Top 25 Grapes

Question 1

Albarino

Answer 1

• Region of Rias Baixas along northeastern Spain’s ruggedly beautiful and very green northwestern coast
• Floral and citrusy
• Rarely made or aged in oak
• best when young and snappy

Question 2

Barbera

Answer 2

• Most widely planted red grape in the northwestern Italian region of Piedmont
• All of the great barberas come from Piedmont, and the grape is rarely planted elsewhere, although there is a small amount grown in northern California

Question 3

Cabernet Franc

Answer 3

On the so-called “Right Bank” of Bordeaux, in the appellations Pomerol and St.-Emilion, cabernet franc can make up 50% of the blend or more as is often the case with the legendary Bordeaux wine Chateau Cheval Blanc

• Distinct green bell pepper character - the result of compounds in the wine known as pyazines
• In warmer years, when sugars are high and pyrazines fall, cabernet franc can be fantastic, with its violet or irislike aromas and minerally, dark chocolaty flavors
• Cabernet franc originated ot to the southwest of France, in Spain’s basque country, and from there was brought northeastern to Bordeaux

Question 4

Cabernet Sauvignon

Answer 4

• Cabernet sauvignon’s aromas and flavors are well known and easy to identify
• Blackberry, black currant, cassis, mint, cedar, graphite, licorice, leather, green tobacco, cigar, black plums, dark chocolate, sandalwood
• High in pyrazines - compounds in grape skins that giv the final wine a bell pepper flavor

Question 5

Chardonnay

Answer 5

• vanilla, butter, butterscotch, buttered toast, custard, minerals, green apples, exotic citrus fruits
• Effusive textures - creamy, lush, full-bodied
• Lean, racy, lightning-crisp Chablis (100% Chardonnay) is an exception to the norm
• Barrel fermentation, malolactic fermentation, sure lie aging, and so on - chardonnay often gets the whole nine yards of technical possibility

Question 6

Chenin Blanc

Answer 6

• Most famous version is Loire Valley of France, specifically from the appellations Vouvray and savemieres
• Flavor of apples and honey (though not necessarily sweet)
• Acidity, minerally
• Well-known white grape in South Africa, where it sometimes known as seen
• Most CA chenin blan grapes are over-copped for high yields

Question 7

Gamay

Answer 7

• Lowest in tannin and tus, structurally speaking, more like a white wine than a red
• Fruity
• Flavors exude a sense of crushed rock and minerals
• Most serious, best gamays in the world are from small producers in one of the ten “cru” villages within the Beaujolais region

Question 8

Gewurztraminer

Answer 8

• Roses, lychees, gingerbread, orange marmalade, grapefruit pith, fruit-cocktail syrup
• Made in France, in the northeastern region of Alsace
• Region of Trentino-Alto Adige, IT is another good region

Question 9

Grenache

Answer 9

• White grape (grenahce blanc) and a red (grenache noir)
• Red grenahce noir is especially valued and makes a slew of stunning wines around the world
  Southern French: CnDP, Cotes-du-Rhone, and Gigondas, as well as the top grape in many northern region of Spain, including Campo de Borja and Priorat
• Great wines when they are old in Australia
• Genetically unstable’ difficult to grow, challenging to make into wine
• Evocative aroma and flavor of cherry preserves
• In most places where it is grown, grenahce is blended with other varieties - carignan, syrah, and ouvedre

Question 10

Gruner Veltliner

Answer 10

• The leading white wine of Austria
• Grape especially excels in the pristine vineyards along the flowing Danube river north and west of Vienna
• With the exception of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and a few other, smaller areas in Eastern Europe, gruener veltliner is grown virtually no place else
• White pepper aroma and flavor, along with a subtle hint of green legumes
• never blended with other grapes and is made in a purist manner, which almost never involves new oak
• high in natural acidity

