Wine Grape Varieties

a simple guide to the fruit that makes wine so wonderful….

You don’t have to drink wine all of the time to appreciate its qualities and you don’t have to drink exclusive vintage bottles to get the best wine experience. The key to a wine’s taste and aroma is the grape that is used to make it – so, let’s take a look at some of the more common wine grape varieties and their qualities.

The first thing that you need to know about grapes is that sometimes the wine they make is named after them and sometimes it isn’t. For example, wine labels from places such as Europe will carry the name of the region – so, if you buy a bottle of Beaujolais, you’ll know that it came from the Beaujolais region of France.

However, vineyard wine from countries in other regions (known as the New World in winery terms) such as Australia and the USA will usually be named after the grape that was used for making wine. So, if you buy a bottle of Riesling here then it will have been made with the Riesling gra

But – at the end of the day – you don’t need to panic about the wine to buy. The big secret here is that the same grapes go into the wines – they are just named differently! So, let’s take a look at some of the big names in the wine grape game and the role they play in some the major wines named after their regions…..

Cabernet Sauvignon – Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are probably the best known red wine grapes in the world – they go towards producing some of the finest vintage wines including Chateau Latour and Chateau Mouton-Rothschild as well as Bordeaux wines.

Chardonnay – the Chardonnay grape is one of the most popular white wine grapes in the world. As well as Chardonnay it can be used to produce Champagne, Chablis and Meursault wines.

Merlot – the Merlot grape is best known for producing red wine. Its best known wine is probably Saint-Emilion. It is also used with Cabernet Sauvignon to produce Bordeaux wines.

Pinot Noir – the Pinot Noir grape is used to produce Burgundy wines and can also produce some great tasting Champagne.

Riesling – this is one of the great German grapes which are now grown in other areas making wine all over the world. Check out Rhine Riesling if you want to try the original grape.

Sauvignon Blanc – this white wine grape is best known as helping produce Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume.

Semillon – this grape is best known for its partnership with Sauvignon Blanc to produce the world famous Sauternes wines.

So, don’t be confused next time you go to a store to buy a bottle of wine – they may all have different names but the grapes remain the same!