banana wine making_5

Banana Wine

Ingredients

* 4 1/2 lbs. bananas
* 1/2 lbs. chopped golden raisins
* 3 lbs. granulated sugar
* 1 lemon (juice only)
* 1 orange (juice only)
* 1 gallon water
* wine yeast and nutrient

Peel and chop bananas and their peels, placing both in grain-bag and tie closed. Place grain-bag in large pan or boiler with water and bring to boil, then gently simmer for 30 minutes. Pour the hot liquor over sugar and lemon/orange juice in primary fermentation vessel and stir to dissolve sugar. When cool enough to handle, squeeze grain-bag to extract as much liquid as possible and add to vessel. When liquor cools to 70 degrees F., add yeast and nutrient. Cover and set aside in warm place one week, stirring daily. Move to a cooler place (60-65 degrees F.) and allow to sit undisturbed for two months. Siphon liquor off sediment into secondary fermentation vessel, add chopped raisins, and fit airlock. Rack after four months and again in another four months. Bottle after six months. Improves with age.

Banana Wine (Heavy Bodied)

* 3-1/2 lbs. bananas
* 1 lbs. chopped golden raisins
* 2 lbs. granulated sugar
* 1-1/4 tsp. acid blend
* 1 tsp. pectic enzyme
* 1/4 tsp. grape tannin
* 1 gallon water
* wine yeast and nutrient

Slice bananas into thin slices, leaving skins on fruit. Put into grain-bag, tie top, and place in 6 pints water. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove grain-bag to bowl to catch drippings while pouring liquor over sugar in primary fermentation vessel and stirring well to dissolve sugar. Add acid blend, pectic enzyme and tannin, stirring again. When grain-bag cools, squeeze to extract as much liquid as possible and add liquid and drippings to liquor, discarding pulp. When liquor cools to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, add yeast and nutrient. Cover and set in warm place for seven days, stirring daily. Pour into secondary fermentation vessel, fit airlock, and move to cooler place, leaving undisturbed for two months. Siphon off sediment, add chopped raisins, and add water to bring to one gallon. Ferment another four months. Rack and allow to clear. Rack again and bottle. May taste after six months, but matures at two years.

Banana Wine (Medium Bodied)

* 12-16 oz. dried bananas
* 1/2 lbs. chopped raisins
* 2 tsp. citric acid
* 2-1/4 lbs. light brown sugar
* 1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme
* 1 gallon water
* Sherry yeast and nutrient

Simmer dried bananas in pressure cooker with 1/2 the water for 10 minutes. Pour over sugar, chopped raisins and citric acid in primary fermentation vessel and stir to dissolve sugar. When cool (70 degrees F.) add pectic enzyme, remaining water, and cover well. Set aside for 24 hours and add yeast and nutrient. Stir daily for one week, keeping well covered. Strain into secondary fermentation vessel, top to one gallon with water, fit airlock, and move to cooler (60 degrees F.) place. Rack after 30 days and again after another 60 days. When clear, rack and bottle. May taste after six months, but requires one year to mature.

Banana Wine (Medium Bodied 2)

* 3 1/2 lbs. bananas
* 1/4 lbs. chopped golden raisins
* 2 lbs. granulated sugar
* 1 lemon
* 1 orange
* 1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme
* 1 gallon water
* wine yeast and nutrient

Peel and chop bananas and their peels, placing both in grain-bag with zest from lemon and orange. Tie closed and place in large pan or boiler with 5-1/2 pints water and bring to boil, then gently simmer for 30 minutes. Pour hot liquor over sugar and lemon/orange juice in primary fermentation vessel and stir to dissolve sugar. When cool enough to handle, squeeze grain-bag to extract as much liquid as possible and add to vessel. When liquor cools to 70 degrees F., add pectic enzyme, yeast and nutrient. Cover well and leave in warm place for one week, stirring daily. Move to a cooler place (60-65 degrees F.) and allow to sit undisturbed for two months. Siphon liquor off sediment into secondary fermentation vessel, add chopped raisins, top up to one gallon with water, and fit airlock. Rack after four months and again in another four months. Bottle and sample after six months. Improves with age.

banana wine making_4

Winemaking Ingredients: Banana Wine - Wine Making Guides
2 1/2 lb / 1,100 grams mashed bananas
2 lb / 900 grams sugar
1/2 pint strong black tea
1 tablespoon citric acid
Water up to 1 gallon
Yeast nutrient
Sacch. Oryza wine yeast

Winemaking Method: Banana Wine - Wine Making Guides
Place bananas in water and bring to the boil. Strain and pour into a fermentation bucket over the sugar, stirring vigorously to dissolve. When cool add the citric acid, strong tea, yeast nutrient and wine yeast. Cover and leave to ferment for five days stirring daily. Using a fine sieve strain the liquid into a demijohn and use an airlock to seal the jar.

Store in a warm place and allow the fermentation to work. When fermentation has ceased, rack the wine into a clean jar and place in a cooler environment and leave for a further few months. When the wine is clear and stable siphon into bottles.

The cereal wine yeast works on the starch and stops this wine from becoming hazy.

banana wine making_3

Recipe file created June 26, 2001.
You must be very patient to make this wine. It takes a long time to clear. Using very ripe fruit will improve the clearing time.
Add some starch enzyme if you have it.

Ingredients
The best wines are made from scratch.

* 3 pounds bananas
* 1 1/2 cups light raisins
* 5 cups granulated sugar
* 2 lemons
* 2 campden tablets
* 1 teaspoon nutrients
* water
* 1 package wine yeast

Peel and slice bananas. Chop 1/10 to 1/2 of the banana peels. Place both in a large saucepan with 6 cups water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain out pulp.

Put sugar, raisins, campden tablets and the juice of the lemons into primary fermentor. Pour hot banana liquid over sugar mixture and stir to dissolve. Make up to 1 gallon with cold water. Let sit overnight.

The next day, add nutrients and yeast. Leave for 5 days, stirring daily. There will be heavy foaming during fermentation.

On the fifth day, siphon into secondary fermentor before stirring, being careful not to disturb the sediment on the bottom. If necessary, make up to volume with water. Attach airlock. Siphon the wine off the sediment after three weeks. Return wine to fermentor.

For a dry wine, Rack every three months for a year.

For a sweet wine, add 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup wine at each racking until fermentation does not start again when sugar is added.

Continue racking wine every two to three months until it is clear. Bottle.
Variation

* Use brown sugar (or demerara sugar) in place of the granulated sugar.
* For a spiced wine, add one or all of the following:
o 1 ounce bruised ginger root
o 1 ounce whole cloves
o 1 - 4 inch cinnamon stick
* If you want to leave out the banana peels, add 1/4 teaspoon tannin.

banana wine making_2

Banana wine is one of the latest processed products of banana to enter the market. The procedure how to make banana beer is known (it is somewhere here in this blog), but how do we make banana wine?

Procedure:

* Peel ripe bananas and slice thinly
* Measure. To every one part sliced bananas, add one-and-one-a-half parts water.
* Boil for 30 minutes or longer depending upon the quantity of the pulp.
* Strain
* Add sugar to the extract (one part sugar to every three parts extract).
* Stir and boil to dissolve the sugar. Sugar content should be 22-24 degrees. Brix.
* Allow to cool.
* Place in clean glass container or demi-johns.
* Inoculate with yeast (one tablespoon Red Star yeast to every 40 liters of boiled sweetened juice).
* Plug mouth of demi-john with a clean piece of paper to protect from dust.
* Ferment for a mouth.
* Siphon out the clear fermented liquid.
* Filter and transfer to a sterilized oak barrel for aging
* Cover hole with a wooden plug and seal with melted paraffin
* Age for two years or longer.
* Clarify the wine with eggwhites (eight eggwhites for every 30 liters of wine) by heating the aged wine in stream bath or heating the age wine in steam bath or a double boiler to a temperature of 55-60 degrees Celsius while adding the well-beaten eggwhites.
* Stir to maintain the temperature to 15-20 minutes.
* Cool.
* Filter the wine and bottle by siphoning into clear and sterilized bottles.

banana wine making

Banana wine can be made dry or sweet depending upon the recipe and can be blended with other wines to add body and flavor. Patience is required when making this wine because it takes a long time to become clear. The following recipe will show you how to make your own banana wine.

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Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Instructions
Things You'll Need:

* 3 pounds bananas
* Saucepan
* 6 cups water
* Straining bag
* 5 cups granulated sugar
* Primary and secondary fermentors
* 1 ½ cup light-colored raisins
* 2 campden tablets
* 2 lemons
* 1 teaspoon nutrients
* 1 package of wine yeast
* Airlock
* Siphoning equipment

1.
Step 1

Peel 3 pounds of bananas and mash them or slice them thin. Chop up to half of the banana peels into small pieces.
2.
Step 2

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil and place the bananas and the chopped peelings into the saucepan. Simmer for 30 minutes and strain with a straining bag.
3.
Step 3

Measure out 5 cups of granulated sugar into a primary fermenter. Add 1 ½ cups of light-colored raisins, 2 campden tablets and juice from 2 lemons to the fermentor. Mix all the ingredients together.
4.
Step 4

Pour the hot banana liquid over the mixture and stir well to dissolve the sugar. Add enough cold water to make one gallon of the liquid. Let the mixture sit overnight.
5.
Step 5

Add 1 teaspoon of nutrients and 1 package of wine yeast to the fermentor the following day. Mix well and leave for 5 days, stirring daily.
6.
Step 6

Siphon the mixture from the primary fermentor into a secondary fermentor on the fifth day. Do not stir before pouring. You don't want to stir up the sediment on the bottom of the fermentor during this process.
7.
Step 7

Attach the airlock to the secondary fermentor. After letting it sit for 3 weeks, siphon the wine off the sediment and return the wine to the fermenter.
8.
Step 8

Rack the wine (or siphon it) every 3 months for a year for a dry wine. Add ½ cup of sugar after dissolving it in 1 cup of wine at each racking for a sweet wine. Keep adding the sugar until formation doesn't start again when the sugar is added.

Fermentation Process

Fermentation requires two things : sugars and yeasts.

A ripe organic grape is full of natural sugars and there are wild yeasts living on its skin. As soon as the skin of the grape is broken, fermentation can begin.

To make wine, all the winemaker has to do is collect his grapes and gently crush them, releasing the sugary juice and exposing it to the yeasts.

Fermentation will continue until all the sugar has been turned into alcohol or the level of alcohol in the juice reaches around fifteen percent, whichever is sooner.

At around fifteen percent alcohol, the yeasts will die naturally and any left over sugars will remain in the wine.
Yeasts

A natural wine is fermented only with the wild yeasts native to its terroir.

Yeast strains vary widely from place to place and contribute significantly to the odour of the finished wine. The yeasts indigenous to a particular area are an important part of what gives its wines their character.

Conventionally grown grapes have little or no wild yeast living on their skin.

The winemaker will kill whatever yeast remains with sulphur dioxide, and reseed the grapes with a single strain of commercially produced yeast.

Wines fermented in this way have less personality, all using the same few commercial yeast strains, and are less an expression of their terroir. This is one reason they taste so similar.

They are also less complex, as each of the many wild yeasts present on an organic grape will contribute something to the finished wine.
Sugars

The level of alcohol in the finished wine is determined by the level of sugar in the grapes from which it is made.

More sugar means there is more for the yeast to convert into alcohol.

Grapes grown further north see less sun and therefore contain less stored sugar than those grown in the south. Traditionally, therefore, northern wines contain a lower level of alcohol.

Chaptalization is a way of boosting the level of alcohol in the finished wine by adding sugar to the juice during fermentation.The technique is named after Jean Antoine Chaptal, Napoleon's minister for agriculture, who is said to have invented it.

A natural wine is fermented only with its own sugars.
Malolactic fermentation

Malolactic fermentation is a secondary process of bacterial conversion, which may follow or overlap with primary fermentation.

