North America
North America is known for it’s success in basketball, swimming, gymnastics, volleyball and triathlon events in the summer Olympics. These Olympics have already brought a lot of gold medals to this continent through swimming. Too bad that pool wasn’t full of wine. I would earn a gold medal for drinking it!
There are so many amazing countries in North America that have wineries, but the western United States has become a very large area for producing wine, so I am choosing a California wine from my favorite winery Ravenswood. Ravenswood Zinfandel Dickerson, 2008 has wild berry, tobacco and pepper spice notes. Zinfandel is one of the classic wines of California.
South America
The most popular sports in South America are football (aka soccer duh!), volleyball, tennis and golf. Pretty much every country in South America has a great soccer team with 3 out of the top 5 ranking countries being from South America. I can’t wait to watch the Olympic excitement! Argentina is currently ranked #1 in the world and they are also pretty good at wine making!
Argentina is the 5th largest producer of wine in the world. Mascota Vineyards Gran Mascota Malbec, 2012 is rated 91 by Wine Spectator. It has flavors of blackberry and spice. The good climate conditions in Argentina that resists pests allows for easy production of organic wines.
Asia
China is a leader in badminton, table tennis and diving. Japan is a leader in Judo. Russia has great wrestling and South Korea is full of archers. What a dynamic group of countries in this continent.
Japan is known for it’s Sake, which is a wine produced in a brewing process from rice. I chose this Gekkeikan Black & Gold, not only because it has a super cool bottle, but because of the flavors in this Sake including papaya, honeydew, anise and roasted nuts. Sake can be served chilled, at room temperature or warmed. This sake in particular tastes better served chilled or at room temperature.
Africa
Africa is known for it’s great runners, rugby players and swimmers mostly reigning from South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia. It is amazing how fast they can run and for so long! That will definitely burn off some calories from drinking wine, which I am sure they never do (they need to keep their Olympic physique).
South Africa’s wine production is centered around Cape Town. It is home to one of the greatest wines in the world, Costantia, a dessert wine. I chose this Spier Sauvignon Blanc Private Collection, 2014 from the Stellenbosch region, which is the second oldest wine region in the country.
Europe
European countries do really well in equestrian, cycling, water polo, fencing, sailing and rowing in the Olympics. So after they win fancy gold medals and get off their fancy horses they need to drink some fancy wine.
I am choosing a French Bourdoux region wine to represent Europe. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world and Bourdeaux is a region there that is known for its blended red wines. This Chateau Bois Chantant Bordeaux Superieur, 2012 has flavors of blackberry and plum.
Australia/Oceania
Most Australian Olympic medals have come from swimming, but other strong sports from this country include field hockey, cycling, equestrian and sailing.
Australia is the worlds 4th biggest wine distributor in the world. This Davey Family Shiraz Estate, 2013 has blackberry and mulberry fruit flavors with dark chocolate, yum! This is from Mclaren which is a smaller wine region in Australia. In other places this wine would be named Syrah, but the Shiraz name is growing in popularity.
