If you’re a fan of HBO’s “Game Of Thrones” or George R.R. Martin’s five (and counting) A Song of Ice and Fire books you know that the wine flows freely in Westeros. Noble men and women pine for sweet Arbor Golds. Strongwines from Dorne are highly sought after. The Brothers of the Night’s Watch slug back hot mulled wine. Daenerys Targaryen, far away on the continent of Essos, sips exotic wines unknown to the masses back in Westeros.
With all that wine being drank, all the time, we realized that there simply had to be other wines being grown on Westeros. Wine, however, isn’t the easiest thing to grow. Predictable seasons define a vine’s lifecycle. The only logical explanation is that in a world where magic stretches winters and summers out over many years, a benevolent hand aids everyone’s favorite grape. And as long as magic is at work, we’ll speculate further that wine can grow in a few climates that would be rather inhospitable back here on Earth. While the Starks weren’t growing any wine in The North, we’ve ‘discovered’ Westeros’s other wines. We’ve put together a map to help you plan your visit to wine country in Westeros.
Why haven’t you heard about the Castle classified Cabernets coming out of the Westerlands? Because these wines rarely leave the Westerlands, unless in the hand(s) of a Lannister. Back when Tyrion was minding the plumbing at Casterly Rock, he discovered a cache of wine bottles aging in the castle’s cool cellars. Tyrion being Tyrion, he popped open a bottle and sipped on a wine unlike any he’d tasted before — dry but not sour, on the tannic side.
Unfortunately for the wine, and the winemaker, Lord Tywin wasn’t pleased to discover that one of his cistern-minders was spending his time racking wine in the castle’s catacombs. The man and his wine were flushed out to sea. Bottles still turn up now and then, but one should be careful about drinking them in public. Why waste good wine? When you’re sitting on a mountain of gold and silver you can just buy your wine from the Arbor.