Harsher tasting malic acid is converted into softer, and less acidic, lactic acid. Carbon dioxide is also produced.

In practical terms this means a reduction in the acidity of the wine and an increase in its complexity. The level of alcohol is unaffected.

Like primary fermentation, malolactic fermentation can be induced by the introduction of cultured bacteria, or suppressed with sulphur dioxide.

If a wine is bottled quickly, it may take place inside the bottle. One reason SO2 is used at bottling is to prevent this.

A natural winemaker has to wait for the malo to finish naturally before he can bottle his wine.

Fermentation Process

When it comes to wine making, what is the fermentation process and why is it important?

Fermentation is the process where the grape juice is joined by other ingredients resulting in a chemical reaction that produces wine.

The formula for the fermentations process is: sugar, added to yeast yields alcohol and carbon dioxide. The yeast, added to the grapes converts the natural sugars contained in the grapes (glucose and fructose) into ethanol and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is then released from the wine mixture into the air and the alcohol remains.

When all of the fruit’s sugars converts over to alcohol or the alcohol is tested and found to be 15%, then this means that fermentation is complete and all the natural yeast as well as the added yeast nutrients has been destroyed. The winemaker then has his goal in sight, he has his wine.

In order to find out if the sugar has been absorbed, the winemaker can use a hydrometer. This apparatus when floated in the mixture will sink to the bottom as an indication that the sugars have been converted and the wine is ready for the next stage.

Red wines do best when, while they are fermenting, they are being stored in an area where the temperature is 70 to 90 degrees. Anything warmer than that will result in your wine essentially being destroyed. The contents inside would basically cook, just like they would if you left a bottle of unopened wine in the hot, desert sun. The cork would dry out, the protection for the wine would be gone and the contents inside would be affected.

Large wineries will ferment their red wine in oaken kegs, and their white wines in large stainless steel vats. Unlike red wine, white wine needs lower temperatures in order to ferment properly. Less than 60 degrees is ideal. Full-bodied table wines can also be stored in barrels. The temperature for fermentation for white wines Fermentation takes place in 55-60 degrees. A vast difference then the hot temperatures needed to age the red wines.

Winemakers will often add more nitrogen and micro nutrients during the fermentation process to prevent any production of hydrogen sulfide gas. If this gas invades the grapes, it imparts a rotten egg smell thus stinking up the mixture. Great care is taken to avoid this chemical reaction, though even the most experienced winemakers can have this unfortunate reaction occur without any fault of their own.

The resulting liquid during fermentation is called the “must.” In order to stop bad bacteria from invading the must, the mixture must be mixed. The must will begin to bubble within 8-20 hours. The first stage of fermentation process for red wines is 5-10 days. White wines sit for 10-15 days. After this time period passes, the second phase of fermentation begins.

During the second phase of fermentation, the wine is siphoned into an airtight container with great care taken to not add anymore oxygen at this point. This second phase process yields in the end, a higher alcohol content. Depending on what ingredient(s) the winemaker adds to this mixture; more yeasts, or perhaps a blended finished wine, will determine if the end result for this harvest. Will it be a sweeter or a stronger wine, and will it fetch a decent price on the market, or with a collector?

wine making_3

WINE MAKING and HOW TO MAKE WINE

Growing the Grapes for Wine

Grapes to Make WineGrapes to make wines grow on vines. There are many different types of grapes, but the one considered the best wine grape is the Vitis vinifera. It is considered optimal because it has the right balance of sugar and acid to create a good fermented wine without the addition of sugar or water. It has been said that the wine is only as good as the grapes from which it is made. While that is normally true, a poor winemaker can ruin good grapes. On the other hand, a good winemaker isn't going to make great wine from inferior grapes.

Wines made from a single variety of grapes are called varietals. So, a wine made 100% from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes is a varietal wine. The cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel and merlot grape are varieties of grapes.

Vines start producing grapes about three years after planting. They become a useable crop after five years. They reach their prime in terms of crop yield between ages ten and thirty. Vines can grow for a hundred years, though production is reduced as the vine gets older. However, reduced production can actually lead to better grape and therefore wine. Some very good wines come from old vines. That is generally why small boutique vineyards that have been passed down from generation to generation tend to have better wines.

The Harvest and it what means to Wine

Making Wine with GrapesWeather is also a major factor is determining whether a year is going to be a good vintage. For example, was there enough heat during the growing season to lead to enough sugar? At harvest time, the short term effects of weather are quite important. To produce great wine, the fruit should be ripe, but not overripe. The grape must also have a high, but not overly high, sugar content. It's a delicate balance and it takes skill and intuition to know the exact time to pick the harvest. Think of raisins. As the fruit dries, the water evaporates and what is left is the sugary fruit. If it should happen to rain at the point the wine grapes are ready, and before the grapes can be harvested, it will cause the water level of the grapes to increase, and the sugar level to drop. This is not good and might render the grapes useless for wine making purposes. Unfortunately some winemakers will still use the grapes to make wine by simply adding sugar during the wine making process. This is also not good and you can usually find those wines on sale in your supermarket. Small batch wine produces that make boutique wines will never add sugar.
Wine Makers Examine Grapes

Every year the wine grape grower plays a game of chance and must decide the exact time to harvest. If he knew it wasn't going to rain, he would just test the sugar content until it was at the ideal levels, and then harvest. If he harvests the grapes too soon, he will end up getting a wine too low in alcohol content as there will not be enough sugar to convert to alcohol. These wines will be what isWine Grape Harvest called "thin" and their taste will reflect it. If the harvest is delayed, there may be too much sugar in the grapes and that will cause a low acid content. This also affects the taste and the aging possibilities of the wine. The key to a making a wine that is world class lies on the judgment call of the wine grape grower.

How Grapes Become Wine

In some small wineries, grapes are still crushed by stomping on them with your feet in a big vat. Unlike what most envision, it is not done barefooted and it is doneStomping Gapes to Make Wine with rubber boots on the feet. The rubber boots protect the stompers from the vines and stems that may have fallen into the stomping area. The grape juice then falls into a vat. A more practical way used by most wine makers is to use a machine which does the job and at the same time removes the stems. Skin and seeds might immediately be removed from the juice or may be left in there, depending on the grape and wine. Separation may not immediately occur, especially for red wines, as the skins and stems are an important source of tannins which affect the wine's taste and maturity through the aging process. The skins also determine the color of the wine.

Maceration is the period of time when the skins and seeds are left with the juice. It may go on for a few hours or a few weeks, depending on the type of wine. After the exact amount of time, the pressing will occur. One way to press the grapes is to use a "bladder press". This is a large cylindrical container that contains bags that are inflated and deflated several times. Each time it gently squeezes the grapes until all the juice has been extracted, leaving behind the rest of the grapes. You can also separate solids from juice through the use of a centrifuge. This machine is a round bowl with walls similar to a strainer. It spins at high speeds and forces the juice out throuhg the walls. Except for the juice, every other part of the grape stays in the bowl.

Grape juice is turned into alcohol through the process of fermentation. Grapes on the vine are covered with yeast, mold and bacteria. By putting grape juice into a container at the right temperature, yeast will turn the sugar in the juice into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The grape juice will have fermented after the alcohol is produced.

Yeast also serves to give flavor to wine. However things on the outside of a grape are not necessarily so good for the production of good wine. An example is acetic bacteria, it is on the grapes and can cause the wine to turn to vinegar. The winemaker commonly eliminates unwanted contaminants by using sulfur dioxide. Unfortunately, the sulfites which remain in the wine may cause discomfort to some wine drinkers if they have allergies to sulfites. Some winemakers use organic wine making methods and do not add sulfites. The grapes are organically grown without the use of pesticides or other chemicals. These organic wines are subject to unpredictability as to the taste and texture, and are affected by the different flavors added by the yeast. Yet if done properly, organic wine is as delicious as others. There is still some controversy over natural yeast on the grape, as a number of wine makers claim that there is no documentation that any yeast lives on the skins of grapes that can lead to alcoholic fermentation. They propose that these spontaneous fermentations occur due to commercial yeast populations that live in the winery and have not been eliminated or otherwise eradicated from the wine making area.

Winemakers have many different yeast strains to choose from and can use different strains at different times during the wine making process. The most common wine yeast is Saccharomyces. As the yeast works, it causes the grape juice to get hot. But if it gets too hot, the yeast will not work. Temperature control is a very important component. One modern way to deal with this is to put the juice into large stainless steel containers that have refrigeration systems built around the sides. The winemakers can precisely regulate theWine Making Barrels temperature. The fermentation process usually lasts from five to seven days from beginning to end.

A less modern, but still wide widely used way to ferment wines at small batch wineries is to place it in small oak barrels. Barrel fermentation is usually done at a lower temperature in temperature controlled rooms and takes longer, perhaps around 6 weeks. The longer fermentation and use of wood contributes to the flavor and the cost of the wine. Most boutique wines are made using barrels as it is considered the traditional and time tested way to ferment.

The skins and pulp which remain in a red wine vat will rise and float on top of the juice. This can cause problems as if the grape skins and pulp dry while floating on the top, it becomes a perfect breeding ground for bacteria that can damage the wine. To prevent the formation of bacteria, the winemakers push the skins and pulp back down into the juice. This extremely labor intensive work is usually done at least twice a day. The winemakers must be vigilent and keep a close eye on the production process. In large modern vats, this is accomplished by pumping juice from the bottom of the vat over the top. Some winemakers even use a screen to keep all solids submerged under the juice at all times.

Eventually the fermentation process is complete and the yeast no longer changes the sugar into alcohol. After this process is complete, what you have left is the wine, dead yeast cells and various other residual substances.

wine making

CONCORD GRAPE WINE RECIPES

Concord grapes are the most popularly planted native American grapes. Early colonists embraced them, harvested them, and used them to make wines, jellies, jams, and tarts. They were the first of the native vines from which cuttings were planted to form vineyards. A variety of Vitis Labrusca, the Concord Grape is resistant to many of the diseases which destroy the European grape, Vitis Vinifera; they were the first onto which Vinifera cuttings were grafted to combat insects and disease and the first to be successfully cross-pollenated with European stock to produce hybrids. Most notable of these hybrids are French-American, but crossings were also made with German, Spanish, Portugese, Lowlands, and Baltic grapes. The resulting vines are hardy and produce good yields.

The Concord, however -- even its hybrids -- rarely contain the high amount of natural sugar that pure Vinifera varieties contain. They also contain more pectin and acid, and their wines may exude a musky aroma disagreeable to some. For these reasons their juice is always reinforced with added sugar, almost always diluted with water to balance the acid, treated with pectic enzyme to ensure that it clears, and may be flavored slightly with certain aromatic herbs or spices to counter the natural muskiness.

We have included three recipes below. The first produces a dry wine, so you may want to sweeten it slightly before bottling if you're not partial to dry wine. The second is diluted only slightly and requires a good many more grapes to produce, but results in a full-bodied, sweet dessert wine. Both wines should be stabilized before final sweetening and bottling, either with a commercial stabilizer (such as Sorbitol) or one crushed Campden tablet and 1/2 teaspoon of potassium sorbate per gallon. Final sweetening is always accomplished using two parts sugar dissolved in one part boiling water and allowed to cool. This syrup must be clear, so stir until every granule of sugar has dissolved. The third recipe is a "second wine," made by using the grape pulp from the first batch of wine. Grape concentrate is added to provide body and vinous quality.

If you wish to add an aromatic agent to your wine, any of the following will work: anise, bitter almond, camomile, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, corriander, juniper berries, whole nutmeg, fresh rosemary, saffron, sage, summer savory, thyme, tonka bean, woodruff, or vanilla bean. Do not use ground spices, but rather the leaf, seed, or -- in the case of cinnamon -- bark. Place an amount (one tablespoon per gallon for most, or two nutmegs, tonka beans or vanilla beans) in a finely meshed jelly bag, tied, and place it in the must during the primary fermentation only. Squeeze gently before discarding.

