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If the Imperials of Cyrodiil love one thing, it is their wine. And the best wine comes from the Colovian Highlands region of West Weald. Blessed with a wide variety of environments suitable for viticulture, the region is famous for its long, warm summers, its rainy, reliable winters, and its rich, loamy, mildly acidic soil. As a result, the region produces superior and bountiful harvests of the jazby, surilie, pinot, and allegran grape varietals.
Most of the excellent wine of West Weald takes the form of robust reds, but flavorful white wines succeed as well in this region, particularly in the western sections of the Highlands, near the Gold Coast. This region is renowned for its highly regarded muscats, which have strong floral and fruity notes.
The vineyards of the Battlehorn region, in the Highlands close to the Hammerfell border, produce some of the finest hearty reds to found in Cyrodiil. Boisterous and full-bodied, the practice of aging wine in oak barrels provides subtle flavors to the finished product that has been served at the tables of numerous noble households for generations. The extensive vineyards that grow of the Battlehorn region have welcomed workers from across the Empire to help raise and harvest their spectacular grapes.
The vineyards around Skingrad, while not part of the Highlands proper, are responsible for some of the best of West Weald's vintages. A wide variety of Imperial citizens have settled in the region, and immigrants from Hammerfell, Skyrim, and even Black Marsh have established operations here, adding their own techniques and recipes to mix. The Skingrad wines benefit from the introduction of lavender, lotus, cornberries, and ginger to their vineyards, adding new dimensions to the grapes grown there.
While most of the wineries produce exceptional if traditional reds and whites, House Valente includes a sparkling red among their offerings. They use a second fermentation process to produce a lighter, more festive wine that is perfect to start a meal or to serve with dessert. This extremely popular offering attracts merchants from even the most distant locations in Tamriel.
Finally, we should address the Weald Wallop that has made the region famous among wine lovers everywhere. Wallop is a blended wine made of less successful harvests and small, marginal vintages. It is notable for its high sugar and alcohol content, hence its name. Other wine-producing regions have their own versions, but few can compare to even the least successful harvest from West Weald. It makes an excellent table wine and is often served mulled, as a port, or distilled into a very passable brandy.