As March arrives and St. Patrick’s Day approaches, the color green typically comes to mind. It’s usually not hard to find a bar or pub serving ‘green beer,’ but discovering ‘green wine’ may be more challenging. However, there are three green wine types you can find and enjoy during March, or even year-round.
#1) Vinho Verde – The Original Green Wine
If you haven’t tasted a glass of ‘Vinho Verde’ yet, you are in for a treat. Originating in Portugal, this style of white wine is light, crisp, slightly bubbly, and lower in alcohol (usually around 9%). It generally has notes of white flowers, melon, lemon and lime.
The term ‘Vinho Verde,’ actually translates to ‘wine green’ in Portuguese, but means that it is a ‘young wine.’ This is because the grapes are harvested, fermented, and bottled when ‘young’ – usually within 3 to 6 months. It can also have a pale green color, which signifies ‘youth’ in white wine.
Vinho Verde also refers to an actual appellation (DOC) in Portugal, which allows a variety of white Portuguese grapes to be used in this wine: Alvarinho, Arinto, Avesso, Azal, Loureiro, and Trajadura.
It is a light and delicious wine to enjoy year-round, and pairs well with salads, fresh fruit, soft cheeses and seafood. You should easily be able to find a bottle of Vinho Verde online, in large wine shops, and in some grocery stores.
#2) Sustainable, Organic, Biodynamic or Regenerative ‘Green Wine’
Another type of green wine is any wine that has received certification as sustainable, organic, biodynamic, or regenerative. This indicates that the winery farmed the grapes in an environmentally friendly manner (or sourced certified ‘green’ grapes) and also produced the wine with a focus on energy and water conservation.
To become certified, vineyards and wineries must document their processes and pass an audit with a third-party assessor. Some of the certifications take a minimum of three years to achieve. Once certified, wineries are allowed to use an official certification seal on wine labels, which you can search for when purchasing wine.
Certification seals differ by region, state, and country, but they clearly convey that the wine was produced in an environmentally friendly manner. The photo below showcases some of the various certifications available in the U.S.
For more information on the definitions of sustainable, organic, and biodynamic farming practices, see this Forbes article. For regenerative, see the definition here.
#3) Color Enhanced ‘Green Wine’
A third type of ‘green wine’ is one you create yourself by adding one or two drops of green food coloring to a glass of white wine or white sparkling wine. This doesn’t change the wine’s taste, but it does create a lovely green hue in the glass, which is great for serving at St. Patrick’s Day parties.
This is what many bars and pubs do on St. Patrick’s Day to create green beer, so why not try it with your favorite white wine?
So if you want to liven up the month of March, or even your year-round celebration schedule, consider seeking out one or more of these ‘green wine’ alternatives.
NOTE: This article was previously published in Forbes.com. Republished here with permission.
