Underrated Wines You Should Be Drinking

Ep 172

Some of the best wines on the shelf are the ones most people overlook.

It's easy to fall into the habit of reaching for the same familiar bottles, but there are so many incredible wines that don't get nearly the attention they deserve. In this episode, I’m sharing underrated wines that offer great flavor, plenty of personality, and often a great value simply because they aren't the names everyone already knows. 

From crisp, salty Muscadet and sparkling red Lambrusco to Chenin Blanc, dry Riesling, Austrian reds, Greek varieties, and Portuguese wines, you'll discover what each one tastes like, what to look for on the label, and where to find some of the best examples. You'll also get food pairing ideas along the way, whether you're ordering wine for a table full of different dishes, planning pizza night, grilling burgers, or looking for the perfect bottle to drink on a hot summer day.

If you're ready to branch out from your usual wine order, this episode will give you plenty of new bottles to look for the next time you're at a wine shop or scanning a restaurant wine list.

Resources:

Grape Deep Dive - Chenin Blanc https://www.corkandfizz.com/blog/guide-to-wine-podcast-episode-21

Grape Deep Dive - Riesling https://www.corkandfizz.com/blog/guide-to-wine-podcast-episode-38

My Go-To Chillable Red Wines for Summer https://www.corkandfizz.com/blog/guide-to-wine-podcast-episode-56

Greek Wine: A Hidden Gem

https://www.corkandfizz.com/blog/guide-to-wine-podcast-episode-53

Exploring Portuguese and Mexican Wines w/ Nossa Imports

https://www.corkandfizz.com/blog/guide-to-wine-podcast-episode-85

Wines & Regions Mentioned:

• Muscadet
  • Melon
  • Sur lie
  • Sevre et Maine
• Lambrusco
  • Riunite Lambrusco
  • Lini 910 Lambrusco 
• Chenin Blanc
  • Vouvray 
  • Saumur
  • Coteaux du Layon
  • Crémant de Limoux
• Dry Riesling
  • Germany “Trocken”
  • Mosel
  • Rheingau
  • Pfalz
• Frappato
• Austria Reds
  • Zweigelt
  • Blaufrankisch
    • Goes by many names in other countries:
    • Germany: Lemberger
    • Hungary: Kekfrankos
    • Slovenia: Modra Frankinja
    • Romania: Gamé
    • Croatia: Frankovka
    • Italy: Franconia Nera
• Greek Wines
  • Assyrtiko
  • Moschofilero
  • Agiorgitiko
  • Xinomavro
• Portugal 
  • Vinho Verde
  • Baga
  • Alentejo

