Iverican Wine

Iverican Wine and Viticulture
East Argonese Foothills
Country	Republic of Iverica
Notable Grape Varieties	Beiltam, Bonbeq, Chardunnay, Dūmá, Parvo Mauvro, Petit Orot, Ruessling D'Iverico, Sanguisalvat, Súrra, Versatillo, Viejo
Notable Regions	West Altaria, Argon East Valleys, Corregidor Plateau, East Providencia, Navaerre River Valley
Climate Ranges	Continental, Mediargic, Maritime
Production	34 million hectolitres/annum
Value	$11 billion Adapton Solidus/annum
Year	2022

Iverican wine is produced all throughout the present-day Republic of Iverica in quantities between 33 and 34.5 million hectolitres per year. Iverica is one of the largest wine producers in the wurld and features a diverse viticulture of Old Wurld, Native, and New Wurld transplants from Aurelia and Southern Argis. The wines produced range from expensive wines sold internationally to modest wines usually only seen within Iverica.

Viticultural context and legal regulations are two concepts that distinguish the majority of acclaimed Iverican wines. Viticultural context is best represented by the Lysian notion of "Terroir", which links the style of the wines to the locations where the grapes are grown and the wine is made. Whereas, the Denominassione ét Apellatióne Garantita (DAG) system distinguish wines produced under strict standards of labour and inspection. DAG rules closely define which grape varieties and winemaking practices are approved for classification in each of Iverica's several hundred geographically defined appellations, which can cover regions, microclimates, municipalities, or individual vineyards.

Iverica is home to many grape varieties (such as Versatillo, Parvo Mauvro, Súrra, Bonbeq, Ruessling D'Iverico, and others) both native and imported from Europa. Many of its native varities are now planted throughout the wurld. Iverican wine-making practices and styles of wine have likewise been adopted in other producing countries. Some producers have benefited in recent years from rising prices and increased demand for prestige wines from microclimates in Nou Argon like Valle Cellito and Blauacurvo.

History

Most winemaking practices and some grape varieties found in present-day Iverica originate from skills and vines brought by settlers during the Gran Viatge during the 17th century. However, viticulture and winemaking in the Peninsula began as early as 800 BCE by Narvic farmers in present-day Navaerre River Valley. In the present day, Iverican vineyards maintain Imperial Iberic traditions, Narvic traditions, or a mix of both.

The remains of a storehouse used to ferment clay jugs of wine were uncovered in Navaerre River Valley during an Archeological dig in 1902. Analysis of the pot shards suggests that wine from an ancestor of present-day Beiltam grapes was used to create a high-alcohol content wine. The remains suggest that filtration methods were quite lax, leading to a high amount of vine stem and vine matter contributing to a yeasty and slightly bitter-finishing drink. To enhance the flavour, the wine may have been blended with sweeter younger wine whose sugars had not yet been fully digested by natural yeasts.

Between the 17th and 18th centuries CE, Iberics settling around the peninsula introduced Imperial Iberic winemaking traditions and more sophisticated viticultural techniques. Up to that point, the majority of winemaking in the Narvic peninsular kingdoms had only used a minimum of techniques like pruning to temper a crop's vigour. Also, the use of early pesticides and fungicides had been largely undiscovered by Narvic growers. The Iberics introduced viticulture to the southern provinces, what is known today as Nou Argon, Providencia, and Nou Tacalonia. Subsequent migrations also introduced Europan grape varieties, mostly native Iberic vine cuttings, to Peninsular viticulture. Iberic settlers also introduced the Estandard dei Vinitre Hidalgo, or "Standard of Hidalgo Winemakers" the first regulatory law for winemaking in the peninsula.

Cuttings from old Iberic Imperial vines had themselves been taken from the cooler northern extremities of the empire, the only regions of the empire where viticulture flourished. The region of Stille at the western most coast of the Byzantine Sea, was home to most Iberic varieties.

Due to Iverica's distance from Europa and Eastern Argis during the 19th century, the country's wine regions remained untouched by the "phylloxera plague" or "great wine blight". In the present era, many Europan grape varieties which had gone extinct in the Old Wurld or had not been replanted much since the blight enjoy an expatriated popularity in Iverica.