Question 11

Malbec

Answer 11

• AKA cot
• Malbec generally makes up less than 10% of any Bordeaux wine - if it’s used at all
• Argentina, where it is now the leading grape for red wines
• Grwon in dry, sunny, extremely high altitude vineyards
  Argentina: varietal wine, not part of a blend
• Low in acidity and slightly less tannic than cabernet sauvignon
• deep, inky color, and plummy, mocha, earthy aromas and flavors
• Historic grape of Cahors in South western France, where it has traditionally been known by cot
  Cahors grape makes a rough-edged, tannic wine

Question 12

Musky

Answer 12

Term used to describe fruity, feminine wines with aromatic allure

Question 13

Merlot

Answer 13

• Aromas and flavors include blackberry, cassis, baked cherries, plums, licorice, dark chocolate, and mocha
• Typically lacks cabernet sauvignon’s occasional hint of green tobacco or dried mint
• Most famous region for merlot has historically been the Bordeaux region of France
• Planted mostly outside of the medoc, especially renowned on the Right Bank int eh appellation of Pomerol and St-Emilion
• merlot is almost alway blended with Cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and possibly mabec and/or petit verdot
• Northern Italy and Long Island; Chile and Washington State wines have a sleek style

Question 14

Mourvedre

Answer 14

• Spanish in origin
• Grown in numerous provinces in the south-central region of Castilla-La Mancha
• In southern France, a small amount of Mourvedre is often used to give depth, color and kick to Rhone blends such as CndP and Cotes-du-Rhone

Question 15

Muscat

Answer 15

• Muscat is not a single variety, but rather, a large group of different ancient grapes that have grown around the Mediterranean for centries
• What most of these muscats share isn’t eh distinct, awesomely fruity muscat aroma
• In Alsace, France,a nd in Austria, they are made into fantastic dry still wines (and are often served with asparagus)
• In southern Italy and Spain, various muscats are dried on mats (passito) then made into dessert wines

Question 16

nebbiolo

Answer 16

• One of the oldest and most important varieties in piedmont
• Massively structure and adamantly tannic when young
• Grape makes the exalted Piedmontese wines barolo and barbaresco
• Flavors and aromas reminiscent of tar, violets, and often a rich, espresso-like bitterness from eh wine’s pronounced tannin

Question 17

Pinot Gris

Answer 17

• The best-known pinot girs - italian pinot grigio - is unquestionably usually teh lowest in quality
• Pinot gris from Alsace, France - complex, opulent, often a bit smoky and spicy, but still precise and crisp
• Germany: called grauburgunder can be something else - broad, even Rubenesque by German wine standards
• Oregon: tasty with pear and spice-cake flavors
• California: Crisp, fresh wines, sometimes with an edge of pepperiness or arugula-like bitterness
• Pinot gris is not, technically speaking, its own variety
• Pinot gris is a clone of pinot noir

Question 18

Pinot noir

Answer 18

• Grape is thought to have come into existence in north eastern France
• By virtue of its old age and its genetic instability, pinot noir has also begottenhundreds of clones of itself; the most well known is undoubtedly pinot meunier, the so-called third variety grown in Champagne, France
• 2 other clones are color mutations - pinot blac and pino gris
• best pinos can exude not only fruit flavors - warm baked cherries, plums, rhubarb, pomegranate, strawberry jam - but also the sense of damp earth and rotting leaves (Frech call this sous bois, or forest floor), plus mushrooms, worn leather, and what’s sometimes in Europe called animal - a highly attractive male sweaty smell
• lihter in body and far less tannic than cabernet sauvignon, merlot, or syrah
• lighter in color
• Pinot noir is highly sensitive to climate changes and variations in soil composition, and it oxidizes easily during winemaking
• The region fo Burgundy, in France, where all teh red wines (except Beaujolais) are made from pinot noir is, historically, the most renowned area for the variety
• oregon has specialized in pinot noir, and New Zealand, California

