Zweigelt: Don’t Know it? You’re Not Alone.

I never tried Zweigelt until this summer.

I’ve gone to the National Wine School, have wine certifications from Le Cordon Bleu Paris and Cornell University, and I’ve never had a sip of Zweigelt.

What is Zweigelt, you ask?
Oh, you’ve never had it either? 
Ok, I don’t feel so bad.

Zweigelt is the most common Austrian red wine grape. It’s also called Rotburger. Zweigelt was created in 1922 by Fritz Zweigelt, who crossed a Blaufränkisch grape with a St. Laurent. (All of this, according to the incredible "Wine Grapes: A Complete Guide to 1,368 Vine Varieties, Including Their Origins and Flavours." ) Zweigelt, incidentally, is grape 1,368. Zweigelt wine is reddish-violet in color, has cherry and berry fruit flavors, is often compared to Pinot Noir, and has a similarly great potential for aging.

This 2021 Johannes Zillinger Zweigelt JZ Velue 2.0 is from Burgenland, Austria. It’s an unfiltered natural wine that’s both biodynamic and organic. Purple-violet in color…bright with beautiful, dark, tart cherry flavors…a little more jammy than a Pinot Noir, but not much heavier.
Wine Enthusiast gives it 90/100 points and describes it as juicy, which I think is spot on. It’s $25.99 on wine.com

Now we all know a little bit more about Zweigelt.