Walla Walla Wine For Dummies: Weekly Wine Word Wednesdays

The Weekly Walla Walla Wine Word for Dummies is: Lemberger

No silly peep-holes, "Lemberger" is not a stinky cheese.  The stink-monster cheese is called Limberger (with an "i" and instead of an "e").

Lemberger is a dark-skinned variety of a grape that is produced into a red wine. The origin of this grape is from Germany, including Austria. It's original old world name is known as Blaufränkisch. In Austria, it is one of the second most important red grapes.  

In the USA, Washington State is one of the few major wine regions in North America to have significant plantings of Lemberger. The first commercial Lemberger planting in the new world was in 1976 in the Yakima area of Washington State.

How does Lemberger taste? The red wine is often light in color like a Pinot Noir with aromas of berries and spice. The wine is very mild in tannins, but with great structure and fruit forward.  It's an easy sippin' wine and easy to pair with food. 

Walla Walla Wine for Dummies: Weekly Wine Word Wednesdays

My favorite wine reference book is from the "Dummies" series - "Wine For Dummies." This reference book has sold over 25 million copies and received a nomination for the "James Beard Award for Excellence."  Join me for a weekly new wine word that you may have heard in the Walla Walla Valley while visiting a tasting room, but not sure what it meant. 

I guarantee I won't make it your typical boring vocab word and since you all know my love of "W" acronyms, a new "weekly wine word will appear every Wednesday . 

The Walla Walla Wine Word for Dummies is: Bung

A bung is a hard rubber or silicon stopper (closure) that is used to seal the bunghole of a cask, keg, or wine barrel that is either filled or emptied. Many of the older bungs were produced out of wood.  (She said "bunghole" ... that's right boys and girls, a bunghole is a real term used in winemaking and not just a term used by Beevis and Butthead.) 

A bunghole is a hole bored in a liquid-tight barrel to remove or fill the wine in a barrel.