Transcript

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0:09

Interested in learning about wine but not sure where to start? You're in the right place. Welcome to the Cork & Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. I'm your host, Haley Beaulmon, and I'm so glad you're here. I'm a wine enthusiast turned wine educator and founder of the Seattle-based wine-tasting business, Cork & Fizz. It is my goal to build your confidence in wine by making it approachable and lots of fun. You can expect to learn everything from how to describe your favorite wine, to what to pair with dinner tonight, and so much more. Whether you're a casual wine sipper or a total cork dork like myself, this podcast is for you. So grab yourself a glass and let's dive in Hello, and welcome back to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. Today's episode is inspired by anybody who has reached out to me and been like, "Hey, I always drink this wine. I don't know what else to drink. What, what should I drink? what do you recommend?" Right? I had just earlier this week, my physical therapist, I was talking to her about my wine podcast and everything I do, and she's like, "Man, I just like, I don't really know much about wine. I feel like I always just reach for a Merlot, and I'm happy with that." I'm like, "That's great, but also, let me tell you about some other wines that I think you should be drinking." So I basically just wanna share some wines that I often reach for that I find the general population might not have heard of before. Now, if you've been listening to this podcast for a while, you've probably heard some of these wines before, the Though I did look back at some of my old episodes To see which wines I've actually talked about. And some of these apparently haven't come up yet, which kind of blows my mind, 'cause a lot of these are some of my favorite wines. so for any of the wines that I do have podcast episodes about, I do mention it, and we're gonna put in the show notes, the exact episodes if you wanna learn more about each of these wines. But basically, my plan is to kind of walk you through about 10 or so different wines that I think are incredibly underrated. And if you knew about them, you'd be drinking great wine for not a lot of money. A lot of the great things about these wines as well is that they're underrated, AKA they don't cost as much money. So with that, let's dive into some wines that I think you should know about and I think you might enjoy. We're gonna start it off with one of my absolute favorite wines to order when I'm out to eat with a larger group and we're looking for a wine that's going to work really well across the board no matter what we order. Now, it totally depends on the restaurant. I probably wouldn't do this at an Italian restaurant, but you know, a lot of the places up here up in Seattle, so like Pacific Northwest style food, American food, there's gonna be this huge gambit of different dishes. You're gonna have pasta and then you're gonna have, grilled salmon, and then you're gonna have a burger, and then you're gonna have this, and be like, "What wine goes with all of these things?" And my usual go-to is Muscadet. Muscadet is a white wine. It comes from the Muscadet region, within the Loire Valley. It's made from a grape called Melon. Used to be called Melon de Bourgogne, but there was this huge argument and Burgundy got really mad, which is Bourgogne in France, about them calling it that in the Loire Valley which is a different region. they got a little, a little feisty about it, and so Loire Valley said,"Fine, we'll just call it Melon." So anyway, It's a wine made from a grape called Melon,'cause that totally makes sense. Tasting notes on this wine. It is going to be really nice and bright, but, and we're gonna talk about why this is later, it has this like creamy texture to it. so it's nice and acidic without being overly, what do I wanna say, like overly sharp. and then in terms of the tasting notes, you've got lime and lemon and green apple. But there's also this salinity note, or you might even just call it like a seashell or like you're walking by the ocean. and it's almost like that saltiness, kind of the idea that like salt on almost any food makes it taste better. I think this wine almost adds this saltiness to your palate, which then ends up making your food taste better so like I said, this wine, it's called Muscadet because it's named after the region that it is from, and that is a region in the western Loire Valley of France. Now that creaminess, most Muscadets, will say Sur Lie on them. This is S-U-R space L-I-E. And what that means is with lees. Lees are basically when you make wine, you have, yeast that eats the sugar in the grapes, and it produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. those