Most Popular Grape Varieties

To Australians, the following grape varieties are the most prevalent and arguably the most important. All are varieties that are produced in Australia successfully, or at least, successfully to our palettes!

• Sauvignon Blanc

  Sauvignon Blanc is grown in many areas of the world, most notably in the Adelaide Hills of Australia, New Zealand and France in the Loire Valley and Bordeaux. Its hallmark is prominent acidity, tropical fruit or green leafy flavours in a dry, crisp white wine. It is usually drunk very young and fresh. Oak may be used in the winemaking process, but quite often it is oakless. Generally, the younger the Sauvignon Blanc, the better. You are looking for racy, pointed acidity and fruit. Older examples tend to get a little stale and flat, and lose their grassy herbaceous characters. This grape is a favourite of the "Anything But Chardonnay" set, and good examples really do set my heart racing! As a blend, it is often used with Semillon, which makes the end result a little more mouth filling and brings the acid a little more under control.

• Chardonnay

  More Chardonnay is grown than any other grape in the world, and it is grown in almost every wine growing country in the world. Its historical home is the Chablis region of Burgundy, France. In fact Chablis is definitely the benchmark in many ways for the potential of how the Chardonnay grape can taste. For white grapes, Chardonnay is one of the bigger bodied wines available, often labelled the "red wine drinkers white wine". It is usually quite long, oily and mouth filling. It is a very rounded flavour, and even more so when the use of wood is considered. It is rarely particularly acidic, apart from some very young unwooded examples. Lining up an example from Chablis, one from California and another from the Margaret River and tasting them all in a row will give a fairly good education of what can be achieved with this grape.

  The intrinsic problem with Chardonnay is its popularity - which means that there are some very ordinary examples out there.

• Semillon

  An intriguing little grape variety this one. Its ancestral home in France is in Bordeaux, where the majority of white Bordeaux are Semillon / Sauvignon Blanc blends. As a light white wine style, the rest of the world tends to follow the Bordeaux example of blending the two grapes. They are great partners after all, with Semillon being quite a simple, oily mouth filling variety that fills out the more peaked and acidic flavours of Sauvignon Blanc. In fact, there is really only one place in the world with a real tradition of making straight Semillon, (or "varietal") being the good ol' Hunter Valley in Australia. Here, good examples show great herbaceous flavours when young, but age beautifully, with the acidity receding to wonderful toast and butter flavours. However, it's really as a sweet wine that Semillon is probably best known around the world, and again it is in Bordeaux that we find the benchmark in the region of Sauternes. Here, a natural fungal disease, botrytis cinerea attacks the grapes in the vineyard and shrivels them up, concentrating the sugars in the grapes. The resulting wine is sweet, honeyed and a little like green vegies, with an amazing capacity for aging. Often drunk as a dessert wine, the best examples also are amazingly complex, and are often a great match for aged cheeses. In the modern era in Australia, these wines are often ignored - do so and you'll miss one of the great pleasures of the wine world.

• Riesling

  There are a couple of things that have really hurt the reputation of this wonderful white wine grape. Firstly, in the mid 1970's to 1980's, Riesling was a little like Chardonnay is today, with plenty of cheap, badly made wine fizzing on the tongue with sticky residual sugar. The ancestral homes of the grape, Germany and Alsace in France, are among the colder regions of the winemaking world. The grapes rarely ripen fully, meaning that the acid content of the grapes is quite high. In order to combat the high acid, winemakers in Germany tended to leave higher sugar content in the wines. This German winemaking style infected the New World (or, the "johnny-come-latelies" of the wine world such as Australia, the US and South Africa) when they started to make Riesling based wines. However, without the high acid from the colder regions, the wines were simply too sweet and sugary.

  In the last ten to fifteen years, New World winemakers started to figure out how to use the grape in regions where the grapes tend to ripen more. A more fruit driven, floral, flinty dry style of Riesling started to emerge from areas like Clare Valley in South Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand.

  Riesling tends to produce excellent bargains, as it is cheaper to make (no oak, no maturing) but still suffers some of the stigma of those who remember what Riesling used to be like?

  Another fact about this grape is that all over the world, much wine was made under the assumption that it was Riesling, when it in fact has proven to be other grape varieties. Australia was invaded by the grape Crouchen, Eastern Europe with various grapes such as Olasz, Laksi and Welschrielsing. Much of the resultant wine was horrible, and the "real" Riesling's reputation suffered.

  Aged Riesling is a much-prized wine by many. The wine goes a deep amber / gold colour, and as the fresh acidity, citrus and flower notes recede into the wine with age, the taste tends to become much dryer and almost tart. Aged Riesling can be very complex, but to many wine lovers it is a real acquired taste.