When adding sugar to raise specific gravity (S.G.), a tablespoon less than 8 ounces will raise the S.G. of one gallon of must 0.010. For grape wines, the beginning S.G. must always be at least 1.095 to achieve an alcohol content of 12.7%, while 12% is required to preserve the wine. This, however, presumes very little liquid will be lost during racking, which is a bad assumption. It is therefore wiser to begin with a starting S.G. of 1.105, which under ideal circumstances will produce 14.1% alcohol by volume. Because you will lose liquid during racking, the finished figure will be closer to 12.7%.

Concord Grape wine must age two years in the bottle before being considered ready to drink. It always astounds the novice how greatly wine improves with age. A wine that is terrible after one year will be delightful one year later and wonderful in the third year. Therefore, the best plan for one to follow is to make a set amount (3-5 gallons) every year, set the bottles on their side in a cool, dark closet, and forget about drinking any until you begin the third year's winemaking. Even then, you may want to age them further. Just remeber one thing: it takes five 750 ml wine bottles to store one gallon of wine; 25 bottles to store 5 gallons.

Concord Grape Wine (1)

* 6 lbs fresh Concord grapes
* 5 pts water
* 3-1/4 cups granulated sugar
* 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
* 1 crushed Campden tablet
* 1 tsp yeast nutrient
* wine yeast

Wash and de-stem grapes, discarding any less than perfect ones. Put in nylon mesh bag, tie securely, and vigorously crush grapes over primary, being sure to crush them all. Place bag of pulp in primary and add water, sugar, nutrient, and crushed Campden tablet. Stir well to dissolve sugar, cover securely with clean cloth and set aside. After 12 hours add pectic enzyme and recover. After additional 12 hours check specific gravity. If not at least 1.095, add sugar and stir until dissolved, then add yeast. Stir daily, squeeze the nylon bag to aid in juice extraction, and check the S.G. When S.G. reaches 1.030 (5-6 days), lightly but steadily press juice from bag. [Set bag aside in bowl to make a second wine (see third recipe below).] Siphon liquor off sediments into sterilized glass secondary and attach airlock. Check S.G. after 30 days. If 1.000 or lower, rack into clean secondary and reattach airlock. Rack again after 2 months and again after additional 2 months. Allow to clear, stabilize, sweeten if desired (1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar syrup per gallon), and rack again into sterilized bottles. Allow to age two years in bottle before tasting. Improves further with additional aging. [Adapted from Raymond Massaccesi's Winemaker's Recipe Handbook]

Concord Grape Wine (2)

* 12 lbs fresh Concord grapes
* 2 pts water
* 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 1 tsp pectic enzyme
* 1 crushed Campden tablet
* 1 tsp yeast nutrient
* wine yeast

Wash and de-stem grapes, discarding any less than perfect ones. Divide grapes into two nylon mesh bags, tie securely, and vigorously crush grapes over primary, being sure to crush them all. Place bags of pulp in primary and add sugar already dissolved in water, nutrient, and crushed Campden tablet. Cover securely with clean cloth and set aside. After 12 hours add pectic enzyme and recover. After additional 12 hours check specific gravity. If not at least 1.095, add sugar and stir until dissolved, then add yeast. Stir daily, squeezing the nylon bags to aid in juice extraction, and check the S.G. When S.G. reaches 1.030 (5-6 days), lightly but steadily press juice from bags. [Set bags aside in bowl to make a second wine (see third recipe below).] Siphon liquor off sediments into sterilized glass secondary and attach airlock. Check S.G. after 30 days. If 1.000 or lower, rack into clean secondary and reattach airlock. Rack again after 2 months and again after additional 2 months. Allow to clear, stabilize, sweeten (1-1/4 cup sugar syrup per gallon), and rack again into sterilized bottles. Allow to age two years in bottle before tasting. Improves further with additional aging. [Adapted from Raymond Massaccesi's Winemaker's Recipe Handbook]

Concord Grape Wine (Second Fermentation)

* pulp from 6-10 lbs Concord grapes
* 1 gallon (minus one cup) water
* 8-10 oz red grape concentrate or Concord grape juice
* 2 lb granulated sugar
* 2 tsp acid blend or juice from 1 lemon and 2 thin slices of winesap apple
* 1/8 tsp tannin or 1 used teabag
* 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient
* wine yeast

Begin this wine as soon as practical after pulp is removed from previous use, as you will be using the yeast already present in the pulp (do not allow pulp to dry out). Mix all ingredients except pulp in primary, stir well to dissolve sugar, then add pulp still in nylon bag. S.G. may be lower than expected because of alcohol still trapped in pulp. Cover and ferment, stirring and squeezing bag daily, until S.G. drops to 1.010. Siphon liquor into secondary. Squeeze bag well to extract all juice possible. Add juice to secondary and fit airlock. Rack after 30 days, then every 2 months until wine is clear and no more yeast deposits form after 10 days. Stabilize, sweeten if desired, and siphon into bottles. Taste after two years. [Author's recipe]

Thanks to Jack Keller for these recipes.

wine making

Different Wine Grape Varieties

Most wine is grape wine. The grapes come from one of two families. Wine making grape varieties vary greatly in tolerance to diseases. Disease resistance is an important consideration when deciding which varieties are suitable for a given site. Varieties which are more susceptible to disease will require more effort to keep disease under control. Before you buy wine grapes, educate yourself about the many different qualities of the grapes.

Grape Families:

* Vitis Vinifera, originally from Europe and know as noble grapes
* Vitis Labrusca, which originated in the new world

The wine grape variety in these two families is in the thousands.

There is one simple fact that all wine experts agree upon: grape variety (or blend of varieties), is, by far, the most influential factor determining the flavor and character of a wine.

In order to appreciate wine, it is important to understand the characteristics of the grapes. Wine characteristics vary greatly depending on the grape. Although Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Zinfandel are all red grapes, individually their personalities are quite diverse. Even when grown in different appellations and vinified using different techniques, a varietal wine always displays certain qualities, which are inherent in the grape's personality. Muscat is probably the only grape that produces wine with the aroma of the grape itself. Sweet Muscats should always be spicy with flavors of raisins and oranges. Sauvignon Blanc a touch herbal. Sharp, tangy, gooseberry is the predominant flavor with undertones of grass, nettles, elderflower and asparagus. Zinfandel is zesty, with pepper and raspberry flavor. Cabernet Sauvignon is marked by plum, currant and black cherry flavors and with a hint of mint and cedar. Understanding what a grape should be as a wine is fundamental, and knowing what a grape can achieve at its greatest is the real meaning of fine-wine appreciation.
Description of over 40 different wine grape varieties, both red wine grapes and white wine grapes.

Most Europeans are used to wines with regional names because their finest wines are known principally by geographic appellation. However, this is changing. For example - the occasional French and Italian varietals. In the New World, as in America, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, this is different since most wines are labeled by their varietal names and occasionally by grape combinations, like Cabernet-Shiraz. This is because in these countries, particularly the United States, the process of sorting out which grapes grow best in which appellations is ongoing and Americans were first introduced to fine wine by the varietal name. In Europe, with a longer history for matching grape types to soil and climate, the research is more definitive. For example, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the principal grapes of Burgundy. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petite Verdot are the red grapes of Bordeaux and Syrah leads the northern Rhone reds. Barolo and Barbaresco are both made of Nebbiolo, but the different appellations produce different wine styles. In Tuscany, Sangiovese provides the backbone of Chianti.

Ultimately, the New World's appellation practice may well progress into one more like Europe's. California appellations such as Carneros and Santa Maria Valley are becoming tantamount with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Oregon's Willamette Valley is known for Pinot Noir and Australia's Hunter Valley has the famous Shiraz. Again in California, Rutherford, Oakville and the Stags Leap District are all associated with Cabernet-based red table wines. Successful wineries in these appellations and the marketing expertise to accentuate the distinguishing features of the wines grown in these areas will establish how the appellation system evolves and whether or not specific wine styles are revealed. The appellations themselves will also prove which grapes outclass others and deserve special recognition.
Red Grapes
Barbera Charbono Malbec Pinotage
Brunello Cinsault Merlot Sangiovese
Cabernet Franc Concord Mourvedre Syrah or Shiraz
Cabernet Sauvignon Dolcetto Nebbiolo Tempranillo
Carignan or Carignane Gamay Petite Sirah Zinfandel
Carmenere Grenache Pinot Noir Zweigelt




White Grapes
Airen Gewurztraminer Pinot Gris/
Pinot Grigio Trebbiano and
Ugni Blanc
Aligote Gruner Veltliner Riesling Viognier
Chardonnay Muscat Sauvignon Blanc
Chenin Blanc Niagara Semillon
Fume Blanc Pinot Blanc Seyval

The descriptions we provide are of the most commonly used Vitis vinifera grapes. American wine is also made from native Vitis labrusca, especially the Concord grape. For definitions of wine-making terms mentioned, please see the wine glossary.
Airen

A white grape that is Spain's and the world's most widely planted grape variety. Airen blankets central Spain's hot, arid regions of La Mancha and Valdepenas and is used for both red and white wines. The Airen grape's reputation for creating dull white wines is still widely dependable but thanks to modern equipment and new wine making techniques these wines have recently gained a better image. There are now white Airen wines being produced that are light, crisp, fruity, and slightly aromatic. Airen is also known as Lairen, Manchega, and Valdepenera Blanca.
Aligote

An extremely crisp grape, Aligote is known for producing wines with almost painful acidity. In warm years or in the right hands the best examples are balancing acts of citrus, hazelnuts and peaches. The Cote Chalonnaise of southern Burgundy is the traditional home of Aligote. It is also grown in California and Oregon, and is the base of many sparkling wines form eastern Europe.
Wine Grape Varieties
Barbera

This grape is very widely planted in Italy; more so than Sangiovese and Nebbiolo. Barbera is known for its tarry character and low-tannins. It is the most successful grape in Italy's Piedmont region, where it makes such wines as Barbera d'Asti, Barbera di Monferato and Barbera di Alba. Its wines are characterized by a high level of acidity (meaning brightness and crispness), deep ruby color and full body, with low tannin levels; flavors are berrylike. However, plantings have declined sharply in the United States. A few wineries still produce it as a varietal (single grape) wine, but those numbers too are dwindling. Its main quality as a blending wine is its ability to maintain a naturally high acidity even in hot climates. The wine has more promise than is currently realized and may stage a modest comeback as Italian-style wines gain popularity.
Brunello

This strain of Sangiovese is the only grape permitted for Brunello di Montalcino, the rare, costly Tuscan red that at its best is loaded with luscious black and red fruits and chewy tannins.
Cabernet Franc

Recent studies in ampelography, using DNA fingerprinting, have determined that cabernet franc is one of the genetic parents of cabernet sauvignon (the other is sauvignon blanc). Both cabernet varieties are among the five major grapes of Bordeaux. The differences between franc and sauvignon become apparent when grown and fermented in close proximity. Cabernet franc vines bear thinner-skinned, earlier-ripening grapes with lower overall acidity, when put side by side to cabernet sauvignon.

Cabernet Sauvignon is being used in the U.S. to make some very interesting wines. Increasingly popular as both stand-alone varietal and blending grape. In Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc is used traditionally for blending, although it can rise to great heights in quality, as seen in the grand wine Cheval-Blanc. In France's Loire Valley it's also made into a lighter wine called Chinon. It is well established in Italy, particularly the northeast, where it is sometimes called Cabernet Frank or Bordo. California has grown it for over 30 years, and Argentina, Long Island, Washington state and New Zealand are picking it up.

As a varietal wine, it usually benefits from small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and can be as intense and full-bodied as either of those wines. But it often drifts away from currant and berry notes into stalky green flavors that become more pronounced with age. Given its newness in the United States, Cabernet Franc may just need time to get more attention and rise in quality.

