This topic was inspired by previous posts on unusual skills, and the hymnal having Elven Wines as a listed skill.

Personally, I love wines. I love to learn about new wines as well.

And as some of you, or all of you, may know, much of how a wine is classified depends on the grape. Pinot Noir, riesling, etc.

So, I was wondering, with the Awakening, and with Gene therapy, and other modifications, has anyone come up with strange ideas for new grapes and wines?

Something like MoonGrape. This grape is very hardy and actually is best if pressed after a freeze, and made into an eiswein, or Ice Wine. This provides more sugar, and makes it more of a dessert wine. This grape is an awakened offshoot of the riesling, and provides interesting intoxicating effects to Awakened people, such as seeing only in the astral, or seeing the astral in a negative image of how they normally perceive it.

Any other ideas?

This is a great topic for game flavor. Unfortunately, I don't really know enough about wine to make any interesting comments. The only thing I can think of offhand is differently colored grapes by genetic modification. So fortified wine connoisseurs like myself who have had their bitter affairs with MD 20/20 won't be the only people to experience orange "wine".

You know this would bring in the lowbrow folks who like anything in a bizarre color.

Yeah, Geekkake's got a good one there. Awakened grapes might have orange or blue or black skin, which leads to different color vintages than we are used to.

Adding the concept of the Awakening to all the organic goodness that goes into wine could have several effects:
1. Grapes. Besides color, the fruitiness, sugar content, and texture could be altered by an Awakened grape.

2. Aging. Special Awakened Oak or something?

3. Effect. Some Awakened wine could have an effect on a Mage's ability to cast, perhaps causing unintended effects, Astral Perception (The Deepweed Effect), a healthy glow, that kind of thing.

4. New hidden flavors. I went wine tasting once and I drank a vintage that had "strong hints of toast". An Awakened wine might appeal to more common or uncommon pallets. Imagine the glass with a beefy finish.

5. Fermentation. Awakened yeast might ferment sugar into an entirely different substance in addition to the alcohol, such as the aforementioned deepweed effect, a luminescent or flourescent wine, who knows what else?

More importantly, I bet many Vineyards would tout their position in a "High-Magic Area", regardless of the effect or lack thereof on the wine.

Considering where Tir Tairngire is located a good place to start might be researching present day Oregon Wineries, well not as well known as either California or Washington wines Oregon produces some very good reds, no reason to think this stopped because elves took over. Grape varieties aren't likely to have changed much, there may be a few awakened varieties that have popped up. However the Immortals that run the country probably have literature on vinicultural technique and oenology and the long life spans of regular elves give them a great deal of time to perfect their craft.

EDIT: added a wine link

Ripple 2070 gonna make my Toxin Filter work overtime me thinks.

Gene tech yeast could withstand much higher alchohol contents, turning wines into seriously alchoholic beverages. Or they could output some other chemical rather than alchohol from the sugar, you could have Acid wine, novacoke wine.

In my game, there was always a distillery in the barrens that sold trollshine. The rigger I played used it do degrease his engines.

Don't forget that you can make "wine" out of things besides grapes...

True, some of my favorites are made from other things

Rocky Mountain Meadery has an awesome selection of meads, and there is a place called St Kathryns that sells cranberry wine, and strawberry rhubarb.

Wonder why they'd advertise that a cheap booze would keep your vision perfect... ThunderTrain 20-100 or something would probably sell faster

"ThunderTrain 20-100, Filled with nano lazik bots!"

http://www.bumwine.com/

These should all be updated for 2070

Keep in mind, the REALLY good wines were probably bottled pre Awakening.

As for my offering...

Santa Margaretta Pinot Grisio...AKA "Yum in a Bottle"

http://www.tomasellowinery.com/

i got a bottle of this from the grocey store. blackberry wine is good stuff

personaly, my tastes run towards lambic, which is technicaly a beer imported from belgium.

at the local wine store (where they stock lambic), theres a brand called 'cheap red wine'.

...not out of the question. Especially if it has been cellared properly.

I paid $165 for a bottle of vintage 1963 port back in the 90's. Very tasty I might add.

Well, I actually stated 2 grand, but there are wines that have gone for tremendous amounts, and will likely only be opened when some rich guy is on his deathbed.

Yeah, you really can't put aged and young wines in the same scoring category, because one of the masteries of making wine is the abillity to create a wine that will survive the aging process. You can drink a wine up to 6 months after racking. Mead after 1 yr.

Plus taste and flavor are subjective, some would always choose an aged over a fresh young award winner. Just depends on the pallate.

Long live BOXED wine! LOL

Try some Tannat if you can. It's Uruguay's specialty.

I'm with you on the liquor, and that brings up questions of Awakened or genetically modified sugar canes, wheat, corn, potatoes, agave, etc, as well as the horrible, man-killing yeast-cloud plague of 2038, which decimated the population of three counties in Kentucky.

Wine, is my estimation, is mostly just good for making Brutal Hammers (one glass half decent vodka, half robust red). They're the ultimate weapon in drinking competitions.