Ghyll:Adlorst Vinifera

Adlorst Vinifera, more commonly referred to as simply Adlorst, is a wine grape grown primarily in the Evesque Valley and the lower foothills of the Sarfelogian Mountains, but also, to a lesser extent, throughout Ghyll.

The grape is a deep purple, and produces a dry, full bodied wine, which foreigners often compare to Barolo or Rioja. However, there has been recent experimentation to make rosés from this grape, and these result in a icky sticky sickly sweet swill, which sells very well to the unwashed masses. Thus, it is becoming an important component of the economy. The exceedingly low cost of this wine results in it being the preferred drink of the winos, who are, as a consequence, often derisively called "adlorst addleheads."

The most important producer of Adlorst wines is Baron Claude Lloyd Albert Smallwood, the long-estranged former husband of Bavarian Creame. Baron Smallwood also grows a number of other grapes on his sprawling plantation in the Evesque Valley, and, of course, grows a decent-sized crop of Fefferberry, from which he makes the traditional Fefferberry wine. This is primarily a gimmick for the tourists, who flock to the vineyards in significant numbers througout most of the year.

Adlorst grows best in rocky, well-irrigated soil, and is thought to have historical roots as far back as the agricultural experimentation of the Nitenmangrey period. Some vines on the Smallwood estate are thought to be more than 100 years old, and these vines produce the Ancient Vines line of wines which sell at a premium to the wealthier set.

The much rarer White Adlorst species is used to produce a lightly sparkling (Champagne style) wine which sells for absurdly exhorbitant prices, and tends to be popular on New Year's Day and other bacchanalian holidays. And, of course, it is the topic of the well-loved Arariax poem Ode to drunkenness:

Adlorst White my nose doth tickle
And my liver it doth pickle
As I imbibe its nectar sweet
My face the color of a beet
The stars begin to swim o'erhead

Perhaps I should be off to bed

Citations: Baron Claude Lloyd Albert Smallwood, Sarfelogian Mountains.

--DrBacchus 22:00, 09 September 2004 (EDT)