• Cabernet Sauvignon

  Very small grapes with thick skins make for a high "skin to pulp ratio" for all Cabernet Sauvignon based wines. This tends to mean the wines are of a deep red colour with good tannins and great aging potential. The vine is also great adapter to different soil, climate and weather. This then explains why almost every winemaking country in the world has a large Cabernet presence. In its ancestral home in arguably the world's most famous red wine region, Bordeaux in France, it is used to make what many consider the world's most sought after red wines. Most Bordeaux is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, with varying amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc included in the blend. These wines tend to be at the extreme end of the scale for Cabernet wines - bone dry, with huge tough tasting tannins, wines built for years in the cellar rather than quaffing young and fresh. Try dropping the names of Graves and Medoc in your next dinner party with the rich wine swilling uncle and you will watch him salivate uncontrollably. They are the areas in Bordeaux that provide the most sought after patches of Cabernet.

  In areas of the New World, the grape tends to produce far fruitier wines, though the tannins and dryness still tend to be a factor. The cliché taste notes tend to be blackcurrant fruit flavours and some green, grassy or eucalyptus characters. The wines are almost universally matured in oak, so wood vanillin notes will also be present. Generally speaking, the hotter and sunnier the climate, the riper and more alcoholic the wine. In Australia, the Coonawarra, Margaret River and the Barossa are Cabernet renowned.

  Cabernet is definitely the "King" of red wine grapes, produced in more countries in the world than any other.

• Merlot

  Merlot is the "other" main grape variety from Bordeaux in France. Merlot suffers from a bad rap with wine toffs - pretty tough crowd to please when you are a routine element of the most sought after red wines in the world together with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. But it is just this fact that works against poor old Merlot - it is a great team player, providing a more rounded and mouth-filling presence to Cabernet Sauvignon, but by itself can tend to be less than complex. Good examples of Merlot are like rich fruit cake in taste, and in Bordeaux the hallowed turf of Pomerol and St Emilion are its home. In almost all other cases around the world, where you find Cabernet, you will find Merlot.

  When not included in blends to add that extra "something" Merlot is more than able to produce excellent wine by itself. Finding the good in amongst the simple tasting stuff is a challenge, though. I guess it is fair to say that great straight Merlot wine is rare. Wine newcomers often are taken by Merlot's simplicity - it is rounded, full, smooth, and not often demanding of the taste buds.

  In fact, Merlot is so often thought of as having no character that one of the most enduring debates in the wine world is to even define what Merlot should taste like!

• Pinot Noir

  Throughout history, the story of the rise to world power of red wine is, for the most part, the story of two high quality French regions - Bordeaux and Burgundy. In simple terms, the rough and tough Bordeaux, and the enigmatic, chameleon Burgundy. Great red Burgundy comes from Pinot Noir.

  At the outset, Pinot Noir is a much lighter style of grape than many other red varieties, and so produces wines that are often described as more "elegant". The best examples of Pinot Noir are extremely complex - in fact, tasting notes of Pinot Noir often tend to seem as if they are contradicting themselves in flavour descriptors. (at least, mine always seem too!) Pinot often seems to have a steely spine to it, almost metallic notes. This is often matched with a real fleshy fruity character as well, and sweaty, farmy types of notes. The acidity and tannins, embodied in a lighter style, tend to make Pinot a great food wine.

  Pinot is a variety that is extremely difficult to cope with in the vineyard. There are many examples through history of ordinary Pinot, probably from a grape grower struggling with the vines. New Zealand and North America are producing excellent New World examples, while in Australia - Tasmania is probably your best bet.

• Shiraz / Syrah

  I am going to go out on a limb and say, as a proud Australian, Shiraz could easily have been relegated to being a second rate grape variety until Australians worked out how to make excellent wines from it, to sell to the rest of the world. The grape, known as Syrah in France, was used in the Rhone Valley and most famously in the area of Hermitage. To many Aussies, Hermitage is a grape - sorry to say, but it is actually a place where French Shiraz comes from!

  French examples are dryer and higher in acid, which tends to accentuate the peppery spices that the grape is known for. In Australia, the more-of-everything approach was (and still is!) used in the Barossa to good effect (think the most well known Shiraz "Penfolds Grange" although of course the exact makeup of Grange is a well guarded secret) with big bodied, high alcohol and high fruit wines where the spice is a little more circumspect. In the Hunter Valley, the style tends to mirror the drier, slightly lighter styles of France, but still retains a fruity character.

  Australia's great success with Shiraz, and the fact that the vines are fairly hardy, has encouraged many other places in the world to give it a go, from Chile, the US, Italy, Spain and, somewhat surprisingly, Southern France.

Other Grape Varieties

• Barbera

  A real leader in the wine world in Italy, mainly found in the Piedmont area. It is used to make mainly dry red, however can also be found in sweeter red and sparkling examples. Argentina and California also have some examples, but Australia does not produce much, although it certainly exists.

