Through the Grapevine

Years of winemaking have established a number of the several thousand grape varieties as winemaking royalty. They are grown and made into wine, as single variety wines or as part of blends, in most winemaking countries around the planet. More recently, we have seen the emergence of many new contenders, many from unlikely sources. Some of these had little love for decades, even centuries, until dedicated winemakers revealed just what could be achieved with them and stunned a curious world. Others have been very successful in their own little nook but, until recently, have rarely ventured beyond regional borders. The most exciting thing is that there is so much more to come, both with the usual suspects and the up and comers.

WORDS ° Ashley Pini & Ken Gargett

These are introductory details of many of those grapes. There are many others. For example, I have not included pinot meunier, as it is effectively only in use as a component of sparkling wines. Nor have I included those grapes normally used in the production of fortified wines. Many of these varieties have numerous aliases but we are using the names most commonly adopted.

In years to come, I have no doubt that this list will look woefully inadequate as more and more varieties make their mark. If you want to look further into grape varieties, pick up a copy of Jancis Robinson’s enormous and compelling tome, ‘Wine Grapes’, which will provide detailed information on over 1,300 varieties.

WHITE

CHARDONNAY – A versatile white variety making everything from some of the greatest wines on the planet to cheap and cheerful quaffers, as well as being an integral component of sparkling wines. Responsibility for white burgundy falls to chardonnay and it is one of the great grapes of Champagne. It makes superb wines around the globe, not least in California, Australia and New Zealand. It lends itself to a wide array of winemaking techniques, most notably with the permutations of oak use. The flavours are many and varied but stone fruit, peach, tropical and citrus notes are all common. RIESLING – Perhaps the king of white grapes - a scintillating, intense, vibrant variety that is delightful when young, but can age superbly for many years. Pure and pristine, it can be bone dry, lusciously sweet and anything in between. Rarely seeing any oak, its spiritual home is Germany, but it makes an appearance in many other regions around the globe – an array of options in Alsace in France; fiercely acidic though usually off-dry styles from New Zealand; enjoying ever-increasing popularity in Washington State in the USA, and many other places.

SEMILLON – In its youth, it can be rather bland, a little citrus perhaps. Low alcohol and bright

acidity, though usually superior to many other wines that have taken hold in the market’s mind. Leave it in the cellar for a few years and the most extraordinary transformation takes place, with the wine developing wonderful toast and lemon butter notes. Great complexity and a character very similar to nutty oak notes appears, though the wines do not see oak. Every cellar should have some.

SAUVIGNON BLANC – Not so long ago, this was a third tier variety, making occasionally interesting wine from the Loire and a few other places. Then came the Marlborough ‘sauvalanche’, led by the Cloudy Bay express, and its worldwide popularity soared to unimaginable heights. Plantings have exploded in wine regions around the world. Many consumers enjoy the obvious full flavours, ranging from tropical to grassy, while others detest the simple herbaceousness that often invades it.

VERMENTINO – An emerging Italian variety that makes lovely crisp and often beautifully aromatic wines. The picks are probably from Sardinia, but other places in Italy and southern France are also doing well. Good ones have real depth of flavour. MARSANNE – A Rhone Valley variety, which is often blended with roussanne and sometimes viognier in its home region. It can be a little neutral in its youth, but blossoms with age.

ROUSSANNE – Home is the northern Rhone in France, where it is often blended with marsanne. In recent years, it has appeared in vineyards around the globe, though has never really gained much traction. Expect it to continue to play a very minor, though interesting role with a few specialist producers.

FIANO – Among the most exciting Italian varieties now making their mark in global vineyards is fiano. From southern Italy, fiano is a richly flavoured grape. It can have a degree of waxiness along with ripe, full flavoured notes of citrus and tropical fruits. Does well in the slightly warmer region and has a reputation for ageing well.

GEWURZTRAMINER – A highly distinctive grape, though one which is far less popular than it once was. One of the easiest for beginners to identify blind, good ones offer lovely lavender, musk, Turkish delight and lychee notes. Considered a good match for spicier dishes, it finds its best expression in Alsacentry. PINOT GRIS/GRIGIO – At one stage, considered likely to be the next big thing after sauvignon blanc, and although its popularity has risen considerably, it still falls short of that high flyer. When labelled pinot gris (as per Alsace in France), the wine tends to be deeper and richer with more textural aspects and profound flavours. When dubbed pinot grigio (same grape, but this is the Italian name), the wines tend to exude crisp pear notes with a lean, clean and minerally background. They tend to be seen as lighter, easier drinking and less likely to age.

VERDELHO – A famous grape in Portugal, where it makes some of the incredibly long- lived fortifieds. From the island of Madeira, it tends to be a clean, slightly neutral variety, perfectly pleasant without hitting any great heights, but there are, of course, exceptions.

