Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA)

A broad category of basic everyday wine under German law. QbA wines must come from one of the official 13 wine-growing regions (Anbaugebiete), and the region must be shown on the label. QbA wines are made from grapes that have attained only a low level of ripeness, though there must be at least enough sugar in the grapes to produce a wine with 7% alcohol by volume. Chaptalization (adding sugar to the unfermented grape juice to boost the body and final alcohol level) is permitted and often used. QbA wines range from dry to semi-sweet.

Zinfandel originally came to the United States from Croatia.

Answer: True.

Although it has been called “America’s grape,” scientists have known for decades that zinfandel (just like chardonnay, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and dozens of other varieties) originally came from Europe. The question was where in Europe? Thanks to DNA typing of grapevines, we know that zinfandel’s original home was the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia. Sometime around the 1820's, what we now call zinfandel was brought to the United States (to Long Island) under a variety of names (zenfendel and black St. Peter’s being two). Curiously, zinfandel was also brought from Croatia to Italy, where it was named primitivo. So if you see an Italian primitivo in the wine shop, guess what? It’s zinfandel.

Briary

A term used to describe a briar patch or light bark-like taste in a wine. Briary wines can sometimes also have a slightly scratchy texture.

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