In the 1921 century, the winemaking communities of Iverica underwent a period of unrest and entrepreneurial strife beginning when the vineyard Dóm Sant Vicente of the West Altarian Hills was removed from the Estandard dei Vinitre Hidalgo certified winery for having marketed a Cabernet Lys blended with a small percentage of a Súrra-Beiltam crossbreed grape. The wine was sold to Sant Vicente's distributor and wholesaler under the EVH seal and the branding of an Imperial Style Cabernet Lys. Despite the wine's labelling of "New Wurld Cabernet Lys" and the back of bottle indication of 15% Súrtam (referring to Súrra-Beiltam) to distinguish Sant Vicente's use of the new variety, the action was deemed a violation of the EVH winemaking rules by the regulatory committee and Sant Vicente was ordered to recall all New Wurld Cabernet Lys and remove any EVH markings from their subsequent productions. The controversy sparked a debate among traditionalist winemakers and other winemakers who protested the severity of the consequences. Infighting at the 1922 EVH conferences led to several arrests following brawls over arguments on the dubbed, "Súrtam Incident". In 1922, Dóm Sant Vicente petitioned the Ministry of Agriculture to allow a fully government-regulated guarantee standard for winemaking. In 1925, the Denominassione ét Apellatióne Garantita (DAG) winemaking standard was passed by the Executive Ministry. The DAG standard was based on the EVH standard and regulated proper winemaking practices, appellation distinction, and marketing standards as the EVH regulations but allowed greater leeway for experimental winemaking attempts. Today, both standards exist in tandem.

Grape Varieties & Viticulture

Noble Varieties

Bonbeq, Chardunnay, Dūmá, Parvo Mauvro, Petit Orot, Ruessling D'Iverico, Sanguisalvat, and Súrra are Iverica's most notable growths of "noble" grapes. While most are transplants from the Old Wurld, Narvic native grapes like Dūmá and Bonbeq are considered by the Estandard dei Vinitre Hidalgo to be "noble grapes". Likewise, the originally Dolch Ruessling D'Iverico is considered a noble grape. Traditionally, Noble grapes are said to retain their character no matter where they are planted.

The criteria for defining a grape's "nobility" was originally qualitative and subject to much differences in taste. However, in recent years, Iverican EVH committees have been able to establish a system for chemically testing sugars, acids, and chemical compounds in various plantings to determine a minimum range of variance to establish a system for "noble grapes". EVH guidelines for testing a variety's nobility depend on samples from at least 3 different Köppen classifications and 3 different EVH-defined soil types. The lower the variance of sugars and acid types, the more noble a grape is said to be.

Bonbeq

Bonbeq grapes from Corregidor

Bonbeq is a purple grape variety native to Western Argis. It is used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known to bear an eerie similarity to Mulbec despite having little relation. In Iverica, plantations of Bonbeq are found primarily in Argon. Altaria, and Nou Tacalonia. It is celebrated as one a few New Wurld noble grapes. It is considered the national grape of Narva.

The origin of the name "Bonbeq" is unclear. Colonial Iberic vintners made notes assuming the name's origin to be a jest on the Lysian "Mulbec", though Narvic folk legends pre-dating the arrival of Europans to the peninsula present an alternative origin. The folk song of an itinerant witch named "Bonna Beiqa" roaming the lands and spreading a magical vine whilst highly intoxicated is considered by viticultural scholars as the probable origin of the name.

Bonbeq thrives in high sunshine environments and produces an excellent level of acidity when cultivated in higher elevations with a sandy or silty surface. If Bonbeq is grown over soil with an underlying layer of rich clay, the resulting wine can carry pronounced earthy and herbacious notes enhanced by a smokey finish better defined than the Lysian Mulbec it is often compared to. The terroir for cultivating good Bonbeq is extremely rare as the best Bonbeqs must be cultivated at high-altitude regions with a generous amount of sunlight and at sites where the soil was once deluvial but has become gradually covered with a notable but not too-deep layer of sandy or silty soil. One of the few places with such a terroir is the minor plateau around Corregidor, where the Túla river evens-out from the southern Montaco Cordilleras.

Chardunnay

Chardunnay from northern Argon

Chardunnay is a Lysian green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Bourgoundy wine region of eastern Lysia, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from Anglia to Iverica. The Chardunnay grape itself is neutral, with many of the flavors commonly associated with the wine being derived from such influences as terroir and oak.

Chardunnay was not planted in Iverican soil until the 18th century, when Lysian merchants sold the vine cuttings to enterprising new vintners in Providencia. In its earlier days, Iverican Chardunnay had a reputation was a low-quality table wine as many of the vintners were inexperienced and did not carry EVH certifications. Esteemed Iverican Chardunnay vineyards today are descended from non-Hidalgo owners who were some of the first to enhance malolactic fermentation and aging in barrels made from a quarter new oak.