Depending a great deal on vineyard practices, the flavor profile of Cabernet Franc may be both fruitier and sometimes more herbal or vegetative than Cabernet Sauvignon, although lighter in both color and tannins.
Description of over 40 different wine grape varieties, both red wine grapes and white wine grapes.
Cabernet Sauvignon

This sometimes causes confusion for the beginner. In the US, people refer to a wine as a Cabernet or a Pinot Noir. However, Cabernet Sauvignon is the variety of grape, or varietal. In France, wine drinkers refer to a nice Bordeaux, meaning a wine which is usually composed mainly of Cabernet Sauvignon, but is grown in the region called Bordeaux. It is also the first grape to put California on the international wine scene.

The acknowledged king of red wine grapes, Cabernet is a remarkably steady and consistent performer throughout much of the state. While it grows well in many appellations, in specific appellations it is capable of rendering wines of uncommon depth, richness, concentration and longevity. Long thought to be an ancient variety, recent genetic studies at U.C. Davis have determined that Cabernet Sauvignon is actually the hybrid offspring of Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc.

The berries of Cabernet sauvignon are small, spherical with black, thick and very tough skin. They are fairly resistant to disease and spoilage and able to withstand some autumn rains with little damage. It ripens in mid to late season. These growth traits, along with its flavor appeal help to make Cabernet Sauvignon one of the most popular red wine varieties worldwide.

Found almost everywhere in the world, Cabernet Sauvignon is just as likely to be bottled on its own as it is blended. But because Cabernet Sauvignon is fairly tannic, the wine is often blended with other grapes; usually Merlot - being less tannic - is considered an ideal partner. At its best, unblended Cabernet produces wines of great intensity and depth of flavor. Its classic flavors are currant, plum, black cherry, cigars, green peppers, chocolate and spice. It can also be marked by herb, olive, mint, tobacco, cedar and anise. The best Cabernets start out dark purple-ruby in color, with firm acidity, a full body, great intensity, concentrated flavors and firm tannins.
Carignan

Also known as Carignane ( California) and Cirnano ( Italy). At one time a major blending grape for jug wines, Carignan's popularity has diminished. It still appears in some blends, and old vineyards are sought after for the intensity of their grapes. But the likelihood is that other grapes with even more intensity and flavor will replace it in the future, it currently tends to be progressively replaced by Shiraz.

Carignan requires a long growing season as it buds and ripens quite late, so is not prone to spring frosts. It is a vigorous, although not really hardy vine, sensitive to downy and powdery mildew. Carignan has but one characteristic and that is to recommend it for planting for high yields. An acre of Carignan may easily produce 10 to 12 tons of grapes.
Carignane

The Californian spelling of the French grape carignan often blended with syrah, mourvedre, and grenache to produce high quality Rhone-styles blends.
Carmenere

Also known as Grande Vidure, this grape was once widely planted in Bordeaux, But when phylloxera swept through France's vineyards in the late 1800s, Carmenere didn't take well to grafted rootstock and was thought lost to history. It is planted primarily in Chile and other areas of the New World are planting it. Carmenere, along with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, was imported to Chile around 1850. According to Chilean vintners, Carmenere has been mislabeled for so long that many growers and the Chilean government now consider it Merlot.
Charbono

An uncommon red-wine grape grown in small vineyards of California's Napa Valley and Mendocino County It is very much like Dolcetto, a grape found in northern Italy. Its stature as a wine was supported mainly by Inglenook-Napa Valley, which bottled a Charbono on a regular basis. Occasionally it made for interesting drinking and it aged well. But more often it was lean and tannic, a better story than bottle of wine. A few wineries still produce it, but none with any success.
Chardonnay
Red Wine Grapes

This is a classic with grape grown around the world. As Cabernet Sauvignon is the king of reds, so is Chardonnay the king of white wines, for it makes consistently excellent, rich and complex whites. This is an amazingly versatile grape that grows well in a variety of locations throughout the world. In Burgundy, it is used for the exquisite whites, such as Montrachet, Meursault and Pouilly-Fuisse, and true Chablis; in Champagne it turns into Blanc de Blancs. Among the many other countries that have caught Chardonnay fever, Australia is especially strong.

Chardonnay was introduced to California in the 1930s but didn't become popular until the 1970s. Areas such as Anderson Valley, Carneros, Monterey, Russian River, Santa Barbara and Santa Maria Valley, all closer to cooler maritime influences, are now producing wines far superior to those made a decade ago.

Though there is a Maconnais village called Chardonnay, no one agrees on the grape's origin--it may even be Middle Eastern.

Chardonnay takes oak well, and many higher priced Chardonnays are typically fermented and/or aged in oak barrels. When Chardonnay is aged in oak barrels, it may pick up vanilla overtones in its aromas and flavor. When well made, Chardonnay offers bold, ripe, rich and intense fruit flavors of apple, fig, melon, pear, peach, pineapple, lemon and grapefruit, along with spice, honey, butter, butterscotch and hazelnut flavors.

Winemakers build more complexity into this easy-to-manipulate wine using common vinification techniques: barrel fermentation, sur lie aging during which the wine is left on its natural sediment, and malolactic fermentation which reduces crispness and brings out a rich, buttery taste. This usually shortens the life of the wine as far as aging is concerned. No other white table wine benefits as much from oak aging or barrel fermentation. Chardonnay grapes have a fairly neutral flavor, and because they are usually crushed or pressed and not fermented with their skins the way red wines are, whatever flavors emerge from the grape are extracted almost instantly after crushing. Red wines that soak with their skins for days or weeks through fermentation extract their flavors quite differently. Chardonnay also ages well in the bottle, though it will not age as long as many red wines.

Because Chardonnay is also an inexhaustible producer that can easily yield 4 to 5 tons of high-quality grapes per acre, it is a cash cow for producers in every country where it's grown. Many American and Australian Chardonnays are very showy, well oaked and pleasing on release, but they fall short of the richness, depth and concentration needed to age. It evolves rather quickly, often losing intensity and concentration within a year or two. Studied by many vintners who recognize this flaw, are now sharply reducing crop yields, holding tonnage down to 2 to 3 tons per acre in the hopes that this will lead to greater concentration. The disadvantage to this approach is that the smaller crop will lead to significantly less wine to sell, resulting in higher prices as well.
Chenin Blanc

This is a native of the Loire valley in France and also grown in northern California. It has two personalities. For your home it's the foundation of such famous, long-lived whites as Vouvray and Anjou, Quarts de Chaume and Saumer, but on other soils it becomes just a very good blending grape. It is South Africa's most-planted grape, with about thirty percent of her vineyards producing Chenin Blanc and there it is called Steen. Both in South Africa and in California it is used primarily as a blending grape for generic table wines.

It can yield a pleasant enough wine, with subtle melon, peach, spice and citrus notes. The great Loire whites vary from dry and fresh to sweet, depending on the vintage and the producer. In South Africa, Chenin Blanc is also used for fortified wines and spirits. The lively fruit and mouth-watering acidity make this the perfect oyster wine .
Cinsault

A close relative of Pinotage. It does well in Southern France, Lebanon, Australia and South Africa, and is used most commonly for blending with more robust grapes to change the character of the wine.
White Wine Grapes
Concord

Called America's original dessert wine, Concord is famous for its deep purple color and classic sweetness. Concord grape wine has an intense fruity flavor. It is perfect as an after-dinner sipping wine. Grown on a greater variety of soils and under a wider range of climatic conditions than any other variety of American grape. This is a variety of Vitis Labrusca,and is resistant to many of the diseases which destroy the European grape, Vitis Vinifera. Concord Grapes were the first onto which Vinifera cuttings were grafted to combat insects and disease and the first to be successfully cross-pollenated with European stock to produce hybrids. The most prominent of these hybrids are French-American, but crossings were also made with German, Spanish, Portuguese, Lowlands, and Baltic grapes. The resulting vines are hardy and produce good yields.

Its vine is vigorous and productive, ripening in early to mid-October in New York. The suitability of Concord fruit for multiple purposes gives it a large market potential. It is the most important variety for sweet juice, jelly, and preserves, and it is also used in quantity for wine production and fresh market sales.

However, the Concord, even its hybrids, seldom contain the elevated amount of natural sugar that pure Vinifera varieties contain. The grapes also hold more pectin and acid, so their wines may emit a musky smell distasteful to some. Therefore, their juice is always reinforced with added sugar, nearly always thinned with water to balance the acid, treated with pectic enzyme to ensure that it clears, and may be flavored to some extent with certain aromatic herbs or spices to counter the natural muskiness.

The wine made from Concord grapes makes a sweet after dinner dessert wine with a fresh fruit flavor.
Dolcetto

The name means "little sweet one," though it is nearly always a dry wine. Almost exclusive to the Piedmont area of northwestern Italy, this produces soft, round, fruity wines fragrant with licorice and almonds. It's used as a safety net for producers of Nebbiolo and Barbera wines, which take much longer to age. There are seven DOCs: Acqui, Alba, Asti, Dinao d'Alba, Dogliani, Langhe Monregalesi and Ovada.

Dolcetto has changed remarkably over the past decade, and not only in terms of a general rise in quality and a much larger number of good bottles. It was once thought of as a simple gulping wine, best drunk in its youth and an ideal accompaniment to a typical meal. Dolcetto is now being taken much more seriously. In fact, it is rich in extract, and in well made bottles, can age without the slightest problem. Dark in color, fragrant and plumy on the nose with attractive almond notes, Dolcetto is ample and round on the palate, long and smooth on the finish.

Dolcetto needs to be carefully watched and tasted and, above all, cellar racked at the proper time to avoid reduction and off-odors. Interesting experiments with wood aging have also begun, and it seems safe to say that Dolcetto is heading for a new golden age in which all of the inherent promise of the grape and its wines will be fully realized.
Fume Blanc

See Sauvignon Blanc.
Gamay
Wine Making Grapes

Grown mainly in Burgundy, France. This grape conveys a cherry and candy flavor with a hint of raspberry.

Low in alcohol and relatively high in acidity. It is fermented quickly under a protective layer of carbon dioxide. The wines are meant to be drunk soon after bottling; the ultimate example of this is Beaujolais Nouveau, stocked everywhere almost overnight. It is also grown in Ardeche and Loire, but it makes no remarkable wines. The Swiss grow it widely, for blending with Pinot Noir; they often chaptalize the wines.

In the meantime, California grows a variety called Gamay Beaujolais, a high-yield clone of Pinot Noir that makes run-of-the-mill wines in most places where it's grown. In the United States the grape is used primarily for blending, and acreage is declining, as those vineyards who are really serious about Pinot Noir are using superior clones and planting in cooler areas.
Gewurztraminer

The name means "spice" in German. Gewurztraminer can yield magnificent wines, as is best demonstrated in Alsace, France, where it is made in to a variety of styles from dry to off-dry to sweet. It grows best in cooler climates where good acidity plays a significant role. It's a fickle grape to grow and vinify, as its intense spiciness can be overbearing when unchecked. Its styles vary from dry to richly sweet. At its best, it bursts with flavors producing a floral and refreshing wine with crisp acidity that pairs well with spicy dishes. When left for late harvest, it's unusually rich and complex, a great dessert wine.

This grape originated in Germany and Austria. it is also grown in Italy, California, Niagara Canada and Australia. It is popular in eastern Europe, New Zealand and the Pacific Northwest.
Grenache

Also known as Garnacha Tinta in Spain. It is often used for rose wine, and is common in France, Spain and California. This grape is very tolerant of drought and heat. It yields a fruity, spicy, medium-bodied wine with supple tannins. The second most widely planted grape in the world, Grenache is widespread in the southern Rhone. At its best when blended, (although there are some pure varietals) especially with Shiraz. It is famous when blended to produce Chateauneuf-du-Pape and used on its own for the roses of Tavel and Lirac, In addition, it is used in France's sweet Banyuls wine.

In Spain, it is especially noteworthy in Rioja and Priorato. Grenache used to be popular in Australia, but has now been surpassed by Syrah; a few vineyards in the Barossa Valley in southern Australia are making wines similar to Chateauneuf-du-Pape. In California it's a industrious blending grape, though sometimes an old vineyard is found and its grapes made into a varietal wine, which at its best can be good. It may make a comeback as devotees of the Rhone seek out cooler areas and a suitable blending grape.

