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Knowing your varieties…

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Check out our guide to some of the world’s most popular grape varieties, try them on their own or get a case of 12 different ones and organise a wine tasting to really know your Chardonnay from a Riesling!

Red grape varieties
White grape varieties
A few words on wine lingo..
Grape Varieties
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Red grape varieties
view Albera Barbera d viewCasillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon Centra view Oyster Bay Merlot, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand view Stormhoek Pinotage, Western Cape, South Afric
Barbera   Cabernet Sauvignon   Merlot   Pinotage
An Italian black grape variety that produces an almost purple wine with cherry, plum and red currant fruit characteristics. This grape variety has naturally high acidity giving a fresh red wine ready to enjoy with tomato-based sauces. Try the Albera Barbera d'Asti Superiore, Araldica, Piemonte, Italy for a good match.   Often know as the king of red wine, this thick skinned black grape variety originates from the Bordeaux area of France. It produces a deeply coloured, full-bodied wine with high tannins (see ‘a few words on wine lingo’), blackcurrant flavours and aromas of cedar and tobacco – for a good match to red meats try the Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon Central Valley, Chile.   This is a fantastic black grape variety producing soft and plummy red wines that are fruit-forward and easy to drink and enjoy. Typical flavours are plums and cherry with leafy, herbaceous notes. Try the clean and delicious Oyster Bay Merlot from New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay for a good example of this grape variety.   Now here is a black grape variety to keep in mind for summer barbecues: deeply, coloured, bold and spicy with lovely black fruit flavours! The signature black grape variety of South Africa, Pinotage is a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsaut grapes, for a good example try the Stormhoek Pinotage.
view Red Burgundy Pinot Noir, Bouchard Aîné et Fil Lindemans Bin 50 Shiraz, SE Australia
Pinot Noir   Shiraz    
This delicate grape variety makes the most delicious wines but is notoriously difficult to grow and very sensitive to climate and weather changes, hence the lack of good quality inexpensive Pinot Noir. Originating from Burgundy in France Pinot Noir produces wines that are soft and silky with red berry fruit flavours and aromas that with age develop into delightful gamey and ‘earthy’ notes. For a good introduction try Bouchard Aîné et Fils’ Red Burgundy Pinot Noir.   Know both as Shiraz and Syrah (Syrah in France and Shiraz in the New world), it’s a thick-skinned black grape producing a peppery, spicy wine with fairly high yet smooth tannins, big body and dark fruit flavours. Lindemans Bin 50 Shiraz is a good example of how this grape variety acts in a warm Australian climate.    
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White grape varieties
view Mâcon-Villages Chardonnay, Cave de Lugny, Bur view Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch, Sou view Da Luca Pinot Grigio Triveneto, Italy view Montana Riesling, Marlborough, New Zealand
Chardonnay   Chenin Blanc   Pinot Grigio   Riesling
This is a beautifully versatile white grape variety that does well both in warm and cool climates, with or without oak ageing. Similarly, it produces and array of flavours: citrus, apple, peach and more tropical fruit such as pineapple and melon. Chardonnay tends to have a quite soft texture and round mouth feel, try the Mâcon-Villages Chardonnay from Cave de Lugny from Burgundy for an un-oaked example of this great grape variety.   Grown primarily in the Loire Valley in France and South Africa, this grape variety has natural high acidity and lends itself to many styles of wine: sweet, dry, sparkling or oak-aged. It’s always flavourful with notes of peach, nuts and sometimes honey. The Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc from South Africa is a very ripe, fruity and slightly buttery version with a mouth-watering finish.   This immensely popular style of wine has taken the world by storm in the last decade and Italian vineyard plantings of Pinot Grigio have more than doubled in the last 10 years. Pinot Grigio is a light and aromatic white wine that’s sometimes just a bit too easy to drink. A good wine on its own, its gentle flavours of lemon and pear match seafood, white meats, and spicy Asian cuisine – the Da Luca Pinot Grigio from Italy is a great one!   A very aromatic and flavourful white grape variety that can produce everything from bone-dry to lusciously sweet wines. With flavours of citrus, lime, honey and the occasional note of spice, this grape produce wines that can be enjoyed young but as it has natural high acidity some of the finer examples can age fro many years. For a dry, fresh and crisp Riesling that’s brilliant with Asian cuisine try the Montana Riesling from Marlborough in New Zealand.
view Calvet Limited Release Sauvignon Blanc 2006, view Trivento Viognier, Mendoza, Argentina
Sauvignon Blanc   Viognier    
This white grape variety produces a highly aromatic wine with an array of flavours including lemon, green apple, gooseberries, asparagus and passion fruit. Seldom oaked (although there are exceptions like the Fumé Blanc from the US), Sauvignon Blanc wines are fresh, crisp and best consumed when young like the 2006 Calvet Limited Release Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux in France.   A beautifully aromatic white grape variety with origins in the France’s Rhône Valley. It can now be found around the world producing wines with apricot and peach flavours and floral aromas. For a taste of this grape variety, that’s been spoken of as being the ‘next big thing’ in the wine world, try the Argentinean Trivento Viognier.    
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A few words on wine lingo..
Tannins
Located in the skins, pips and stems of black grapes, the tannins are responsible for the ‘drying’ sensation in the mouth when drinking red wine. As a wine gets older the tannins clump together and form a deposit in the bottle thus decanting old red wines is recommended. The tannins act as a preservative for the wine and give it structure and body.

Acidity
Acidity is what makes wine refreshing and mouth-watering – it’s a good thing and all wines have it. Without acidity a wine would be dull and ‘flabby’ lacking interest and structure. The sweeter the wine, the more acidity is needed to keep it refreshing!

Sugars
All-important constituent of grapes as it converts into alcohol with the help of yeasts in a process known as alcoholic fermentation. Most wines are dry meaning that there is very little sugar left in the wine and what most people deem as sweetness is in fact just a very fruit-forward wine.
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