Grapes grown in Iverica can be diverse in characteristics. The majority are grown in the warmer west and south, thus carrying more residual sugars and grippier tannins in the resulting wine. Iverican Chardunnay, typically from the northern regions of Argon is often described as more distinct than the typically neutral Chardunnay. Iverican Chardunnay is often oaked and carries balanced notes of minerality with grapefruit, figs, and stonefruit. In cooler climates like Navaerre, Chardonnay wine tends to be medium to light body with noticeable acidity and flavors of green plum, apple, and pear. Most Iverican Chardunnays undergo through malolactic fermentation and thus, have softer acidity to complement the sometimes aged fruit flavors and buttery mouthfeel from diacetyl content.

Iverican Chardunnays are grouped into 3 styles, Providens, Chardunnay Argonese, and Chardunnay Navaeresse. Of the 3, Providens is noted as one of the most unique and is widely exported.

Dūmá

Early morning fog in a Dūmá vineyard

Dūmá is a native Narvic red wine grape variety predominantly associated with the Nou Navaerre region. Dūmá is thought to derive its name from the Narvic word for "fog". During harvest, which generally takes place late in mid-autumn, a deep, intense fog sets into the Laqrimas region of Navaerre where many of the oldest Dūmá vineyards are located. Next to Beiltam, Dūmá is the second-oldest known Vitis vinifera to be cultivated in the Iberic Peninsula.

Dūmá is an incredibly sensitive variety to grow. The vine flowers early, ripens late, and can struggle to ripen fully. It also seems to prefer specific hillside locations with clay and silt-based soils. The foothills surrounding the Navaerre River Valley present an ideal microclimate and soil type for the vines to grow but not overripen. Despite growing a cool climate for wine grapes, the fruits bear thicker skins, which give the Dūmá wines their notable tannic structures.

The grape produces a full-bodied red wine more famously known by the two production regions of Laqrimas and Fuepá in Navaerre. The wines are translucent, similar to Parvo Mauvro and have a delicate smell, but tasting notes carry robust tannins and high acidity. The traditional method for producing the glubally esteemed "Laqrimas" wine is to age the juices for 2 years usually in a sealed stone cistern and then aged a further 18 months in very lightly peated first-use Iverican quarter-oak barrels. The result is an instense but balanced wine described by Iverican sommeliers to have an even mix of ripe cherries and a toasted cacao with a minor vanilla and smoke finish. Acidity to should be assertive and present throughout but not sharp and a tingling, drying sensation from the tannins should linger after tasting. Additional aromas, bouquets, and notes include clove, earth, tobacco, and occasionally, truffle.

Parvo Mauvro

Petit Orot

Ruessling D'Iverico

Sanguisalvat

Súrra

Other Old World Transplants

Cabernet Lys, Pinot Gregio, Graneche, Merlut

Boure Varieties

Beiltam, Versatillo, Viejo

New Wurld Transplants

Lumeli

Lumeli Grapes

Lumeli is a variety of black-skinned wine grapes originating from Cashar in Alharu, specifically from Ocraly or Acràlia. The name means "the honey-like" in the Acràlian dialect. The cuttings were transplanted to Iverica by mistake in the 1862 century when a shipment for tomato vines was mistakenly sent to Porto L'Norte. It was sold to several small vineyards there, whose vintners cultivated it out of curiosity. It was not well received during its debut years due to its excessive sweetness. However, later attempts to establish the style were met with success in the market as the grapes became prized as an exotic, niche variety primarily for enthusiast circles. The grape found legitimacy in EVH certifications after Ivericans canonised vinting techniques for the style known as Vinovulca or Lumeli Navaeresse.

When grown in its native Ocralian terroir, the grapes typically ripen early and have thick skins. The vines feature stout, verdant stems and sprout broad, fan-like leaves. The berries are plump, dusky-hazy skinned, and range from dark purple to near-black. Sugar content is high and acids are naturally low. When aged in certain woods, the wine carries over a distinct phenolic character - giving styles distinct wood spice and toasted nut bouquets. Drier varieties may be fermented longer and more aggressively from early harvests, resulting in Alcohol by volume levels of 15-16%. While the sweetest styles may be from extremely rich late-harvest crops fermented only to 13-14% ABV.