In the southern Rhone it is used for blending in France's Rousillon and the Languedoc, and in various Spanish whites, including Rioja.
Gruner Veltiner

Also known as Veltliner. The most widely planted grape in Austria, it can be found to a lesser extent in some other parts of eastern Europe. It achieves its qualitative pinnacle in the Wachau, Kremstal and Kamptal regions along the Danube River west of Vienna. Gruner, as it's called for short, shows distinct white pepper, tobacco, lentil and citrus flavors and aromas, along with high acidity, making it an excellent partner for food. Gruner is singularly unique in its flavor profile, and though it rarely has the finesse and breeding of the best Austrian Rieslings (though it can come close when grown on granite soils), it is similar in body and texture.
Malbec

Thrives in well irrigated sandy soils, but not very hardy. Increasingly Merlot and the two Cabernets are substituting for the Malbec grape particularly in Bordeaux and the Loire in various blends. However, Argentina is markedly successful with this varietal. In the United States Malbec is only used as a blending grape, and an insignificant one at that, but a few wineries use it. The most understandable reason is because it's considered part of the Bordeaux-blend recipe.
Marsanne

Popular in the Rhone (along with Grenache Blanc, Roussanne and Viognier). Australia, especially in Victoria, has some of the world's oldest vineyards. At its best, Marsanne can be a full-bodied, moderately intense wine with spice, pear and citrus notes.
Description of over 40 different wine grape varieties, both red wine grapes and white wine grapes.
Merlot

Merlot became hugely popular in the 1990s and its popularity has climbed along with its acreage. Even beginner wine lovers can't drink enough of it. It dominates Bordeaux, except for the Medoc and Graves. Though it is mainly used for the Bordeaux blend, it can stand alone. In St. Emilion and Pomerol, especially, it produces noteworthy wines, culminating in Chateau Petrus. In Italy it's everywhere, though most of the Merlot is light, unremarkable stuff. But Ornellaia and Fattoria de Ama are strong exceptions to that rule. Despite its popularity, its quality ranges only from good to very good most of the time, though there are a few stellar producers found around the world.

Several styles of Merlot have become known. For instance, one is a Cabernet-style Merlot, which includes a high percentage (up to 25 percent) of Cabernet, comparable currant and cherry flavors and firm tannins. Another style is less reliant on Cabernet and is softer, more supple, medium-weight, less tannic and features more herb, cherry and chocolate flavors. A third style is a very light and simple wine stimulating Merlot's overall growth.

Just like Cabernet, there is an advantage to blending Merlot. Cabernet can give it backbone, color and tannic strength. It also marries well with oak. Merlot is relatively new in California, only dating to the early 1970s, and it is a difficult grape to grow, as it sets and ripens unevenly. Many critics believe Washington State has a slight quality edge with this wine. As a wine, Merlot's aging potential is fair to good. It may be softer with age, but often the fruit flavors fade and the herbal flavors dominate.
Mourvedre

Mourvedre is native to Spain, where it is known as Monastrell. It was brought to Provence in the late Middle Ages where, prior to the phylloxera invasion (a serious pest of commercial grapevines worldwide) at the end of the 19th century, it was the dominant varietal.

Mourvedre is a late-ripening varietal that flourishes with hot summer temperatures, likes a wide variety of soils and does not need a great deal of care. It's popular across the south of France, especially in the regions of Provence and the Cotes-du-Rhone, and is often used in Chateauneuf-du-Pape; Languedoc makes it as a varietal. Spain uses it in many areas, including Valencia. In the United States it's a minor factor now, pursued by a few wineries that specialize in Rhone-style wines. The wine can be pleasing, with medium-weight, spicy cherry and berry flavors and moderate tannins with aromas of black fruits, licorice. It ages well.
Muscat

Also known as Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, its full name, and Moscato in Italy, Moscatel in Iberia. Probably the only grape that produces wine with the aroma of the grape itself. Sweet Muscats have flavors of raisins and oranges. Muscat Blanc is marked by strong spice and floral notes and can be used in blending to increase complexity and flavor, its primary function in California. This grape can turn into anything from the low-alcohol, sweet and frothy Asti Spumante and Muscat de Canelli to bone-dry wines like Muscat d'Alsace. In addition, it produces fortified wine such as Beaumes de Venise.
Nebbiolo

The great grape of Northern Italy (the Piedmont area,) which excels there in Barolo and Barbaresco, strong, ageable wines. Mainly unsuccessful elsewhere, Nebbiolo also now has a small foothold in California. So far the wines are light and uncomplicated, bearing no resemblance to the Italian types.
Niagara

A native American (Labrusca) variety, successfully grown in many districts throughout New York, it is a floral, strongly flavored white grape used for juice, wine and fresh consumption. It ranks below Concord in cold hardiness and ripens somewhat earlier. On favorable sites, yields can equal or surpass those of Concord. Acidity is lower than for most other American varieties. Native American grape varieties have strikingly different physical and flavor characteristics than their European counterparts. A Niagara grape cluster is large with loose, individual berries. The grape skin is thicker and the inside of the grape is fleshy.
Petite Sirah

Known for its dark hue and firm tannins, Petite Sirah has often been used as a blending wine to provide color and structure, particularly to Zinfandel. On its own, Petite Sirah can also make intense, peppery, age worthy wines, but few experts consider it as complex as Syrah itself.

Just over 3,200 acres of grapes identified as Petite Sirah are presently planted in California. Although only a portion of these vineyards have been surveyed, recent DNA evidence from research led by Dr. Carole Meredith at the University of California at Davis has confirmed most plantings to be the same grape as Durif, a minor red grape variety first grown in southern France in the late 1800s. Durif is a cross between Peloursin and Syrah. About 10% of Petite Sirah however, is Peloursin, which, observed in the field, is practically indistinguishable from Durif, even by expert ampelographers.

Just to make things more confusing, in France, growers refer to different variants of Syrah as Petite and Grosse, which has to do with the yield of the vines.
Pinot Blanc
Description of over 40 different wine grape varieties, both red wine grapes and white wine grapes.

Pinot Blac is sometimes referred to as a poor man's Chardonnay because of its similar flavor and texture profile, Pinot Blanc is used in Champagne. Burgundy, Alsace, Germany, Italy and California and can make a terrific wine. With wine making expertise, it can be intense, concentrated and complex, with ripe pear, spice, citrus and honey notes. Pinot Blanc can age, but is best drunk early while its fruit still shines through. It is related to the Pinot Gris.
Pinot Gris / Pinot Grigio

Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are in fact the same white grape. Pinot Gris is known as Pinot Grigio in Italy and as Ruländer in southern Germany, producing quite a lot of undistinguished dry white wine and Collio's outstanding whites. As Pinot Gris, it used to be grown in Burgundy and the Loire, though it has been supplanted, but it comes into its own in Alsace, where it's known as Tokay. When good, this varietal is soft, gently perfumed and has more color than most whites.
Pinot Noir

This is the great and world-renowned red grape of the eastern French region of Burgundy and is a touchy variety. The red is lighter in color than most red wines. The best examples offer the classic black cherry, spice, raspberry and currant flavors, and an aroma that can resemble wilted roses, along with earth, tar, herb and cola notes. It can also be rather ordinary, light, simple, herbal, vegetal and occasionally weedy. It can even be downright funky, with overwhelming barnyard aromas. In fact, Pinot Noir is the most fussy of all grapes to grow. It responds strongly to environmental changes such as heat and cold spells, and is notoriously difficult to work with once picked, since its skins are thin and easily bruised and broken, allowing the juice the freely flow. The vine itself is very slow to mature with low yields and early-ripening fruit. Even after fermentation, Pinot Noir can hide its weaknesses and strengths, making it a most difficult wine to evaluate out of barrel. In the bottle, too, it is often changes color, showing poorly one day, brilliantly the next.

There are many different clones grown, developed to suit the different climatic and soil conditions as the variety generally benefits from a cool climate rather than a hot, dry one. Today there is also a greater understanding and appreciation for varying approaches to Pinot Noir wine, even if there is less agreement about those styles--should it be rich, concentrated and loaded with flavor, or a wine of elegance, finesse and delicacy? Or can it, as in the traditional Pinot Noir, be both? Even varietal character remains under discussion. Pinot Noir can certainly be tannic, especially when it is fermented with some of its stems, a practice that many vintners around the world believe contributes to the wine's backbone and prolonged existence. Pinot Noir can also be long-lived, but predicting with any accuracy which wines or vintages will age is often the decisive test in forecasting.

It is also of great importance in the Champagne region of North Eastern France where it is pressed immediately after picking in order to yield white juice and blended with Chardonnay to produce the famous sparkling wine of the region. It is just about the only red grown in Alsace. In California, it excelled in the late 1980s and early 1990s and is on the brink of further progress. California and Oregon certainly have a legitimate claim to producing world-class Pinot Noir.

It is a medium-bodied and more complex wine with a cherry/strawberry aroma and palate which with age may develop characteristics more reminiscent of Burgundy with the fruit becoming more like plums and with a longer palate. Whether the wine is bone dry or rich and spicy, it has a hint of honey.
Pinotage

Developed in the early 1900s and used principally in South African wines. Pinotage is a blend between the Pinot Noir and Cinsault varieties. Pinot Noir is very difficult to grow successfully, whereas Cinsault is sturdy and resistant to most vine ailments. It was hoped, by crossing these two, the new variety would gain the good points of both parents - classic Pinot Noir taste with a large crop from easy-growing vines.

The grape makes a wine that is hearty, with a fruity and spice taste. Some tasters remark on a banana-like taste.
Riesling

The Riesling grape is believed to be indigenous to Austria and Germany, and has been planted there for almost 1,000 years. One of the world's greatest white wine grapes. Riesling does best in cool climates and is very resistant to frost. It is planted very widely in the northern European growing regions but is less popular in other areas of the world. Because the variety excels in cooler climates, its tendency is to ripen slowly makes it an excellent source for sweet wines made from grapes attacked by the noble rot Botrytis cinerea, which withers the grapes' skin and concentrates their natural sugar levels.

Riesling is considered on of the 'noble' grape varieties for wine making. It is best known for producing the wines of Germany's Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and Rheingau wines, but it also achieves brilliance in Alsace and Austria. While the sweet German Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese wines, along with Alsace's famed Selection de Grains Nobles, are often celebrated for their high sugar levels and ability to age almost endlessly, they are rare and expensive.

Riesling has the ability to produce wines that range from bone dry to very sweet but are usually made in dry of semi-dry styles. Its high acidity and distinctive floral, citrus, peach, honeysuckle and mineral accents have won dry Riesling many fans.

The wines from Germany's Mosel region are perhaps the most genuine expression of the grape, offering lime, pie crust, apple, slate and honeysuckle characteristics on a light-bodied and racy frame. Germany's Rheinhessen, Rheingau and Pfalz regions produces wines of similar characteristics, but with increasing body and spice. In Alsace, Riesling is most often made in a dry style, full-bodied, with a distinct gasoline aroma. In Austria, Riesling plays second fiddle to Gruner Veltliner in terms of quantity, but when grown on favored sites it offers wines with great focus and clarity allied to the grape's typically racy frame.

In other regions, Riesling struggles to maintain its share of vineyard plantings, but it can be found (often under synonyms such as White Riesling, Rhine Riesling or Johannisberg Riesling) in California, Oregon, Washington, New York's Finger Lakes region, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South America and Canada. Riesling deserves another try. Look for the resurgence of this fine varietal, especially out of Canada.
Wine Making Grapes
Sangiovese

This red-wine grape originated in the Tuscan area of Italy. In some ways sangiovese is to Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino as cabernet sauvignon is to Bordeaux. Both form the base of wines normally blended with other varietals and both by themselves share a certain distinctive elegance and complexity, when well-made. The grape is slow to mature and late-ripening. It has relatively thin skins and a tendency to rot in dampness. It does not mature well if planted above an elevation of 1,500 feet. However, vineyards with limestone soil seem to produce wines with more forceful aromas. Sangiovese is distinctive for its supple texture and medium-to full-bodied spice, raspberry, cherry and anise flavors. When blended with a grape such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese produces red wine of excellent quality.