• Cabernet Franc

  An important variety whose ancestral home can be found in France, in the revered region of Bordeaux. It is fair to say that it is seen as the poorer cousin of Cabernet Sauvignon, with whom it is often blended in the "Bordeaux" style along with Merlot. Where Cab Sav flourishes and grows around the world (i.e. everywhere) you will often find Cab Franc, but in smaller quantities. Used mainly in dry red styles.

• Carignan / Carignane

  Spanish in origin, but finding its home mainly in France and California. Mainly used in lighter, easy drinking red styles, but is a component of the famous wines from Rioja in Spain.

• Chambourcin

  A hybrid born in France where it is also grown, along with the US and Australia. A light to medium bodied dry red wine, often with pronounced colour and fruitiness. Quite a few producers in the Hunter Valley are making it their lighter red of choice.

• Chenin Blanc

  The major player in France's Loire Valley, this grape has also found a home in California, Chile, Argentina, and to a vast extent in South Africa. In Australia the South Australian regions grow a little, and most WA producers also grow it in small amounts. Mainly used for dry white wine with forward fruit character, it also can produce good sweet wine when affected by botrytis.

• Cinsaut / Cinsault / Cinqsaou

  Grown mainly in the south of France and South Africa. (Where it is curiously known as Hermitage) this grape makes dry red wine of good colour and low tannin, often used in blending to "flesh out" or "smooth" tougher elements.

• Clairette

  A major player in the south of France and also grown in South Africa. A bit of a winemaking wild card - it makes dry white, sparkling, and can be often found in red blends as well. If you look hard for it, you will find some in the Hunter Valley. (and quite good it is too!)

• Colombard

  Its heart is in the Bordeaux region of France, however it is grown mainly in California and South Africa. Used almost entirely as a blending agent in dry white wine due to its acidity, in some sparkling wine, and in Brandy production.

• Dolcetto

  An important grape in Piemonte in Italy, but is not widely grown elsewhere. Used to make medium bodied dry red wine. Produces highly regarded appellation wines.

• Durif

  Born in the Rhone Valley in France, but lost favour with the strict French appellation guardians. Grown in varying amounts around the world, none to a vast extent. Produces a big bodied, tannic dry red wine.

• Furmint

  A famous grape variety that is found around the world, but not to any large degree, apart from one place...Hungary. It is used to make dry white wine in years when botrytis does not produce enough noble rot to produce a sweet wine. Tokaji Aszu is the most famous example, in which Furmint is often blended with another grape variety named Harslevelu.

• Gamay

  French and proud, Gamay is the grape that produces French Beaujolais, and is also grown in other areas of Burgundy and the Loire Valley, as well as the north of Italy. Dry, slightly bitter, light red wine.

• Grenache / Garnacha

  very important European variety, grown very widely in Spain, France, Sardinia, Sicily and Southern Italy. For the rest of the world, California and Australia are the most important areas. It is often used alone in rosé, and rarely as a fuller bodied red wine. More often it is blended with countless other varieties, including Shiraz, Carignan, Mataro, Cinsaut, and sometimes Clairette.

• Grüner Veltliner

  Austria's biggest grape variety, and not grown in many other places. Produces a dry white wine that is fresh and crisp, with a distinctive pepper nose and taste.

• Malbec

  French in origin, this variety is based in Gironde, with some vines east of Bordeaux and in the Loire Valley. It is almost non-existent in the rest of Europe, however it is a very important variety in South America, especially Argentina and Chile. Australia does have some, but it is not what you would call an important variety. It is usually a good blender, acting as a softening agent to Cabernet based blends. It is mainly used in dry red wine or rosé.

• Marsanne

  Not a particularly important variety in France, where it is based in the Hermitage area of the Rhone Valley, it is also found in Switzerland as Ermitage. In Australia, it is found in northeastern Victoria and NSW. Marsanne is used to make light easy drinking white wine as a straight varietal, but is often paired with Roussanne to make a higher quality wine.

• Mataro / Mourvedre

  Based in southern Europe where it finds the warmth it seems to need, especially the south of France (mainly in Provence where it is called Mourvedre) and Spain. Australia has some plantings in South Australia, NSW and a little in Victoria. Usually used to make a dry red wine, often known for its astringency and without a lot of flavour.

• Melon / Muscadet

  Has its origins in Burgundy, but is probably better known as a variety based in the Loire Valley, where it is known as Muscadet. It is grown in California as Pinot Blanc, and can be known in Australia under all three names. They produce dry, freshly drunk white wine, and the examples from the Loire can be highly recommended.

• Müller-Thurgau

  The leading grape variety of Germany in terms of volume, it also is grown in Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary. It is very like Riesling in character, which is a proven parent of the variety, making dry, crisp white wine.

