Grape Profile
Zinfandel
Many of the benchmark wines, role models for the world at large, are in France. While not American in origin, it is only here that zinfandel has excelled. Today the best zinfandels in the world are, without a doubt coming from the state of California. Possibly migrating from Greece, it turns out that Zinfandel is […]
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is the most ubiquitous red variety in the world. Bordeaux is its heartland, but upstarts in Napa Valley, California, Tuscany and South Australia are staking a claim. As a point of reference, Cabernet Sauvignon is the offspring of Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc. The patriarch of Bordeaux, even though it is outplanted by […]
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is a very old variety believed to have origins in South West France. It is the overlooked parent (along with Sauvignon Blanc) of Cabernet Sauvignon, and is used quite often inBordeauxblends. It is, along with Merlot, the dominant grape of St. Emilion, on the right bank of Bordeaux, and produces one of the […]
Malbec
Malbec, one of the five varieties used in red Bordeaux, is thought to have originated in South West France, though in Cahors, the appellation it is most famous for today, the local name is Auxerrois, suggesting origins in Northern Burgundy. The grape is sensitive to frost, downy mildew, and rot, and has therefore come to […]
Merlot
Chateau Le Pin, arguably the world’s most expensive wine, is a Merlot. Who knew? Merlot, reportedly named after the ”merle” bird which eats the grapes, is a major player in Bordeaux, where it is actually the most widely planted red varietal and responsible for its priciest wines. Merlot comes to the fore in the Right […]
Bordeaux Blend
In France, where wines are labeled not by their grape type but by recognized geographical origin (appellation), the various grapes grown in that area are conveniently grouped by “family” or “blend.” Thus, a “Rhone blend” is made up of the typical grapes grown in that area. The Bordeaux blend family members are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet […]
Mourvedre
Mourvèdre is originally fromSpain – Murviedro was a town nearValencia-and is today the country’s second most planted red varietal after Garnacha. Known now as Monastrell (or, less commonly, BAlmansa,Valencia,Alicante, Jumilla, and Yecla onSpain’s southeastern Mediterranean coast. obal), it is the principal grape of In France, it is the mainstay of the red and rosé wines […]
Grenache
Grenache is the fourth most planted variety in the world, and the first most planted in Spain, where it is known as Garnacha. Early-budding and late-ripening, Grenache is notorious for producing round, high alcohol wines if not planted in the right areas or cropped back. It loves the Mediterranean climate. In sandy, devigorated soil or where […]
Syrah
Syrah may be the world’s oldest grape variety. Today it is famous for the great Hermitage and Cote Rotie wines of the Rhone Valley in France as well as the great reds of Australia. The Middle Eastern City of Shiraz was thought to be its origin. By one account, the Knight of Stérimberg brought the […]
Rhone Blend
Originating in France’s Rhone Valley, the Rhone blend generally refers to a blend of Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache, the top three grapes of the area. These grapes, along with Cinsault, Muscardin, Cournoise, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Picpoul, Roussanne, Terret Noir, Picardan, and Vaccarese are the allowable varieties for the famous Châteauneuf du Pape, “the Pope’s new castle” […]
Tempranillo
Spain is synonymous with Tempranillo, though many wine lovers are unaware of this because of its numerous and confusing aliases. The best and most famous regions are Rioja and Ribera del Duero (where it is known as Tinto Fino and Tinto del Pais) but fine examples can be found from Toro (as Tinta de Toro), Valdepeñas […]
Nero d’Avola
Nero d’Avola is the grape with the highest quality potential of Sicily. It is also known “Calabrese,” suggesting origins in Calabria on the mainland. It also may be, according to another theory, an ‘italianization’ of the ancient vernacular name of Nero d’Avola, being ‘Calaurisi,’ which literally means ‘coming from Avola’. This “black grape of Avola, […]
Aglianico
Aglianico derives from Hellenic, or Ellenico, the Italian word for Greek, indicating that the centuries-old varietal was introduced by the Greeks who settled in Southern Italy as early as 700 B.C. It was blended into the historical Falernum, the most requested wine in the world at that time. Though also cultivated in Puglia, Molise, and […]
Sangiovese
Sanguis Jovis, “blood of Jove” – an early name for the Roman god Jupiter – is the Latin derivative of sangiovese. Believed to be indigenous to Tuscany, this grape has most likely has been growing there for nearly 2,000 years, though the first official records don’t appear until the 1700s. This is Italy’s most widely planted grape today. […]
Super Tuscan Blend
Super Tuscan wines are either Sangiovese-dominant (Sangiovese is the mainstay of the area and most famous for Chianti), blended with the international Cabernet Sauvignon, the opposite, or somewhere in between. A Super Tuscan may be Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, or even Chardonnay for that matter, single varietal or blend. It is not an official, regulated […]
Barbera
Barbera is an ancient variety with historical roots in Italy. Today it remains the second most widely planted red variety, after Sangiovese. This vigorous, hearty, late ripener excels in Piedmont, where gentle fogs and undulating hills provide the ideal microclimate. This is a very dark-skinned, high acid grape, similar on paper to Nebbiolo. However, at […]
Nebbiolo
Best known as the red varietal behind Barolo, the wine of Kings and the King of Wine in Piedmont, Italy, Nebbiolo is a site sensitive, high tannin, high acid varietal. Tannins, those compounds in a wine which cause the mouth to pucker and dry out, are either from grape skins, or, much more commonly from […]
Pinot Noir
This noble red variety from France’s Burgundy region makes an intensely flavored, complex, high acid wine with incredible longevity. As the climate gets warmer, the fruit becomes riper and more obvious, and the acid softens a bit. The net result in any case is a wine that will not overpower your meal. It is called […]
Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which probably originates from the Bordeaux region of France. It is now planted in much of the world’s vineyards. Sauvignon Blanc, is, without a doubt, one of the most versatile of grapes. Sauvignon derives from “sauvage”, or “wild”, and is also the “mother” of Cabernet Sauvignon. In fact, […]
Chardonnay
Believed to be of Middle Eastern origin, Chardonnay is the world’s most popular white varietal, and one that loses itself completely to wine making techniques. More a type of wine than a vine variety (with some definite exceptions), Chardonnay is made in every imaginable style. In the last 50 years or so, plantings in Australia […]
Semillon
Semillon seems to have originated in the Bordeaux region of South West France, where it was well recognized in the eighteenth century. In Australia the variety was probably brought out in the Busby collection of 1832 (as Groendruif). It is known that wine was being made from Semillon grapes in the Hunter Valley area of […]
Viognier
The precise historical origin of this varietal is unknown, but many believe it dates back to the Roman Empire. According to one story, Emperor Probus imported Viognier into Condrieu from Dalmatia (in present-day Croatia) in 281 AD as a means of replacing the vineyards destroyed by Emperor Vespasian. Legend has it that Vespasian tore up […]
White Rhone Blend – Marsanne/Roussanne
Marsanne originates in France’s Rhone Valley, where it is the mainstay of the whites of this area. It is one of eight white grape varieties allowed in the Côtes du Rhône appellation and forms the foundation of white Hermitage. Unlike Roussanne, it is an aggressive producer with no significant growing problems, and has gradually taken […]
Gewurztraminer
Gewürztraminer is one of the most pungent wine varietals, easy for even the beginning taster to recognize by its heady, aromatic scent. While the French have achieved the greatest success with this grape, the history of Gewürztraminer began in Italy’s Tyrollean Alps, near the village of Termeno (Tramin) in Alto Adige. Since the Middle Ages, […]
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