It is a bit surprising that Sangiovese wasn't more accepted in California given the strong role Italian settlers played in the state's winemaking heritage, but now the grape appears to have a bright future in the state, both as a stand-alone varietal wine and for use in blends with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and maybe even Zinfandel. Expect sweeping stylistic changes as winemakers learn more about how the grape performs in different locales as well as how it marries with different grapes. It is definitely worth watching.
Sauvignon Blanc

"[Sauvignon blanc] bangs you in the mouth - like an old peasant with his wooden shoe......The Sauvignon is the whipper-snapper. It's not solid enough. It's violent, it's sharp, it bites, it cries, it's like a ferocious dog you keep on a leash."
Troisgros, as quoted by Israel Shenker in the N.Y. Times

This grape is very easy to identify in a blind tasting. But what is difficult is finding the right words to describe it. In France this variety may be known as Petit Sauvignon or Sauvignon Jaune in the Gironde region of South West France and Sauvignon Fume or Blanc Fume in West and Central France. It is another white with a notable aroma, this one with a herbaceous or musky nose. The pure varietal is found mainly in the Loire, at Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume, As part of a blend, the grape is all over Bordeaux, in Pessac-Leognan, Graves and the Medoc whites; it also shows up in Sauternes. New Zealand has had overwhelming triumph with Sauvignon Blanc, producing its own perfumed, fruity style that spread across North America and then back to France.

Sauvignon Blanc has been used for many years in France. In the United States, Robert Mondavi rescued the varietal in the 1970s by labeling it Fume Blanc, and he and others have enjoyed success with it. The key to success seems to be in taming its overt varietal intensity, which at its extreme leads to pungent grassy, vegetal and herbaceous flavors. A popular alternative to Chardonnay, employing barrel fermentation, sur lie aging and malolactic fermentation. It is also a popular wine to produce because it is an exceptional producer and a highly lucrative wine to make.

It can be crisp and refreshing, matches well with all types of foods. It costs less to produce and grow than Chardonnay and it sells for less too. It also gets less respect from vintners than perhaps it should. Its popularity rises then diminishes, at times appearing to challenge Chardonnay and at other times appearing to be a cash-flow afterthought. Even at its very best, it does not reach the kind of richness, depth or complexity Chardonnay does and in the end that alone may be the essential difference.

It is usually best drunk young, as it does not particularly benefit from ageing. The one exception is sweet white Bordeaux, typically made with Sauvignon blanc as a major component.
Semillon

Golden and thin-skinned, it is the primary grape in White Bordeaux wines. On its own or in a blend, this white can age. However, when used to make wines on its own, Semilllon is almost always disappointing, producing a dull, tasteless drink that is only really good for distilling to brandy. Even in Sauternes its usage is only assured by the intervention of the botrytis fungus. It is thus almost always used in blends. With Sauvignon Blanc, its traditional partner, make rich, honeyed wines,

Semillon is relatively disease resistant, however it is susceptible to Botrytis cinerea (bunch rot). Botrytis infects the grape during autumn causing it to shrivel and dry up. By harvest time the juice is extremely concentrated and honey sweet. Australia's Hunter Valley uses it alone to make a full-bodied white that used to be known as Hunger Riesling, Chablis or White Burgundy. In South Africa was once so prevalent that it was just called "wine grape," but it has declined drastically in importance there.

In the United States, Semillon enjoys only humble success as a varietal wine in California and Washington state, but it continues to become less prevalent in California. It can make a wonderful late-harvest wine, and those wineries that make it the center of their attention can make well balanced wines with complex fig, pear, tobacco and honey notes. When blended into Sauvignon Blanc, it adds body, flavor and texture and adds grassy herbal notes. It can also be found blended with Chardonnay, more to increase the volume of wine than to add anything to the package.
Wine Grape Varieties
Seyval

Seyval is popular on the east coast of the US and Canada, and is one of the most widely planted grapes east of the Rocky Mountains in the US. Wines from this grape can have melon-like flavors, as well as grassy/hay overtones.
Syrah or Shiraz

Shiraz is the name of an old city in Iran ( Persia). It is known in France and California as Syrah, and in Australia as Shiraz. It is the most widely planted red grape in Australia. Red Hermitage and Cote-Rotie in France, Penfolds Grange in Australia--the epitome of Syrah is a majestic red that can age for half a century. The grape seems to grow well in a number of areas and is capable of rendering rich, complex and distinctive wines, with pronounced pepper, spicy blackberry, plum, black cherry, tar, leather and roasted nut flavors, a smooth, supple texture and smooth tannins. In southern France it finds its way into a variety of blends such as in Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Languedoc-Roussillon. Known as Shiraz in Australia, it was long used for bread-and-butter blends, but an increasing number of high-quality wines are being made, especially from old vines in the Barossa Valley. In the new world, it is often a mixing partner with Cabernet Sauvignon.

In the United States., Syrah's rise in quality is remarkable. It appears to have the early-drinking appeal of Pinot Noir and Zinfandel and few of the peculiarities of Merlot, and may well prove must less difficult to grow and vinify than any other red wines aside from Cabernet.

If you happen to come across a bottle of Petite Sirah, it is not related to the Syrah/Shiraz grape at all. See our description for Petite Sirah.
Tempanillo

The word 'Tempanillo' in Spanish quite literally means "early". But don't be fooled. This black grape still has enough time on the vine to produce deeply colored purple and intense wines. Tempanillo is Spain 's major contribution to red wine. It is indigenous to the country and is seldom grown anywhere else. It is the principal grape in the red wines from Rioja and Ribera del Duero, which are two of Spain's most important wine regions.

In Rioja, Tempranillo it is often blended with Garnacha, Mazuelo and a few other minor grapes. When made in a traditional style, Tempranillo can be garnet-hued, with flavors of tea, brown sugar and vanilla. When made in a more modern style, it can display aromas and flavors of strawberries, blackberries, red and black stone fruit like plums and prunes, minerals, licorice, tobacco and leather with velvety spice accents and hints of vanilla and chocolate. An easy drinking wine! Riojas tend to be medium-bodied wines, offering more acidity than tannin.

In Ribera del Duero, wines are also divided along traditional and modern styles, and show similarities to Rioja. The more modern styled Riberas, however, can be quite powerful, offering a density and tannic structure similar to that of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Tempranillo is known throughout Spain under different names such as Cencibel, Tinto del Pais, Tinto Fino, Ull de Llebre and Ojo. It's also grown along the Douro River in Portugal under the monikers Tinta Roriz (used in the making of Port) and Tinta Aragonez.
Trebbiano and Ugni Blanc

Tremendously prolific in Italy where it is known as Trebiano and in Ugni Blancin France where it is called Ugni Blanc. This grape is low in alcohol but high in acidity. The Trebbiano varietal is traditionally blended with varieties that exhibit more predominate traits and is found in almost any basic white Italian wine. It is so ingrained in Italian winemaking that it is actually a sanctioned ingredient of the blend used for (red) Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. In Tuscany, the Trebbiano is blended with the Malvasia varietal in the production of Chianti.

The grape produces neutral, light, dry, white wines that are high in acid and moderate in alcohol. The flavor and aroma is practically undistinguishable. The wine is very pale in color and, at times, exhibits an attractive, bitter almond note in the finish. It is best drunk immediately.
Viognier

Viognier, the rare white grape originated in Condrieu in France's Rhone Valley, is one of the most difficult grapes to grow but seems to be recovering worldwide in both popularity and acreage. Crucially it must be picked at optimum ripeness. When harvested too early and under-ripe the resulting wine can be thin, dilute and unbalanced, while if picked too late then the wine will lack the grape's distinctive peach and honeysuckle aroma.

The main appeal of Viognier is its potentially powerful, rich, and complex floral and spicy aroma that often seems like overripe apricots mixed with orange blossoms or acacia. It has a distinctive and sweet aroma. Nevertheless, Viognier is usually made in a dry style and seems to attract more of the typical Chardonnay drinker.

It is used in the Condrieu's rare whites and sometimes blended with reds in the Northern Rhone. There are also a variety of wines available from southern France, most of them somewhat light.
Zinfandel
Wine Making Grapes

The origins of this tremendously versatile and popular grape are not known for certain, although it was thought to have come from Southern Italy as a cousin of Primitivo. However, recent research in Croatia and at the University of California at Davis, using DNA profiling, has proved Zinfandel is a clone of the Croatian variety Crljenak. The Italian Primitivo,also originally mutated from Crljenak. Further research may indicate the very first plantings migrated from Albania or Greece. In April, 2002, the TTB ( Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) announced they are considering ruling Zinfandel and Primitivo synonymous for use on wine labels. Producers of California Zinfandel will probably object, anticipating that Italian producers with a bountiful supply would then be able to undercut the market with inexpensive Primitivo wine labeled "Zinfandel".

It was a popular variety with home winemakers during the American prohibition era because its thick skins allowed the grapes to ship without damage. It later (late 1970's and early 1980's) became popular for the wines produced from it with forward fruit flavors and spicy overtones. Zinfandel declined in popularity in the mid 1980's and became unprofitable to grow until "White Zinfandel" was introduced. White Zinfandel is a blush-colored, slightly sweet wine.

Real Zinfandel, the red wine, is the quintessential California wine. It has been used for blending with other grapes, including Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah. It has been made in a claret style, with berry and spicy flavors, mild tannins and pretty oak shadings. It has been made into a full-bodied, ultra-ripe, intensely flavored, lively, complex and age worthy wine. Sometimes it is made into late-harvest and Port-style wines that feature very ripe, raisin-like flavors, alcohol above 15 percent and chewy tannins.

Zinfandel's popularity among consumers fluctuates. In the 1990s Zinfandel is enjoying a miniature revolution of popularity, as winemakers took renewed interest, focusing on higher-quality vineyards in areas well suited to Zinfandel. Styles emphasizing the grape's zesty, spicy pepper, raspberry, cherry, wild berry and plum flavors, and its complex range of tar, earth and leather notes. Zinfandel lends itself to blending.

Zinfandel is a challenging grape to grow: its berry size varies significantly within a bunch, which leads to uneven ripening. Water management is also particularly critical to raising Zinfandel. Under stress from lack of moisture, it is prone to raisining. It also ripens more unevenly than most other varieties and it is not uncommon for green and raisined berries to occur within the same cluster. Closer attention to viticulture and an appreciation for older vines, which tend to produce smaller crops of uniformly higher quality, account for better balanced wines.
Zweigelt

Or "Blauer Zweigelt" is a red varietal that originally comes from Austria. A full bodied wine with light spice, firm tannins and light acidity. This hybrid is a 20th century cross of Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent. Zweigelt, like Zinfandel, is a grape of real potential. Both are cultivated primarily in one part of the world but could do as well elsewhere. Niagara Canada is starting to produce Zweigelt wines and should do well, given that their climate is similar to Austria's.

different kinds of grapes in wine making

Different Wine Grape Varieties

Most wine is grape wine. The grapes come from one of two families. Wine making grape varieties vary greatly in tolerance to diseases. Disease resistance is an important consideration when deciding which varieties are suitable for a given site. Varieties which are more susceptible to disease will require more effort to keep disease under control. Before you buy wine grapes, educate yourself about the many different qualities of the grapes.

Grape Families:

* Vitis Vinifera, originally from Europe and know as noble grapes
* Vitis Labrusca, which originated in the new world

The wine grape variety in these two families is in the thousands.

There is one simple fact that all wine experts agree upon: grape variety (or blend of varieties), is, by far, the most influential factor determining the flavor and character of a wine.