VIOGNIER – A very distinctive variety needing care. Good ones are hedonistic and offer lovely stone fruit notes; especially apricot. Too much and they are blowsy and drab. Too little and they are lean and unappealing. A trend, picked up from its home in Rhone, is to include a little in a co-fermentation with syrah/shiraz to lift colour and flavour.

RED

SHIRAZ – Originally from Rhone in France it makes a plethora of different styles, from the elegant, spicy numbers of cooler climates to the high alcohol, heavily oaked fruit bombs of warmer regions. It can age superbly. Flavours will range from chocolate, black fruits, spices, leather, cloves and so much more. It is often blended – today more likely with other Rhone grapes, while in the past, it was with cabernet.

CABERNET SAUVIGNON – Considered by many as the great red variety, not just for its role in Bordeaux, but around the winemaking world; the Napa in California and many other districts. Cabernet offers flavours such as tobacco leaf, cedar, blackberry, dark fruits and much more. It is high in tannin, has considerable acidity, dense structure and can offer a wine the ideal basis for structure. It is very often blended with other Bordeaux varieties, such as cabernet franc, merlot, malbec and petit verdot. Known for its extended ageing abilities.

PINOT NOIR – This is the variety that excites winemakers and wine lovers alike. There will never be agreement between the devotees of Bordeaux (cabernet) and Burgundy (pinot) as to which reigns supreme (yes, you can love both but eventually, your heart will sway you one way or the other). Great pinot noir has an alluring, sensual, thrilling quality. Pinot noir excels in Burgundy, but great wines have also come from Oregon, New Zealand and numerous places in Australia.

MERLOT – The most widely planted variety in France and an integral part of Bordeaux, merlot was enjoying a meteoric rise around the globe until it all went a bit pear-shaped. How much of this is due to the small film, ‘Sideways’, which disparaged the variety, and how much to changing taste we will never know. It largely operates as a blending component with cabernet and friends, but can work as a single variety. At its best, it is sublime – wines like petrus and masetto are compelling evidence of that. Flavours range – it can be light and with plum, oral and red-fruited characters, can offer some herbaceousness and can extend to deep chocolatey and plum pudding notes.

NEBBIOLO – The great grape of Piedmont, it is considered not to travel well to other viticulture regions, though this view is slowly disappearing. Nebbiolo is most famously described as having the aroma of tar and roses. Curious in that the colour when young can be pale, almost orange, belying its structure, power and potential ageing.

BARBERA – From Piedmont in Italy where it makes soft, red-fruited wines that have neither the structure nor the ageing potential of its more famous sibling, nebbiolo. Early days, but it is doing well here and making some extremely pleasant, well - flavoured wines.

SANGIOVESE – The famous Italian variety largely responsible for chianti (and more than a few other wines, such as brunello).

CABERNET FRANC – Cab sauv’s little brother, though an important variety in France. Most often seen as a blending component in Bordeaux and other regions; it often plays a lone hand in Loire. The leafy herbaceousness it provides is a flavour of which a little can go a long way, hence its role as a blender.

PETIT VERDOT – Another of the Bordeaux blenders, it needs to be ripe to reveal its best qualities. Then one can see denseness with power, deep flavours, plenty of tannins and rich colours.

MALBEC – Also known as Cot in France, it is yet another of the Bordeaux group and largely seen as a blending component. Move to places like Argentina and we can see it having enormous success as a single variety. It needs to be ripe so we can see its attractive, dark fruit flavours, rather than the potentially astringent tannins and leafiness.

GRENACHE – A widely planted grape that, for decades, initially received little respect in this country, but as the understanding of what old vine, low yielding grenache could offer, its stocks shot up. Also known as garnacha, there have long been disputes as to its origins, with Spain and Sardinia the main contenders. It is also the second most planted grape in France, behind merlot, and although it can reach amazing heights, most grenache - and it is one of the most planted varieties on the planet - is blended (often with shiraz and/or mourvedre or other rhone reds).

TEMPRANILLO – The great grape of Spain, especially Rioja and Ribera del Duero, it is also popular in Portugal, as tinta roriz. It accepts various varieties of oak and offers flavours ranging from spicy to red-fruited. Tempranillo is usually considered to be a variety offering lower acidity and noticeable tannins. Sometimes bottled as a single variety, it also plays well with others and is often blended.

MOURVEDRE – Known by numerous tags, including monastrell (Spanish), mataro and even esparte, this is another warm region variety, but one rarely used in anything other than blends with other ‘rhone’ varieties, most notably as part of the GSM blends – grenache, shiraz, mourvedre. The power and dense colour it provides is often too extreme for mourvedre to appear as a solo variety, but is very useful in smaller quantities as part of a blend.