yeast, cells, I guess you could call them uh, when they die, when there's no more sugar left to eat, they become lees, L-E-E-S. And s- with some wines, if you leave them in contact with the wine, so you don't take the wine off of the lees, you leave it there, and sometimes you even mix it around, it can create this really creamy… Not creamy buttery, don't, don't think that. Just like a creamier, more heavier mouth feel, and also some kind of yeasty flavors like baked bread and yogurt, or like cream, like think heavy cream, ice cream kind of situation. Again, this doesn't mean it becomes like buttery or anything like that. It just prevents it from being quite so sharp. I'm trying to think of like a good comparison. but think like instead of like a lemonade, it's, uh… Oh, you know what's actually a really good example? If you drink Starbucks. If you don't, this is like… Just ignore me. but to me, it's like having like a Refresher with lemonade is like the one that's like really tart and fresh versus like a Refresher mix with, coconut milk. And so it just kind of tones down the acidity a little bit. You may also find that a Muscadet is labeled Sèvre et Maine, and this is essentially the most important of four subzones in Muscadet. So if you see that, and it's at a good price, get that wine.'Cause that means it is one of the best. This wine, one of the other reasons why I like to order it at a restaurant, we all know restaurant wine is way more expensive, whether you agree with that or not. but Muscadet is very affordable. So if you're getting it at a restaurant, you're probably gonna be spending somewhere between $40 to $60 a bottle. Now, of course, that's with all the upcharge. If you're just going to your local wine shop or Total Wine, you can find entry-level Muscadet for like $15 a bottle. And if you're looking for something higher quality like that Sèvre et Maine, that's about $25. Which again, anything under $30 I feel like is a very fair price for wine. Just a quick reminder, if you are not on my mailing list yet, what are you waiting for? I would love for you to join. When you do, you'll get a free shopping guide that has 15 of my favorite wines under $15. Head to corkandfizz.com, scroll down to the bottom, and there'll be a little section where you can join the mailing list. I send out a weekly newsletter filled with wine tips, recommendations, special offers, and so much more. Now, let's get back to the show Okay. The next wine I'm going to recommend, this is like my go-to. We're having friends over, we're doing pizza, uh, we're just hanging out watching the game, or, I'm trying to think what else. Like, we've got a big charcuterie board that we're gonna snack on and we just want some wine to pair with it. I am going to grab a bottle of Lambrusco. If you have not heard of Lambrusco, Lambrusco is a sparkling red wine from Italy. Yes, I said red wine and it is bubbly. So it is super fun. The region that it comes from is called Emilia-Romagna, which isn't necessarily a famous wine region, but it is a famous food region. This is a region that is popular for foods like Parmigiano Reggiano, that literally is-- it has to come from Emilia Romagna to be called a Parmigiano Reggiano. you also have balsamic vinegar from this region that's very popular and Prosciutto di Parma. all of these foods come from this region. And so it's a region that has very fertile soils, which means it's hard to grow grapes that make really high-end wine, but they still needed wine to drink with their food. And so they started making this really fun, bubbly red wine, and they called it Lambrusco. And this Lambrusco, it's not made with a single grape usually. it's made with a family of eight different grapes, all a style, or most of them are named Lambrusco in some way. Tasting notes on this wine, you get a lot of fruit. You get strawberry and blackberry and rhubarb, but you also get these floral notes and this earthiness. So it's not-- you're not just drinking something sweet, right? I didn't just give you this sweet sparkling thing to drink. It has these earthy notes like potting soil and fallen leaves that just gives it this complexity along with sometimes this creaminess, which comes from the yeast w-within the bubbles of the wine. the thing about Lambrusco, if you mentioned it to someone who is, I don't know, older than fifty, they probably have a very low view of Lambrusco. It's had a bit of a rocky reputation, and this is mainly due to the wine boom of the nineteen seventies. Lots of Lambrusco coming into the US was sweet, budget friendly, and it reminded people of soda. One of those wines, which is the Riunite Lambrusco, it's spelled R-I-U-N-I-T-E, was first introduced to America in nineteen sixty-seven. It became the number one selling imported wine brand in nineteen seventy-six