In order to appreciate wine, it is important to understand the characteristics of the grapes. Wine characteristics vary greatly depending on the grape. Although Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Zinfandel are all red grapes, individually their personalities are quite diverse. Even when grown in different appellations and vinified using different techniques, a varietal wine always displays certain qualities, which are inherent in the grape's personality. Muscat is probably the only grape that produces wine with the aroma of the grape itself. Sweet Muscats should always be spicy with flavors of raisins and oranges. Sauvignon Blanc a touch herbal. Sharp, tangy, gooseberry is the predominant flavor with undertones of grass, nettles, elderflower and asparagus. Zinfandel is zesty, with pepper and raspberry flavor. Cabernet Sauvignon is marked by plum, currant and black cherry flavors and with a hint of mint and cedar. Understanding what a grape should be as a wine is fundamental, and knowing what a grape can achieve at its greatest is the real meaning of fine-wine appreciation.
Description of over 40 different wine grape varieties, both red wine grapes and white wine grapes.

Most Europeans are used to wines with regional names because their finest wines are known principally by geographic appellation. However, this is changing. For example - the occasional French and Italian varietals. In the New World, as in America, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, this is different since most wines are labeled by their varietal names and occasionally by grape combinations, like Cabernet-Shiraz. This is because in these countries, particularly the United States, the process of sorting out which grapes grow best in which appellations is ongoing and Americans were first introduced to fine wine by the varietal name. In Europe, with a longer history for matching grape types to soil and climate, the research is more definitive. For example, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the principal grapes of Burgundy. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petite Verdot are the red grapes of Bordeaux and Syrah leads the northern Rhone reds. Barolo and Barbaresco are both made of Nebbiolo, but the different appellations produce different wine styles. In Tuscany, Sangiovese provides the backbone of Chianti.

Ultimately, the New World's appellation practice may well progress into one more like Europe's. California appellations such as Carneros and Santa Maria Valley are becoming tantamount with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Oregon's Willamette Valley is known for Pinot Noir and Australia's Hunter Valley has the famous Shiraz. Again in California, Rutherford, Oakville and the Stags Leap District are all associated with Cabernet-based red table wines. Successful wineries in these appellations and the marketing expertise to accentuate the distinguishing features of the wines grown in these areas will establish how the appellation system evolves and whether or not specific wine styles are revealed. The appellations themselves will also prove which grapes outclass others and deserve special recognition.
Red Grapes
Barbera Charbono Malbec Pinotage
Brunello Cinsault Merlot Sangiovese
Cabernet Franc Concord Mourvedre Syrah or Shiraz
Cabernet Sauvignon Dolcetto Nebbiolo Tempranillo
Carignan or Carignane Gamay Petite Sirah Zinfandel
Carmenere Grenache Pinot Noir Zweigelt




White Grapes
Airen Gewurztraminer Pinot Gris/
Pinot Grigio Trebbiano and
Ugni Blanc
Aligote Gruner Veltliner Riesling Viognier
Chardonnay Muscat Sauvignon Blanc
Chenin Blanc Niagara Semillon
Fume Blanc Pinot Blanc Seyval

The descriptions we provide are of the most commonly used Vitis vinifera grapes. American wine is also made from native Vitis labrusca, especially the Concord grape. For definitions of wine-making terms mentioned, please see the wine glossary.
Airen

A white grape that is Spain's and the world's most widely planted grape variety. Airen blankets central Spain's hot, arid regions of La Mancha and Valdepenas and is used for both red and white wines. The Airen grape's reputation for creating dull white wines is still widely dependable but thanks to modern equipment and new wine making techniques these wines have recently gained a better image. There are now white Airen wines being produced that are light, crisp, fruity, and slightly aromatic. Airen is also known as Lairen, Manchega, and Valdepenera Blanca.
Aligote

An extremely crisp grape, Aligote is known for producing wines with almost painful acidity. In warm years or in the right hands the best examples are balancing acts of citrus, hazelnuts and peaches. The Cote Chalonnaise of southern Burgundy is the traditional home of Aligote. It is also grown in California and Oregon, and is the base of many sparkling wines form eastern Europe.
Wine Grape Varieties
Barbera

This grape is very widely planted in Italy; more so than Sangiovese and Nebbiolo. Barbera is known for its tarry character and low-tannins. It is the most successful grape in Italy's Piedmont region, where it makes such wines as Barbera d'Asti, Barbera di Monferato and Barbera di Alba. Its wines are characterized by a high level of acidity (meaning brightness and crispness), deep ruby color and full body, with low tannin levels; flavors are berrylike. However, plantings have declined sharply in the United States. A few wineries still produce it as a varietal (single grape) wine, but those numbers too are dwindling. Its main quality as a blending wine is its ability to maintain a naturally high acidity even in hot climates. The wine has more promise than is currently realized and may stage a modest comeback as Italian-style wines gain popularity.
Brunello

This strain of Sangiovese is the only grape permitted for Brunello di Montalcino, the rare, costly Tuscan red that at its best is loaded with luscious black and red fruits and chewy tannins.
Cabernet Franc

Recent studies in ampelography, using DNA fingerprinting, have determined that cabernet franc is one of the genetic parents of cabernet sauvignon (the other is sauvignon blanc). Both cabernet varieties are among the five major grapes of Bordeaux. The differences between franc and sauvignon become apparent when grown and fermented in close proximity. Cabernet franc vines bear thinner-skinned, earlier-ripening grapes with lower overall acidity, when put side by side to cabernet sauvignon.

Cabernet Sauvignon is being used in the U.S. to make some very interesting wines. Increasingly popular as both stand-alone varietal and blending grape. In Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc is used traditionally for blending, although it can rise to great heights in quality, as seen in the grand wine Cheval-Blanc. In France's Loire Valley it's also made into a lighter wine called Chinon. It is well established in Italy, particularly the northeast, where it is sometimes called Cabernet Frank or Bordo. California has grown it for over 30 years, and Argentina, Long Island, Washington state and New Zealand are picking it up.

As a varietal wine, it usually benefits from small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and can be as intense and full-bodied as either of those wines. But it often drifts away from currant and berry notes into stalky green flavors that become more pronounced with age. Given its newness in the United States, Cabernet Franc may just need time to get more attention and rise in quality.

Depending a great deal on vineyard practices, the flavor profile of Cabernet Franc may be both fruitier and sometimes more herbal or vegetative than Cabernet Sauvignon, although lighter in both color and tannins.
Description of over 40 different wine grape varieties, both red wine grapes and white wine grapes.
Cabernet Sauvignon

This sometimes causes confusion for the beginner. In the US, people refer to a wine as a Cabernet or a Pinot Noir. However, Cabernet Sauvignon is the variety of grape, or varietal. In France, wine drinkers refer to a nice Bordeaux, meaning a wine which is usually composed mainly of Cabernet Sauvignon, but is grown in the region called Bordeaux. It is also the first grape to put California on the international wine scene.

The acknowledged king of red wine grapes, Cabernet is a remarkably steady and consistent performer throughout much of the state. While it grows well in many appellations, in specific appellations it is capable of rendering wines of uncommon depth, richness, concentration and longevity. Long thought to be an ancient variety, recent genetic studies at U.C. Davis have determined that Cabernet Sauvignon is actually the hybrid offspring of Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc.

The berries of Cabernet sauvignon are small, spherical with black, thick and very tough skin. They are fairly resistant to disease and spoilage and able to withstand some autumn rains with little damage. It ripens in mid to late season. These growth traits, along with its flavor appeal help to make Cabernet Sauvignon one of the most popular red wine varieties worldwide.

Found almost everywhere in the world, Cabernet Sauvignon is just as likely to be bottled on its own as it is blended. But because Cabernet Sauvignon is fairly tannic, the wine is often blended with other grapes; usually Merlot - being less tannic - is considered an ideal partner. At its best, unblended Cabernet produces wines of great intensity and depth of flavor. Its classic flavors are currant, plum, black cherry, cigars, green peppers, chocolate and spice. It can also be marked by herb, olive, mint, tobacco, cedar and anise. The best Cabernets start out dark purple-ruby in color, with firm acidity, a full body, great intensity, concentrated flavors and firm tannins.
Carignan

Also known as Carignane ( California) and Cirnano ( Italy). At one time a major blending grape for jug wines, Carignan's popularity has diminished. It still appears in some blends, and old vineyards are sought after for the intensity of their grapes. But the likelihood is that other grapes with even more intensity and flavor will replace it in the future, it currently tends to be progressively replaced by Shiraz.

Carignan requires a long growing season as it buds and ripens quite late, so is not prone to spring frosts. It is a vigorous, although not really hardy vine, sensitive to downy and powdery mildew. Carignan has but one characteristic and that is to recommend it for planting for high yields. An acre of Carignan may easily produce 10 to 12 tons of grapes.
Carignane

The Californian spelling of the French grape carignan often blended with syrah, mourvedre, and grenache to produce high quality Rhone-styles blends.
Carmenere

Also known as Grande Vidure, this grape was once widely planted in Bordeaux, But when phylloxera swept through France's vineyards in the late 1800s, Carmenere didn't take well to grafted rootstock and was thought lost to history. It is planted primarily in Chile and other areas of the New World are planting it. Carmenere, along with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, was imported to Chile around 1850. According to Chilean vintners, Carmenere has been mislabeled for so long that many growers and the Chilean government now consider it Merlot.
Charbono

An uncommon red-wine grape grown in small vineyards of California's Napa Valley and Mendocino County It is very much like Dolcetto, a grape found in northern Italy. Its stature as a wine was supported mainly by Inglenook-Napa Valley, which bottled a Charbono on a regular basis. Occasionally it made for interesting drinking and it aged well. But more often it was lean and tannic, a better story than bottle of wine. A few wineries still produce it, but none with any success.
Chardonnay
Red Wine Grapes

This is a classic with grape grown around the world. As Cabernet Sauvignon is the king of reds, so is Chardonnay the king of white wines, for it makes consistently excellent, rich and complex whites. This is an amazingly versatile grape that grows well in a variety of locations throughout the world. In Burgundy, it is used for the exquisite whites, such as Montrachet, Meursault and Pouilly-Fuisse, and true Chablis; in Champagne it turns into Blanc de Blancs. Among the many other countries that have caught Chardonnay fever, Australia is especially strong.

Chardonnay was introduced to California in the 1930s but didn't become popular until the 1970s. Areas such as Anderson Valley, Carneros, Monterey, Russian River, Santa Barbara and Santa Maria Valley, all closer to cooler maritime influences, are now producing wines far superior to those made a decade ago.

Though there is a Maconnais village called Chardonnay, no one agrees on the grape's origin--it may even be Middle Eastern.

Chardonnay takes oak well, and many higher priced Chardonnays are typically fermented and/or aged in oak barrels. When Chardonnay is aged in oak barrels, it may pick up vanilla overtones in its aromas and flavor. When well made, Chardonnay offers bold, ripe, rich and intense fruit flavors of apple, fig, melon, pear, peach, pineapple, lemon and grapefruit, along with spice, honey, butter, butterscotch and hazelnut flavors.

Winemakers build more complexity into this easy-to-manipulate wine using common vinification techniques: barrel fermentation, sur lie aging during which the wine is left on its natural sediment, and malolactic fermentation which reduces crispness and brings out a rich, buttery taste. This usually shortens the life of the wine as far as aging is concerned. No other white table wine benefits as much from oak aging or barrel fermentation. Chardonnay grapes have a fairly neutral flavor, and because they are usually crushed or pressed and not fermented with their skins the way red wines are, whatever flavors emerge from the grape are extracted almost instantly after crushing. Red wines that soak with their skins for days or weeks through fermentation extract their flavors quite differently. Chardonnay also ages well in the bottle, though it will not age as long as many red wines.