• Muscadelle / Tokay / Sauvignon Vert

  a minor component of many Bordeaux varieties, including Sauternes and Graves. It is grown in Australia but known as Tokay, and has been very established in the past in California as Sauvignon Vert. It makes a dry white wine, often used in small components in blends for its strong varietal character, which can be a little overt. The Tokay of Australia is a sweet, thick dessert based wine made from raisoned grapes.

• Nebbiolo

  The "noblest" variety of Italy, with its home in Piedmont, it is the grape that produces Barolo - one of Italy's most famous (and expensive!) appellation wines. Most other wine countries have produced Nebbiolo, many influenced by the Barolo style. Argentina has the most Nebbiolo in production. However, none match the wines produced in Italy. The wine is heavy bodied, tannic, tart dry red wine.

• Petit Verdot

  a minor component used in red wines of Bordeaux, it is steadily decreasing in use in this region due to its susceptibility to late rains during harvest. It can be found in California and in small amounts in Australia, with the most in McLaren Vale. Its main use is to add colour and tannin when used in small amounts in red blends. It is finding itself used as a straight varietal wine more and more in California.

• Pinotage

  Belongs to South Africa, created in the Stellenbosch region by cross-pollinating Pinot Noir and Cinsaut. (Although it is commonly thought to be a Shiraz cross.) It makes a dry red wine sharing many characteristics of Pinot Noir, but usually with a little more colour and less complexity.

• Pinot Gris / Pinot Grigio / Rulander

  Grown right round the world, in France (mainly in Alsace) as Pinot Gris, in Germany as Rulander, and in Italy as Pinot Grigio. Starting to gain attention very recently in Australia. It is used to make either a dry white wine or a sweet white wine, albeit with quite an intense golden colour.

• Pinot Meunier

  The major variety of the Champagne region in France, where it is one of the major components of Champagne. It also has some plantings in Germany, and some small parcels in Australia where it is used to make a dry red wine.

• Roussanne

  Becoming rarer and rarer. Has its home in the Rhone Valley of France, and is grown also in Tuscany and in small amounts in the new world. Roussanne is mainly blended with Marsanne to produce dry white wine that can be aged quite readily.

• Sangiovese

  The leading grape variety of Italy, most famously known for being the major grape in Chianti, and is thought to have originated in Tuscany. It is grown in almost all areas in Italy. It is also grown in Argentina, and producers have started to experiment more in Australia. It makes both a lighter styled dry red wine, but can also be made in a heavier bodied, higher alcoholic style.

• Sylvaner

  Found all over southeast Europe, but mainly thought of as a German variety, there have only been some small plantings in California and Australia. Used often in blending, it can be either quite neutral or quite fruity as a dry white wine.

• Tarrango

  A "true blue" Australian CSIRO invention! A cross of the sultana grape and the Portuguese variety Touriga, Tarrango is grown mainly along the Murray River, but not in overly large quantities. Used as both a dry red wine with good fruit and colour, and as a sparkling wine base.

• Tempranillo

  An important grape of Spain, and an important component of the wines of Rioja. It is also grown in Portugal, Italy, the Mediterranean region of France, and is arguably the most important vine of Argentina. It produces a dry red wine of deep, bluish colour to be drunk young and fresh. In Portugal, the Tinta Roriz variety of this grape is very highly regarded for Port.

• Traminer

  A highly regarded grape with its home in Germany as Gewurztraminer. A highly aromatic white wine style, often with forward fruit and in cooler climes crisp acid. It is also a style that works well with botrytis-affected grapes for sweeter styles.

• Trebbiano

  The leading white wine grape of Italy, and a large producer in the south of France, especially Cognac. Makes crisp acidic white wine, as well as a base for brandy. It is used in famous wines as a component, including Chianti and Cotes du Rhone.

• Verdelho

  Portuguese in origin, grown on the island of Madeira and in the Douro Valley, as well as some small amounts in the Loire Valley in France. In Australia, it can be found in WA, SA and NSW. It is quite prominent on the wine lists of Hunter Valley producers. In France and Australia it is used for white table wine, with good fruit flavours and even some aging potential in well-made examples. In Portugal, it is used for White Port and some varieties of Madeira.

• Viognier

  Has its origins in France, although in small amounts. As Cote-Rotie it is used to bring a "lift" to Shiraz based wines, and in Condrieu, it is used to make a white wine. It has seen a fair amount of interest in Australia where a number of producers from different regions are experimenting, both with the white wine and using it with Shiraz.

• Zinfandel

  Known as the second most widely grown red grape in California after Cabernet Sauvignon. Recent research suggests that it is the Italian variety Primitivo, grown in the province of Taranto. As a dry red wine, it produces a heavy bodied wine, often high in alcohol and with good flavour that is rarely blended. It is also known to produce White Zinfandel, which is actually more of a rosé, which is a little less flavoursome in most instances.