While Lumeli from Cashar's island is traditionally grown in warm temperate climates, most Lumeli in Iverica is grown in Nou Navaerre. The oceanic climate of its adopted homeland is cooler and with slightly less intense sunlight during the summer months. Furthermore, about 80% of Lumeli in Iverica is grown in Valle Navaerre, on the north foot of the Imperiale mountains. The soil in Valle Navaerre contains a layer of ash-enriched silt and clay, from when Apicc D'Imperiale was volcanically active. These growing conditions forced the Lumeli grapes to mature slowly and with less resulting sugar while still retaining their complex fruit-forward and phenol-friendly potential.

The taste of Lumeli wine depends on the ripeness of the grapes from which it is made. Red berry fruit flavours like raspberry predominate in wines from cooler areas, whereas blackberry, anise and pepper notes are more common in wines made in warmer areas. Ocralian styles tend to highlight the grape's jammy-sweet rich characteristics of stewed dark berries while Navaeresse styles exhibit just-ripe, sometimes slightly "green" or sweet-sour dark cherry and cassise characteristics. For Iverican styles like Vinovulca, the combination of a cooler climate, less sunlight, and less loamy volcanic soil results in a Lumeli with a reduced, tempered sweetness, moderate acidity and a notable minerality. The cooler climate also results in thinner skins leading to less aggressively tannic wines while ageing in 1/3rd first-use Iverican oak barrels adds woody, barnyard, or tobacco-leaf bouquets that in rare and old vintages can transform into liquorice, clove, or wood spice bouquets that balance the punchy natural fruit characteristics.

Lumeli styles of wine today are some of Iverica's most popular expatriate wines. Production volume is kept low by the limitations of the specific terroir required by the Vinovulca and even bottles from recent great vintages (1985, 1997, 2000, 2001) are rare and held at high value. The high natural sugars in Lumeli grapes mean that its styles will retain their complexity well after long cellaring periods. Wines from early production Vinovulca (1910, 1918), though rare to find in good condition, are often noted to retain some vigour when consumed at present.

Shedeh

Shedeh Grapes

Shedeh is a black-skinned grape used for making red wine. It is closely associated with the Graneche grapes once grown widely in the former Iberic Empire but is distinguishable for its lower sugars and slightly thinner skins. Shedeh is one of the oldest domesticated Vitis vinifera in the wurld, being first grown and vinted to wine in 650 BCE during the reign of Sekhemheatenkhuatwy II Sa-Aten in coastal Per-Aten. The grape has since proliferated to many oceanic or warm temperate climates like the Iberic Peninsula and other parts of Western Alharu. The name Shedeh was originally a generic term for any red drink made from grapes or other similar fruit and berries but became an internationally recognised term for the variety after a mistranslation incident by Iberic scholars. It was originally called Kem-Shedeh (Black Wine) in its native Atenic.

The Shedeh vine is characterized by its strong wood canopy and upright growth. Its grapes are resilient to wind and disease but do poorly in hot climates with year-round strong sunshine and poorly in climates where the nights are too temperate. They thrive better in the well-draining soils and sun of coastal Per-Aten, facing the warm Verde Sea. The unique terroir of formerly diluvial valleys in coastal Per-Aten provides Shedeh with a heat trap for colder evenings. Shedeh is unique because it does not benefit from overly cool evenings. Like Graneche, Shedeh is late ripening and often results in high volumes per vine. The loose sand, limestone silt, and deeper clay soils provide the steady drainage needed for the grape to produce its signature balance of medium-high sweetness, zesty acidity, mellow tannins, vegetal herb, and fresh strawberry notes.

In Iverica, Shedeh is used to blend strawberry flavours into more neutral wines from Versatillo and Súrra. When grown in the coolest parts of Navaerre, they can be grown specifically to produce a sharp strawberry-citrus sourness that balances out the confectionary of Bieltam. In recent years, vintners have tried growing Shedeh at high altitudes, near hot springs and on volcanic soil. Resulting wines have taken an earth, mineral, and perfumey quality not found in classical Shedeh styles.

Wines produced from Shedeh are high in alcohol but generally lower than most Graneche wines. Their distinct aromas include strawberry, figs, citrus rind, oregano, other red berries, and herbs. When aged in Iverican oak, the wine's natural aromas are joined by notable anise, clove, and pepper bouquets. Despite its limited terroir, Shedeh is widely available in the New Wurld. Lower quality, sweeter Shedehs are widely grown in countries with developing wine industries.