As the core ingredient of wine, the grape varietal used largely defines the appearance, aroma, and taste of a wine. As an aid for learning, comparing, and a cheat sheet for your next friendly blind-tasting, we’ve developed a comprehensive list of wine grape varietals in every dimension – their aromas, tastes, regions, and descriptions. The aromas and graphs produced come from our innovative wine review technology that helps break each wine down to its core elements.
Page 1 – Barbera, Bordeaux Blends, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, & Chardonnay
Page 2 – Chenin Blanc, Dolcetto, Gamay, Gewurztraminer, Grenache, Gruner Veltliner
Page 3 – Madeira, Malbec, Merlot, Mouvedre, Muscat, Nebbiolo
Page 4 – Nero d’Avola, Petite Sirah, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, Pinotage
Page 5 – Port, Primitivo, Rhone Blends, Riesling, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc
Page 6 – Semillon, Sherry, Syrah/Shiraz, Tempranillo, Viognier, Zinfandel
Port
| Pronunciation: | (port) |
| Top Regions: | Portugal |
| Pairing Type: | Food with some sweetness, spicy or salty or with dessert |
| Suggestions: | Chocolate, peaches, desserts, red meat |
| Cooking Method: | Roasted, poached, baked |
| Aromas: |  |
| Taste: |  |
| Description: | Port is a fortified wine that is made by adding brandy during fermentation. The addition of spirits kills the yeasts, which in turn halts the fermentation process. This results in a wine both sweet and high in alcohol. Named for its home city Oporto, true Port must come from the designated area. The grapes used are a blend,, but the favored grape thought to be the best is Touriga Nacional. It is a tiny grape with an intensely dark skin that is fond of hot weather. Resultant wines are highly aromatic and inky in color. Other grapes include Tinta Cao, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca to name a few. |
| Notable Info: | The most confusing part of buying and choosing port is the style. All ports are made through halting fermentation by adding brandy. From there, the styles are determined by multiple factors. Many ports fall into two broad categories: Ruby and Tawny. The main difference here is aging – Roby ports age in bottle, tawnies age in cask and see a bit of oxygen. Here is a quick description of ruby, tawny and others: Ruby Port The most basic and often least-expensive port. Ruby port is bottled young with very little time in cask and sold with no aging required. It keeps its bright ruby color and the best wines show red fruity-spice and warmth. A fine ruby or reserve ruby is usually higher in quality. Late Bottle Vintage Port Like vintage port, LBV comes from a single year, often undeclared. It’s bottled four to six years after harvest and can be kept for a few years in bottle. Not as complex as actual vintage ports, LBVs are still excellent and can be enjoyed earlier than most vintage ports. Single-Quinta Port Quinta stands for vineyard. A single-quinta is just that – port from a single vineyard. Like LBVs, they are from a single year, but usually not a declared year. Ruby in style as they are bottled after only a couple of years in oak. Vintage Port The most famous and decadent of ports, vintage ports are only made in declared years and by law must be bottled after 2 years. Because it ages in bottle instead of cask, it will retain those ruby characteristics of fruit and color. Vintage ports are delicious and seductive, with just the right balance of fruit and alcohol to warm your palate and your spirit. Vintage port can last for decades, but are delicate after opening so finish within a couple of days once opened. Basic Tawny Port Port that has been aged in cask for a few years, usually showing a lighter hue and a brown tinge. Not as fruity as a ruby and not as intense as an aged tawny. The brown tinge comes from exposure to oxygen at a controlled level. Aged Tawny Port An aged tawny has been left in cask or barrel for at least 6 years. Made of high-quality grapes, aged tawnies gain a silky texture and spicy, nutty flavor from oak ageing and oxygen. Can be aged 10, 20 or 30 years, as the bottle will state. Perfect slightly chilled. Colheita Port (vintage-dated Tawny) A Colheita port is a vintage aged tawny. The date of harvest will be printed on the label. Colheitas are like aged tawnys, but often with an extra bit of character from the year of harvest. |
