A Game of Thrones Wine Companion

Ready your palates for Game of Thrones Season 6…

Part of the genius of George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series is the strong sense of family identity and allegiance that he’s written in to each of his characters. Like wines, which are unique individual expressions that also demonstrate the regional characteristics of the places where they grow, these personae all share distinct traits with their kin. In Westeros, it’s the noble Houses that carry their ancestral sigils like badges of honor as they battle over the Iron Throne. That same theme of group identity extends to the legions that guard The Wall and to those that live beyond it. They’re tied to their places of birth, which have climates and terrains as varied as the terroirs of the winegrowing world.

Here, the Game of Thrones characters – by House – and their wine equivalents:

House Targaryen: Tokaj

Why? The family’s rule over the Seven Kingdoms lasted three centuries before they were deposed during Robert’s Rebellion. Tokaji wines have had as long and as noble a history – once the beverage of choice throughout Europe’s royal courts. ‘Mad King’ Aerys II might have lost his grip on reality overindulging in the spicy-sweet succulence of an Aszú, like the 2008 Royal Tokji Wine Company 5 Puttonyos ($54), while the silver-white-haired heroine Daenerys would surely opt for the racy, dry style of a 2014 Samuel Tinon ‘Birtok’ Furmint ($30). Plus, the region’s ancient volcanic soils recall the dragon motif central to the Targaryen mystique.


more on foodandwine.com