Question 19

Riesling

Answer 19

• Soaring acidity, an incomparable sense of purity and vividness, plus considerable extract
• high acidity, high extract, and relatively low alcohol leads to intensely flavorful wines of ravishing delicacy, transparency, and gracefulness
• Flavors of fresh ripe peaches, apricots, and melons often pierced with a vibrant mineral quality, like the taste of water running over stones in a mountain stream
• Doesn’t grow well in very warm places, and even in cooler sites,t eh quality and character of the wine can vary enormously
  Best: Germany, the Alsace region of France, Austria, Slovenia, Canada, and upstate new york

Question 20

Sangiovese

Answer 20

• Three great wines of Tuscany: Chianti Classico, Vino nobile di Montepulciano, and brunello di Montalcino
• Super Tuscan
• In flavor and structure, Sangiovese is again closer to pinot noir than it is to cabernet sauvignon
• structure primarily from acidity
• Young: fresh, warm, cherry pie
• Ages: dried leaf, dried orange peel, tea, mocha, spicy, peaty, earthy flavors, and a fabulous sensation of minerality, even saltiness

Question 21

Sauvignon Blanc

Answer 21

• Straw, hay, grass, smoke, green tea, green herbs, lime, and gunflint
• Some sauvignon push teh envelope even further, taking on a feral, acrid character wine pros describe as cat pee (this is usually considered a positive attribute)
• Best: Loire valley of France (Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume), from New Zealand, and froM Austria; South Africa, Chile
• Bordeaux: blend of sauvignon blanc plus semillion
• Tart herbalness is mellowed by semillon’s broad, clean character
• Synonyms for sauvignon blanc fume or fume blanc
• Sauvignon blanc can become vegetal if it’s made from unripe grapes

Question 22

Semillon

Answer 22

• Semillon is ideal for Sauternes, as the grapes’ thin skins and loose bunches are readily attacked by teh noble rot
• Some fo the greatest dry semillons in the world are madein Australia, where the wines are considered national treasures
• Bears almost no resemblance ot the broad, lush semillons of Bordeaux
• tart and full of almost tensile energy wien young
  Age: rich, honeyed flavors, a cashewlike nuttiness; lanolin-like texture

Question 23

Syrah

Answer 23

• France: syrah’s potent and exuberant aromas and flavors lean toward leather, smoke, roasted meats, bacon, game, coffee, spices, iron, back olive, and especially white and black pepper
• most dramatic: northern Rhone Valley - Hermitage, Cote-Rotie, Cornas with only Syrah allowed
• Southern Rhone Valley: part of the blends that make of CnDP and Gigondas
• Shiraz - Australia’s most famous red wine in appellations such as Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, and several others

Question 24

Tempranillo

Answer 24

• Main grap ein teh country’s famous wine region of Rioja
• Can resemble red Burgundy (pinot noir) in its refinement, earthiness, and complexity
• Clones of tempranillo have, over time, adopted to spain’s diverse regions, and the wines that have resulted often have such highly differentiated characters that hey almost seem like separate varieties
• Usually well structure and well balanced
• Significant tannin
• Acidity gives the wines made from it a sense of precision, yet tempranillo is not as high in acidity as pinot noir
• Young: burst of cherries
• Aging: deep, complex, earthiness
• Portugal: titnta roriz and is one of the grapes that make up port wines

Question 25

Viognier

Answer 25

• Today, fewer than 300 acres are planted int eh grape’s home, the northern Rhone
• northern Rhone: Condriew and Chateau-Rillet
• Small amount is also planted in among the syrah vines of the Cote-Rotie
• Usually a full-bodied wine with honeysuckle, apricot, gingerbread, and musky aromas and flavors, and a mesmerizingly lanolinish texture
• well known in Australia

Question 26

Zinfandel

Answer 26

• It can be made into everything form blush wine to sweet fortified wine
• Soft-textured dry red wine rammed with jammy black-berry, boysenberry, and plummy fruit
• Concentrated, medium to full in body
• CA: 1830s, imported from Croatia
• In southern Italy, where it grows predominantly in the region of Apulia, the same grape has yet another distinct name: primitivo