Primitivo
| Pronunciation: | (pree-meh-TEE-voh) |
| Top Regions: | Italy |
| Pairing Type: | Food of medium to heavy weight and intensity |
| Suggestions: | Spaghetti, meat, spicy vegetables |
| Cooking Method: | Baked, grilled, sauteed |
| Aromas: |  |
| Taste: |  |
| Description: | Recent “DNA” testing has shown Primitivo to possess the exact same genetic make up as the popular California grape, Zinfandel. Oddly enough, both varieties origins are tracked back to Croatia. And while the grapes may be identical in theory, the wines they produce have distinct differences. |
| Notable Info: | Primitivo’s home province is Apuglia (sometimes called Puglia), located in the “heel” of Italy’s boot. Wines made from Primitivo have notes of plum and spice, like Zinfandel, but because of different growing soils and climate, the fruit character is less jammy, the structure more akin to old world wines, with rustic notes of earth and spice, as well as tamed fruit flavors. |
Rhône Blends
| Pronunciation: | (Rone) |
| Top Regions: | Rhone, California, Australia, South Africa |
| Pairing Type: | Food of medium weight and intensity. |
| Suggestions: | Lamb, duck, Mexican food, root vegetables, stews |
| Cooking Method: | Stew, roasted, baked |
| Aromas: |  |
| Taste: |  |
| Description: | The Rhone region of France has a delightful selection of red varieties. There are 22 grapes allowed in the Rhone AOC, about half of them red. Most of these varieties are used as secondary blending partners, often comprising less than 10% of the blend. The primary red players of Rhone blends are Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre. Most wines from the Southern Rhone use Grenache as their primary grape, while Rhone blends in California and Australia like to change up the order, occasionally using a high percentage of Syrah or sometimes Mourvèdre. Wines from the Northern Rhone are Syrah-based, and if not 100% Syrah, the wine may have Viognier blended in for added color and aromatics. Typical wines termed “rhone blends” will have two or more grapes from the Rhone and occasionally, small percentages of the secondary varieties. |
| Notable Info: | Rhone Blends are a wonderful combination of rustic and ripe – showing their flavors and delicious character upon release, although some Rhone wines, particularly those with a good amount of Syrah, are able to age for a few years. Australia’s Rhone blends are often called “GSM” or “SGM” – using the initials of the grapes used, the most predominant variety being the first initial. Australia has also had great success with their Northern Rhone Shiraz+Viognier wine styles. You’ll find delicious Rhone blends in California as well – the Central Coast and Santa Barbara regions have a similar climate to the Rhone, and the varietals flourish there. South Africa is another blossoming Rhone blend producer. Blends from all regions are good with juicy, gamey meats and food with common French spices, like rosemary or herbs de Provence. |
Riesling
| Pronunciation: | (REEZ-leeng) |
| Top Regions: | Germany, Alsace, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, Washington State, California |
| Pairing Type: | Food with light to medium weight and intensity. Spicy and salty dishes. |
| Suggestions: | Ham, fruit, pork, Thai or Chinese food, fish, curry |
| Cooking Method: | Baked, salsa, poached, sauteed |
| Aromas: |  |
| Taste: |  |
| Description: | The Riesling grape is happiest in a cooler climate, one that fosters its slow and steady ripening. Often assumed to be the producer of only sweet wines, Riesling is a fascinating grape of many faces. From bone dry to lusciously sweet, this variety is delicious at any sugar level with its intense aromas and steely acidity. Most popular in Germany and Alsace, the Riesling grape is grown on steep, sun-facing slopes of these cooler climates. It can be made in dry or sweet styles – Germany’s qualification system for Rieslings is actually based on ripeness level and the grape is almost always bottled as a sole varietal in the country. In Alsace, Riesling can be blended, although typically not, and is most often made in a dry style. |