and held onto that title for twenty-six years. Now, they made their Lambrusco in a sweeter style, so a lot of people believed that Lambrusco was always sweet. But the thing is, that is not the case. And I'm gonna say this about a few wines on this list today. Lambrusco can be made in a sweeter style, but there are a lot of them that are made in a drier style right now. and so if you want that dry version, you don't want the sugar, look for a wine labeled Secco, S-E-C-C-O, or if you want a hint of sweetness, Semisecco. If you like the sweetness, look for Ama-Amabile. I think I'm saying that right, Amabile, or Dolce. and then in terms of the bubbliness, they're typically made in a Frizzante style, so it's not overly bubbly, but it has this, just this nice little fizz to make it fun And again, cost wise Lambrusco, you can get a great bottle for $20 or less. I love the Liní, was it like Liní 910 Lambrusco? That's one of the first ones I had where I was like, "Oh, wait a second. I think I, I think I do like Lambrusco." And again, a really great just fun wine. It pairs perfectly with pizza. Your next pizza night, just get yourself a bottle of Lambrusco. You will thank me. Okay, moving on. This is a grape I've definitely talked about, and maybe it's not totally underrated, but I still think it deserves more attention, and that is Chenin Blanc. Chenin Blanc is the name of the grape, so it's not made in just one single region. There are a lot of areas that are known for making some really good Chenin Blanc. but it can be made in so many different styles. Again, it can be made in that dry, so no sugar. Made off-dry, sweet, even like a dessert style wine, which I know a lot of people say bad things about sweet wine, but dessert wine is like, that is special. If you've not had a dessert wine, highly recommend checking it out. They're just delectable in the way that, like, your favorite … I don't know what your favorite dessert is. Like, that's a terrible comparison, but it's, it's just something really special. You can also use Chenin Blanc to make a really good sparkling wine. Now, of course, with all these different versions, there can be a lot of different tasting notes, and it depends on where the wine's from. But in general, I kinda compare this wine, like Chenin Blanc, to Chardonnay, but without a lot of the malolactic fermentation, so not a lot of the butteriness, or other oaky notes. so you get a lot of pear, quince, apple, so think a lot of the tree fruits. but you also get this little spicy note from, like, a, a note of ginger. You get a little bit of note of honey. Not the sweetness of honey, but like the, the aroma of honey. and then some floral notes like honeysuckle, and sometimes they can be really earthy, too, so you get this straw note coming out of the wine Now, in terms of where to find great Chenin Blanc, the Loire Valley again. So Western Loire Valley, that's where you find the Muscadet. If you head just east of there, you're gonna find some amazing Chenin Blanc. Vouvray is one of the most popular, regions for Chenin. Look for Sec, S-E-C, if you want a dry Chenin Blanc from Vouvray. Look for Moelleux, M-O-E-L-L-E-U-X, if you want a sweet version. Saumur, S-A-U-M-U-R, may be more famous for their red wines, which is made from Cabernet Franc, but they also have white wines which are generally made with Chenin Blanc. And again, because they're more famous for the red, the whites are cheaper. So a good Saumur Chenin Blanc is a great one to look out for. And if you want to try that dessert style that I was talking about, look for Coteaux du Layon. This is C-O-T-E-A-U-X D-U-L-A-Y-O-N. Another area in France to check out Chenin Blanc would be southern France. The Languedoc-Roussillon has a lot of Chenin Blanc, and a lot of Chenin Blanc blended with other grapes, and it does really well together. Also, Crémant de Limoux, which is a sparkling wine from the south of France, is usually made with a blend of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc. You can also find really great Chenin Blanc in South Africa, including Cap Classique, which is the name of their sparkling wine. You can also find great Chenin in Washington State and California, among I'm sure many others. Those are just the ones off the top of my head. The wines will usually range somewhere between 15 to $40 a bottle. You can certainly go higher in price depending on quality and how famous it is, but you don't have to spend a lot of money, to get a great bottle of Chenin Blanc. And I do have a full podcast episode about Chenin. I will link it in the show notes because I do not know the episode number off the top of my head. Okay, next up, dry Riesling. I, think I've had a guest on here recently who said, like, one of the things that makes her the saddest is that people hate on Riesling. And