Cardinal (Vietnam)

Where the landscape was once covered with landmines, the remnants of twenty or so years of the conflict usually referred to in the US as the Vietnam War, they've rekindled an industry that was at its peak when the area was known as French Indochina. We're about 210 miles to the northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, the former capital of the former South Vietnam when the city was known as Saigon.

The history here is checkered to say the least. Situated on the main railway of the country roughly halfway between Hanoi and then Saigon. That made it a prime area for armed conflict and an equally prime area to place landmines. It was certainly not thought of as a place that would one day be the home of vineyards.

In most of the rest of the world, the Cardinal grape is known as a table grape. Among other uses, it's commonly dried nnd made into raisins. But, here, they also use it to make wine, albeit sometimes blended with mulberries.

In Vietnam, they make both a white wine and a red wine with Cardinal. This, to say the least, is quite unusual.

The white wine is somewhat bland. We would like think of it as bad box wine, but it does retail for less than $3 (US) per bottle, so there is not much to expect. Pair it with white fish, white meat chicken and simple salads.

The red wine has more character to it, but is equally inexpensive. The wine is a deep, dark red, and bursting with red fruit, and in particular, mulberries (interestingly, the wine when made without blending with mulberries still has mulberry notes). The tannins are light, almost not there, but the acidity is moderate to high. Think of is as a Sangiovese without the spice, ageworthiness, or body, i.e., a bland, somewhat acidic red wine. That said, it would likely pair quite well with the local noodle that is found in many local dishes as well as, perhaps surprisingly, tomato sauces.