Blaufränkisch grape and the body of St. Laurent. When the crop load is high, however, the wine can be too dilute. Because of its fruity characteristics, it has been compared to the wines produced from the Gamay grape, like the red wines of Beaujolais.

If the body of the wine is full, it can be age-worthy and serious, although most Zweigelt is drunk young.

Jancis Robinson, British wine writer and editor of The Oxford Companion to Wine, writes: "The export fortunes of the variety may, oddly enough, be hampered by its originator's uncompromisingly Germanic surname. If only he had been called Dr Pinot Noir."