I totally agree. This is a incredible wine that is not always sweet. It's not always dry. but I think most people think of it as sweet first. So I'm gonna talk to you about dry Riesling, AKA Riesling that does not have any sugar. Wait. I know you think this is an ad, but it's not, so don't hit skip. I have a small favor to ask. Here's the truth. I will never charge you to listen to this show, but every episode takes time and money to create. So if this podcast has helped you pick a better bottle, learn something new, or just kept you company, would you consider becoming a paid subscriber? You can show your support for just $3, $5, $8 or $10 a month. To say thanks, every single supporter gets a shout-out on the next episode I record. And if you choose the $10 tier, you actually get to pick a future episode topic. Setting up a subscription is a great way to show your love for the show. Just click the link in the description right now. Thank you for listening, supporting, and being part of my wine-loving community. Now let's get back to the show tasting notes for this is gonna be lime, honey, white flowers, apricot, and this really unique aroma of petrol. Yes, that is a fancy word for gas gasoline. If you were the weird kid like me that kind of enjoyed the smell of gasoline when your parents were putting gas in the car when you were a kid and maybe do it now as well, I think you'll like Riesling. I think, I think you'll like that smell. It is not overwhelming. It's just something different and kind of funky, but kind of fun. it doesn't mean there's actually petrol or gas in your, bottle of wine. It's just a certain chemical compound that is found both in gasoline and in a good dry Riesling. If you want to avoid sweet Riesling, be sure to look for higher alcohol levels on, the bottle. So the bottle will always say its alcohol level. Generally, any Riesling with a 12% or higher alcohol level will be dry. In terms of where to look for these wines, Germany. If you have not had a German dry Riesling and you enjoy Sauvignon Blanc or you enjoy Albarino, or a high-acid Pinot Grigio, you need to try German dry Riesling. now if you're going to get a bottle of dry Riesling from Germany, you're gonna look for the term trocken, T-R-O-C-K-E-N. This basically tells you that it's a dry Riesling. And the three top regions, I guess, or the most popular regions that, I would recommend, M-O-S-E-L, the Rheingau, R-H-E-I-N-G-A-U, and the Pfalz, P-F-A-L-Z. If you get a trocken Riesling from one of these three areas, pair it with, like, some sharp cheddar, or macaroni and cheese. Honest, I'm thinking about cheese right now. you could also have it with some takeout, like Thai takeout, as long as it's not too spicy. I also really enjoy it with ramen. any of those. Honestly, Riesling is such a great food pairing wine that it could be anything. But those are my top recommendations. You can also get some really good dry Riesling from the Finger Lakes, Washington State, believe it or not. We are one of the top growers of Riesling thanks to Chateau Ste. Michelle. I think I have that story in a Washington wine episode somewhere if you're curious. South Australia makes some really good Rieslings from the Clare and Eden Valleys. Also Alsace in France, which is in the northeast, of France, which is on the border with Germany. So makes sense, right? Some of the German wines are great quality and as low as, like, $15 a bottle. whereas you're probably gonna expect to spend a little more, from the New World regions, but still usually under $30. And again, similar to Chenin Blanc, I do have a full episode, all about Riesling that you can find the link to in the show notes. Okay, moving on. Now, the rest of the wines I'm gonna talk about are probably a little bit harder to find, but if you see them, I highly recommend trying them. So starting off, we have Frappato. Frappato is grown almost exclusively in Sicily. So Frappato is the name of the grape. It's basically like,… The combination that I found best describes it is, like, think about, like, the charm of a Gamay, like Beaujolais, merged with, like, the grippiness, like the tannin of Sangiovese, which is like a Chianti. And so it has this really nice light floralness to it while also having the grippiness and structure, that a lot of people like in their red wines. It doesn't need to be aged, to be delicious, which means the price can stay lower, and it is great with a slight chill. In terms of tasting notes, you're gonna see dried strawberry, pomegranate, white pepper, and cloves. And again, a little harder to find, but definitely a hidden gem if you do find it. You can learn more about Frappato in, my Chillable Reds podcast episode. Now, the next wine is actually two wines, and so it's kind of a category. It's Austrian reds. People tend to think