| Notable Info: | Riesling has an extremely high level of acidity. That acidity is matched by the intensity of the grape’s floral and fruit aromas. A number of descriptors are associated with Riesling due to its tendency to adopt the characteristics of where it is grown. Rieslings of the Mosel are distinctive because its flavors reflect the region’s slate soils, while its partner in Alsace displays less soil character and more peach and apricot nuances due to the warmer climate. For dry styles of Riesling, look to Germany’s Kabinett levels, Alsace, Washington State, Australia and New Zealand. For a slightly sweeter style, look to Germany’s wines of the Spatlese and Auslese levels. If you can afford it, and want a true, decadent and sweet experience, look for the Beerenauslese and Trokenbeerenauslese styles. Hedonistic. |
Sangiovese
| Pronunciation: | (SAHN-gee-oh-VAY-zee) |
| Top Regions: | Tuscany, Italy |
| Pairing Type: | Food with light to medium body, salty, rich, or highly acidic |
| Suggestions: | Pizza, tomato sauce, sausage, steak, cheese |
| Cooking Method: | Grilled, roast, sauteed |
| Aromas: |  |
| Taste: |  |
| Description: | The principal grape of Chianti – in fact, the principle grape of all of Tuscany – has had a troublesome past. Chianti may give thoughts of cheap read wine from a straw casked bottle, only drunk for the decorative candle holder it becomes. But no more. Sangiovese and Chianti have made a comeback and the wines produced with the grape are delicious in texture and flavor, and of course, perfect for food pairing. |
| Notable Info: | The grape mutates easily, and therefore has many clones. The most notable being Brunello, of Brunello di Montalcino fame. Sangiovese is a slow growing, late ripening grape. It has high acidity and a thin skin, which makes it difficult to master. If not cared for correctly, the grape will produce a wine overly acidic with unripe fruit flavors. When pruned judiciously and picked at the right time, Sangiovese produces wines with delicious structure and fruit – and a mean backbone of acidity. This acidity makes it perfect to drink with any tomato-based dish, as well as many types of foos, particularly Italian style. |
Sauvignon Blanc
| Pronunciation: | (so-veen-YAWN blahnk) |
| Top Regions: | Loire Valley, New Zealand, California, Chile, Italy |
| Pairing Type: | Food of light to medium weight and intensity. High acid dishes. |
| Suggestions: | Guacamole, seafood, pork, salad, tomatoes, chicken, asparagus |
| Cooking Method: | Salsa, poached, sauteed, grilled |
| Aromas: |  |
| Taste: |  |
| Description: | One of the most distinctive grapes, Sauvignon Blanc is a highly aromatic variety that does well in both the old and new world. From the Loire Valley of France to Marlborough in New Zealand, Sauvignon Blanc has found many regions that bring out its unique and delicious flavors. |
| Notable Info: | Sauvignon Blanc’s home is the Loire Valley of France, where it produces the crisp, grassy mineral-tinged wines of Sancerre and Pouilly Fume (not to be mistaken with Pouilly Fuisse in Burgundy – that would be Chardonnay). Wine of this region is crisp and grassy, with delicious minerality and an occasional gun flint/smokey character. In the 1970’s, New Zealand planted its first cuttings of Sauvignon Blanc, which in turn brought the country to the forefront of the wine world. In New Zealand, the variety exudes its typical crisp acidity, as well as pungent passion fruit and grapefruit aromas and flavors. In California, Sauvignon Blanc is produced both in stainless steel (like New Zealand and France) and with a touch of oak. The wooded versions maintain the acidity of the grape but tone down the intense citrus flavors with subtle oak characteristics. Winemakers differ in their addition or choice of oak. The grape also produces delicious wines from Chile and Italy. |
Other Wine Grape Varietals
Page 1 – Barbera, Bordeaux Blends, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, & Chardonnay
Page 2 – Chenin Blanc, Dolcetto, Gamay, Gewurztraminer, Grenache, Gruner Veltliner
Page 3 – Madeira, Malbec, Merlot, Mouvedre, Muscat, Nebbiolo
Page 4 – Nero d’Avola, Petite Sirah, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, Pinotage
Page 5 – Port, Primitivo, Rhone Blends, Riesling, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc
Page 6 – Semillon, Sherry, Syrah/Shiraz, Tempranillo, Viognier, Zinfandel
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