Now introducing…
Hello all! For those of you who don’t know Adrienne’s better half, my name is Zach…. Let’s be honest she’s the better half, but I like to test the waters sometimes.
I have been asked to share a passion of mine within Adrienne’s website as an additional way to share, in my opinion, a key piece of history and culture in the places we love to travel to – all things wine. So, without further ado, please let me introduce this segment that will pop up from time to time to intertwine viticulture, wine regions, wine suggestions, and more to support what Adrienne will share with you.
Pour Decisions
Now some of you may ask, why is Zach talking about wine? Drinking wine has been something I have enjoyed for a long time, and from the travels that Adrienne and I have had over the years, my passion for all things wine has kindled into something of a hobby. I am currently preparing to start my certification journey of wine knowledge by taking the introductory course offered by Court of Master Sommeliers (more about this later). I will be sharing some of the key learnings from this study, but also insights I have learned from having boots on the ground in vineyards across Europe, and beyond.
To start off this segment, I would simply like to share a small, but VERY key piece of history within the world of wine.
For our North American followers, you may or may not be aware that old world vineyards were attacked by an ominous killer that almost stopped wine production in the affected areas in the late 19th century. While you may jump to conclusions and say that this may have been a result of war, you’d be incorrect. In the late 19th century, a small bug known as phylloxera (small beetle like pest), attacked and started to kill off many of the vines in Europe. This was certainly a huge crisis and through experimentation by scientists and viticultural experts, it was found that the vines of the Americas were impervious to this little killer. So, while some “native” vines were crossed with American vines, the larger solution was a process known as grafting. In this process, a piece of an American continent vine is joined with a young vine of the indigenous or desired plant to prevent the phylloxera from attacking or killing off the vines.
As a lover of old-world wines from France, Italy, and Spain, I am so glad that a solution was found to protect the vines and continue production of some of the best varietals in the best wine growing regions in the world. If you visit a vineyard in Europe today, you are likely to hear from the vineyard tour guide about this history and process that is still used to this day.