only of Gruner Veltliner when they think of Austrian wines. Uh, Gruner Veltliner is a white wine. but they have some really great reds, too. Two of my favorites, there's Zweigelt. This wine has notes of black pepper, raspberry, red cherry, and black licorice. It's like if you took Syrah's fruity and pepperiness but combined it with the body of a Pinot Noir. So it's not quite so heavy. It's very fruity, light-hearted, but spicy. It is also one of those good chillable red wines. It's also a fun darker color but lower in alcohol. Uh, you can find this grape. Obviously it is an Austrian red, so I would highly recommend finding an Austrian Zweigelt. But you can also find it in cooler climate regions like Canada, Germany, and New York's Finger Lakes. Another great Austrian red wine, Blaufrankisch. Uh, Blaufrankisch, the first time I had this wine, I'd gotten it at a wine shop. I think it was during a tasting and I enjoyed the taste of it, so I grabbed a bottle. But the first time I opened a bottle was when we had some friends over, and we were just grilling burgers, and let me tell you, it was the perfect pairing for a grilled burger. So if you have any barbecues coming up and you're putting burgers on the grill, grab yourself a bottle of Blaufrankisch, B-L-A-U-F-R-A-N-K-I-S-C-H. Kind of funky looking. You can always just point at it whenever you see it on a menu too. You don't have to make sure you can pronounce it. Nobody's making fun of you. tasting notes, we've got sour cherry and blackberry along with allspice and white pepper. So again, a combination of that fruit and spice. I think it's super fun. Ends up pairing with a lot of foods. This grape is found in a lot of other countries, but it goes by different names. It's like it's, like, in hiding or something. Like, it puts on-- I'm imagining, like, this grape is, like, putting on a trench coat, and, like, a, a top hat and sunglasses in all of these countries 'cause it just doesn't wanna be discovered. so but I'm gonna uncover it right now for you. So Blaufrankisch is what it's called in Austria. But in Germany, it's called Lemberger. There's also some Lemberger in Washington State. in Hungary, it's called Kékfrankos. In Slovenia, it's called Modra Frankinja. In Romania, it's called Game, not spelt like the Gamay of France. Game is N-G-A-M-E. In Croatia, it's called Frankovka. And in Italy, it's often called Franconia Nera. So if you see any of those two, those are Blaufrankisch just in hiding. Okay, my second to last category of wines, Greek wines. I have a whole episode about Greek wines because I love Greek wines, and they are so underrated. There are, like, 50 plus grape varieties that are grown only in Greece, and they are delicious and amazing and so well-priced because nobody really knows about them. So I'm gonna give you two whites and two reds to be on the lookout for from Greece. So one of the whites, Assyrtiko. This one's probably the most popular of the bunch. similar to Muscadet, this wine is very bright, fresh. It tastes like the sea, along with some passion fruit and lemon flavors. If you find one that has the term Nykteri, N-Y-K-T-E-R-I, on the label, then it's an oaked version. So normally it's un-oaked, it's very bright, it's very fresh. But the Nykteri is an oaked version, and it's more lemon brûlée and grilled pineapple. I have not gotten to try one of these, but just know that I am on the lookout because that sounds delicious. the next white, Moschofilero. This wine is so aromatic. That's… I have aromatics in caps on my notes because that's what I want you to know about this wine. It is just so full of aroma. It's very floral, peach and lemon in its youth. But if you get one that has a little age on it, you get a little bit of nuttiness. And this wine usually has a hint of sweetness. So if you like wine, with a little hint of sweetness, um, if you're a fan of Moscato d'Asti, this is a wine to look out for And then in terms of the reds, these are two wines, that are hard to pronounce, but they are absolutely delicious and such a great bang for your buck. The first one is called Agiorgitiko. I'm already messing it up. Agiorgitiko. And anywhere where it sounds like I'm saying a Y, there's actually a G, so it's spelled A-G-I-O-R-G-I-T-I-K-O, Agiorgitiko. It's basically like a Greek Merlot. I'm sure the Greeks are probably so mad that I'm calling it that, but if you're familiar with Merlot, I think you'll like Agiorgitiko. These wines have delicious dark fruit flavors like plum and blackberry, but with herbaceous and spice notes. The second red is called Xinomavro. This is -- it starts with an X, so I'm sure it's intimidating to look at and try to pronounce. but I learned this from, I think I read it in Wine Folly, so shout out to Madeline Puckette, for giving this pronunciation of it. but it's