Principal Wine Grape Of The World

   “The choice of Grape is the Spirit of the Wine”

A wine receives it’s legacy of flavor directly from the vine that gave up the grapes. Each vine has characteristics unique to it’s variety. A wine can be made up from a single grape variety or a blend of several. Following are 13 grape varieties and  comments on each when it is magically transformed into wine:

CABERNET-SAUVIGNON

• Rich in tannin and color
• Wonderful capacity for aging
• Well structured and elegant
• Very complex taste
• Young wines taste like red fruits (blackcurrant and raspberry)
• As it ages it tastes more like blackberry jam, pepper and aged Cassis
• Oak barrels renders to the wine new nuances and helps it become more supple.  You will find hints of oak, smoke, toast, cinnamon, and chocolate 

PINOT  NOIR

• Usually light in color, some of the best are bright ruby red
• Much more classic in smell with an incomparable finesse
• Passionate and generous, bursting with bouquet
• Delicate yet solid
• Bouquet dominated by blackcurrant with a touch of smoke
• Often has a cherry nose
• If I could give it a gender Pinot would be female, as it is round, classic and beautiful as opposed to the Cabernet-Sauvignon which would be male, as it is big, strong and powerful

MERLOT

• Ready for drinking earlier than other varieties, less tannic
• Faithful ally to Cabernet-Sauvingnon (often used to blend)
• Most famously used at Chateau Petrus, one of the worlds most expensive wines
• Gains nuances of truffle with aging 

GAMAY

• Symbol of Beaujolais wines
• Generally light in color
• Most wines are produced in a process in which the grapes are not pressed, and the juice is fermented within them. This technique prevents the oxidation of the wine and creates intense fruit aromas.
• Look for nuances of banana, apple and pinapple
• Longevity of these light wines is short

SYRAH

• Very popular wine today
• Intense, rich, strong and well structured
• Nuances of leather, pepper, tobacco, musk and cedar
• Sometimes called the “Queen of the Cote du Rhone”
• Often used to blend with other Varieties

• GRENACHE
• Most widely planted black grape in the world today
• Fleshy and heady
• Look for dried apricot nuances

SANGIOVESE

• Aromas of cinnamon and cloves
• Used extensively in Italy

NEBBIOLO

• Fruity and tannic
• Mysterious mushroom aroma found in Barolo
• Nuances of tar and smoke

CHARDONNAY

• Most celebrated of all white wines
• All white wine made in Burgundy is made from this grape
• Nose is dominated by hazelnut, bitter almonds, and underlined by toast and butter
• Immortalized by the greatness of Montrachet, Corton-Charlemagne, Mersault and Chablis
• Napa Valley in California produces a “butter yeast” flavor
• Australia produces a oily butter taste

CHENIN

• Lively, full bodied, yet delicate and fine
• Refreshing taste of apple
• Very common wine in the Loire valley in France
• Can be used to make sweet and sparkling wines
• Smooth, fills the mouth with honey

SAUVINGNON

• Fresh and lively, a very fashionable wine
• In the USA it is called Fume Blanc
• Grassy scent of the broom scrub

GEWURZTRAMINER

• Grapes are pink in color
• “gewurtz” means spiced
• Extremely aromatic wine
• Nuances of musk and rose

 RIESLING

• Wines can be dry or sweet
• Aroma is delicately grassy with hints of spice and musk
• Grown specifically in the Rhine Valley

This information will help you understand the many varieties of grapes that are used to make wine. At Pasadena Neighbourhood winery and  our Wine shops around the world these and many more varieties are offered for you  to taste and discover exactly what type of grape you prefer.  I have mentioned nuances many times, or “nose” (aroma) of the wine. Walk into a kitchen and smell freshly baked cookies. That one whiff and you are transported away to your grandmother’s kitchen with her kind face smiling down at you. Your sense of smell is a powerful yet unused ability. Like taste and sight, smell is a major factor in enjoying life and particularly wine. You will learn to identify the wines nuances and look forward to the expected aromas.