like casino, like a casino where you gamble, Mavro. I think that makes it so much easier to say. Xinomavro, but it's spelled X-I-N-O-M-A-V-R-O. This is often called the Barolo of Greece. Um, you could also consider it like Greece's Pinot Noir if you're not sure what Barolo is. This is a light to medium bodied wine, red wine, with high tannin. So it's got a lot of that structure. So it's gonna work really well with like, heavy meat dishes with a lot of fat and a lot of protein. You're gonna have notes of cherry, anise, cinnamon, and clay. And again, this is a really great wine if you're looking for something big and bold, but you don't wanna pay for, you know, a high-end red Burgundy, which is Pinot Noir, or a Barolo, which is an Italian red wine. Instead, you can get a Xinomavro Like I said, I have a full episode about Greek wines. I will link it in the show notes. Okay, our final category of wine in terms of underrated wines that I think you should know about is Portuguese wines. I think I need to do a full podcast episode of this. I can't believe I haven't yet. but Portuguese wines are so underrated. They are so well-priced. I think because they used to make a lot of bulk wine, and so it wasn't very exciting, but there are some great wines coming out of Portugal now. one of my absolute favorites, and this is even like often a bulk wine, but it doesn't matter because it's so good and I'm just drinking it in the summer because it's fun. It's called Vinho Verde. and this is basically like wine lemonade with a spritz. It is delicious. You can get a bottle for $10 or under. Trader Joe's has a great one. it's usually really low alcohol. and it's like your perfect porch pounder or backyard wine to have when it's super hot out. Now, in terms of Portuguese reds… Now, there are other Portuguese white wines too, but this podcast can't go on forever. red wines from Portugal are often blends of different grapes, which there's nothing wrong with that. you're gonna look for blends made from grapes like Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Cao, and Tinta Barocca. and you're gonna look for them from regions like the Douro, D-O-U-R-O, and the Dao, D-A-O. Baga, which is a name of a grape, is another wine to be on the lookout for if it's done right. Now, the Baga grape was used to make a lot of bulk wines. So be on… You know, be picky and choosy. be sure to ask about it. Go to a wine shop, ask about it. but if it's done right, these wines can be complex and age-worthy. They have notes of blackberry, dried cherry, plum, and cocoa. High tannin, high acid, so it makes it very age-worthy, with a medium body and typically a little bit lower alcohol. And then finally, the region of Alentejo is just… Everyone is talking about it in the wine world. This is a huge wine region just southeast of Lisbon. It is famous for ripe, full-bodied red wines, and they often make them in clay jars called tala. The grapes here, Alicante Bouschet, Aragonez, which is just Portuguese version of Tempranillo, which is, the Rioja grape essentially from Spain. but also Trincadeira and Touriga Nacional are very popular in this region. I do have an interview, with Nossa Wines, which is unfortunately no longer in business, but they did teach us a lot about Portuguese wines during their interview, so you can check that out as well. And I'll… Again, all the episodes I talked about are linked in the show notes. I just don't have them off the top of my head. Okay. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Cork & Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. It was a little bit all over the place, but I think that was kind of fun. if you loved it, I would so appreciate it if you could take a quick second to rate it and leave a review. I just did this for some of my favorite podcasts, and let me tell you, it made me feel good. I'm like, "I am making their day," because you will make my day if you leave a review for this episode. And if you'd like to show additional support for the show, you can become a paid subscriber. Just click the link in the show notes. I think it says Support the Show or something like that, or Become a Supporter. and you can become a supporter for $10 or less a month. you'll get a shout-out in the next episode I record if you become a supporter, and then if you choose $10 a month, you'll get to choose a topic for a future episode. In next week's episode, I'm gonna be going over my top tips for going wine tasting. So everything from like how much should I tip, and do I need to tip at a tasting room, to how do I plan the tasting room? is it okay to spit? What happens if I don't like the wine? All of those questions will be answered in that episode. Thanks again for listening. And if you want to learn more about wine, come follow me, @corkandfizz on Instagram. Cheers!