Because Chardonnay is also an inexhaustible producer that can easily yield 4 to 5 tons of high-quality grapes per acre, it is a cash cow for producers in every country where it's grown. Many American and Australian Chardonnays are very showy, well oaked and pleasing on release, but they fall short of the richness, depth and concentration needed to age. It evolves rather quickly, often losing intensity and concentration within a year or two. Studied by many vintners who recognize this flaw, are now sharply reducing crop yields, holding tonnage down to 2 to 3 tons per acre in the hopes that this will lead to greater concentration. The disadvantage to this approach is that the smaller crop will lead to significantly less wine to sell, resulting in higher prices as well.
Chenin Blanc

This is a native of the Loire valley in France and also grown in northern California. It has two personalities. For your home it's the foundation of such famous, long-lived whites as Vouvray and Anjou, Quarts de Chaume and Saumer, but on other soils it becomes just a very good blending grape. It is South Africa's most-planted grape, with about thirty percent of her vineyards producing Chenin Blanc and there it is called Steen. Both in South Africa and in California it is used primarily as a blending grape for generic table wines.

It can yield a pleasant enough wine, with subtle melon, peach, spice and citrus notes. The great Loire whites vary from dry and fresh to sweet, depending on the vintage and the producer. In South Africa, Chenin Blanc is also used for fortified wines and spirits. The lively fruit and mouth-watering acidity make this the perfect oyster wine .
Cinsault

A close relative of Pinotage. It does well in Southern France, Lebanon, Australia and South Africa, and is used most commonly for blending with more robust grapes to change the character of the wine.
White Wine Grapes
Concord

Called America's original dessert wine, Concord is famous for its deep purple color and classic sweetness. Concord grape wine has an intense fruity flavor. It is perfect as an after-dinner sipping wine. Grown on a greater variety of soils and under a wider range of climatic conditions than any other variety of American grape. This is a variety of Vitis Labrusca,and is resistant to many of the diseases which destroy the European grape, Vitis Vinifera. Concord Grapes were the first onto which Vinifera cuttings were grafted to combat insects and disease and the first to be successfully cross-pollenated with European stock to produce hybrids. The most prominent of these hybrids are French-American, but crossings were also made with German, Spanish, Portuguese, Lowlands, and Baltic grapes. The resulting vines are hardy and produce good yields.

Its vine is vigorous and productive, ripening in early to mid-October in New York. The suitability of Concord fruit for multiple purposes gives it a large market potential. It is the most important variety for sweet juice, jelly, and preserves, and it is also used in quantity for wine production and fresh market sales.

However, the Concord, even its hybrids, seldom contain the elevated amount of natural sugar that pure Vinifera varieties contain. The grapes also hold more pectin and acid, so their wines may emit a musky smell distasteful to some. Therefore, their juice is always reinforced with added sugar, nearly always thinned with water to balance the acid, treated with pectic enzyme to ensure that it clears, and may be flavored to some extent with certain aromatic herbs or spices to counter the natural muskiness.

The wine made from Concord grapes makes a sweet after dinner dessert wine with a fresh fruit flavor.
Dolcetto

The name means "little sweet one," though it is nearly always a dry wine. Almost exclusive to the Piedmont area of northwestern Italy, this produces soft, round, fruity wines fragrant with licorice and almonds. It's used as a safety net for producers of Nebbiolo and Barbera wines, which take much longer to age. There are seven DOCs: Acqui, Alba, Asti, Dinao d'Alba, Dogliani, Langhe Monregalesi and Ovada.

Dolcetto has changed remarkably over the past decade, and not only in terms of a general rise in quality and a much larger number of good bottles. It was once thought of as a simple gulping wine, best drunk in its youth and an ideal accompaniment to a typical meal. Dolcetto is now being taken much more seriously. In fact, it is rich in extract, and in well made bottles, can age without the slightest problem. Dark in color, fragrant and plumy on the nose with attractive almond notes, Dolcetto is ample and round on the palate, long and smooth on the finish.

Dolcetto needs to be carefully watched and tasted and, above all, cellar racked at the proper time to avoid reduction and off-odors. Interesting experiments with wood aging have also begun, and it seems safe to say that Dolcetto is heading for a new golden age in which all of the inherent promise of the grape and its wines will be fully realized.
Fume Blanc

See Sauvignon Blanc.
Gamay
Wine Making Grapes

Grown mainly in Burgundy, France. This grape conveys a cherry and candy flavor with a hint of raspberry.

Low in alcohol and relatively high in acidity. It is fermented quickly under a protective layer of carbon dioxide. The wines are meant to be drunk soon after bottling; the ultimate example of this is Beaujolais Nouveau, stocked everywhere almost overnight. It is also grown in Ardeche and Loire, but it makes no remarkable wines. The Swiss grow it widely, for blending with Pinot Noir; they often chaptalize the wines.

In the meantime, California grows a variety called Gamay Beaujolais, a high-yield clone of Pinot Noir that makes run-of-the-mill wines in most places where it's grown. In the United States the grape is used primarily for blending, and acreage is declining, as those vineyards who are really serious about Pinot Noir are using superior clones and planting in cooler areas.
Gewurztraminer

The name means "spice" in German. Gewurztraminer can yield magnificent wines, as is best demonstrated in Alsace, France, where it is made in to a variety of styles from dry to off-dry to sweet. It grows best in cooler climates where good acidity plays a significant role. It's a fickle grape to grow and vinify, as its intense spiciness can be overbearing when unchecked. Its styles vary from dry to richly sweet. At its best, it bursts with flavors producing a floral and refreshing wine with crisp acidity that pairs well with spicy dishes. When left for late harvest, it's unusually rich and complex, a great dessert wine.

This grape originated in Germany and Austria. it is also grown in Italy, California, Niagara Canada and Australia. It is popular in eastern Europe, New Zealand and the Pacific Northwest.
Grenache

Also known as Garnacha Tinta in Spain. It is often used for rose wine, and is common in France, Spain and California. This grape is very tolerant of drought and heat. It yields a fruity, spicy, medium-bodied wine with supple tannins. The second most widely planted grape in the world, Grenache is widespread in the southern Rhone. At its best when blended, (although there are some pure varietals) especially with Shiraz. It is famous when blended to produce Chateauneuf-du-Pape and used on its own for the roses of Tavel and Lirac, In addition, it is used in France's sweet Banyuls wine.

In Spain, it is especially noteworthy in Rioja and Priorato. Grenache used to be popular in Australia, but has now been surpassed by Syrah; a few vineyards in the Barossa Valley in southern Australia are making wines similar to Chateauneuf-du-Pape. In California it's a industrious blending grape, though sometimes an old vineyard is found and its grapes made into a varietal wine, which at its best can be good. It may make a comeback as devotees of the Rhone seek out cooler areas and a suitable blending grape.

In the southern Rhone it is used for blending in France's Rousillon and the Languedoc, and in various Spanish whites, including Rioja.
Gruner Veltiner

Also known as Veltliner. The most widely planted grape in Austria, it can be found to a lesser extent in some other parts of eastern Europe. It achieves its qualitative pinnacle in the Wachau, Kremstal and Kamptal regions along the Danube River west of Vienna. Gruner, as it's called for short, shows distinct white pepper, tobacco, lentil and citrus flavors and aromas, along with high acidity, making it an excellent partner for food. Gruner is singularly unique in its flavor profile, and though it rarely has the finesse and breeding of the best Austrian Rieslings (though it can come close when grown on granite soils), it is similar in body and texture.
Malbec

Thrives in well irrigated sandy soils, but not very hardy. Increasingly Merlot and the two Cabernets are substituting for the Malbec grape particularly in Bordeaux and the Loire in various blends. However, Argentina is markedly successful with this varietal. In the United States Malbec is only used as a blending grape, and an insignificant one at that, but a few wineries use it. The most understandable reason is because it's considered part of the Bordeaux-blend recipe.
Marsanne

Popular in the Rhone (along with Grenache Blanc, Roussanne and Viognier). Australia, especially in Victoria, has some of the world's oldest vineyards. At its best, Marsanne can be a full-bodied, moderately intense wine with spice, pear and citrus notes.
Description of over 40 different wine grape varieties, both red wine grapes and white wine grapes.
Merlot

Merlot became hugely popular in the 1990s and its popularity has climbed along with its acreage. Even beginner wine lovers can't drink enough of it. It dominates Bordeaux, except for the Medoc and Graves. Though it is mainly used for the Bordeaux blend, it can stand alone. In St. Emilion and Pomerol, especially, it produces noteworthy wines, culminating in Chateau Petrus. In Italy it's everywhere, though most of the Merlot is light, unremarkable stuff. But Ornellaia and Fattoria de Ama are strong exceptions to that rule. Despite its popularity, its quality ranges only from good to very good most of the time, though there are a few stellar producers found around the world.

Several styles of Merlot have become known. For instance, one is a Cabernet-style Merlot, which includes a high percentage (up to 25 percent) of Cabernet, comparable currant and cherry flavors and firm tannins. Another style is less reliant on Cabernet and is softer, more supple, medium-weight, less tannic and features more herb, cherry and chocolate flavors. A third style is a very light and simple wine stimulating Merlot's overall growth.

Just like Cabernet, there is an advantage to blending Merlot. Cabernet can give it backbone, color and tannic strength. It also marries well with oak. Merlot is relatively new in California, only dating to the early 1970s, and it is a difficult grape to grow, as it sets and ripens unevenly. Many critics believe Washington State has a slight quality edge with this wine. As a wine, Merlot's aging potential is fair to good. It may be softer with age, but often the fruit flavors fade and the herbal flavors dominate.
Mourvedre

Mourvedre is native to Spain, where it is known as Monastrell. It was brought to Provence in the late Middle Ages where, prior to the phylloxera invasion (a serious pest of commercial grapevines worldwide) at the end of the 19th century, it was the dominant varietal.

Mourvedre is a late-ripening varietal that flourishes with hot summer temperatures, likes a wide variety of soils and does not need a great deal of care. It's popular across the south of France, especially in the regions of Provence and the Cotes-du-Rhone, and is often used in Chateauneuf-du-Pape; Languedoc makes it as a varietal. Spain uses it in many areas, including Valencia. In the United States it's a minor factor now, pursued by a few wineries that specialize in Rhone-style wines. The wine can be pleasing, with medium-weight, spicy cherry and berry flavors and moderate tannins with aromas of black fruits, licorice. It ages well.
Muscat

Also known as Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, its full name, and Moscato in Italy, Moscatel in Iberia. Probably the only grape that produces wine with the aroma of the grape itself. Sweet Muscats have flavors of raisins and oranges. Muscat Blanc is marked by strong spice and floral notes and can be used in blending to increase complexity and flavor, its primary function in California. This grape can turn into anything from the low-alcohol, sweet and frothy Asti Spumante and Muscat de Canelli to bone-dry wines like Muscat d'Alsace. In addition, it produces fortified wine such as Beaumes de Venise.
Nebbiolo

The great grape of Northern Italy (the Piedmont area,) which excels there in Barolo and Barbaresco, strong, ageable wines. Mainly unsuccessful elsewhere, Nebbiolo also now has a small foothold in California. So far the wines are light and uncomplicated, bearing no resemblance to the Italian types.
Niagara

A native American (Labrusca) variety, successfully grown in many districts throughout New York, it is a floral, strongly flavored white grape used for juice, wine and fresh consumption. It ranks below Concord in cold hardiness and ripens somewhat earlier. On favorable sites, yields can equal or surpass those of Concord. Acidity is lower than for most other American varieties. Native American grape varieties have strikingly different physical and flavor characteristics than their European counterparts. A Niagara grape cluster is large with loose, individual berries. The grape skin is thicker and the inside of the grape is fleshy.
Petite Sirah

Known for its dark hue and firm tannins, Petite Sirah has often been used as a blending wine to provide color and structure, particularly to Zinfandel. On its own, Petite Sirah can also make intense, peppery, age worthy wines, but few experts consider it as complex as Syrah itself.

Just over 3,200 acres of grapes identified as Petite Sirah are presently planted in California. Although only a portion of these vineyards have been surveyed, recent DNA evidence from research led by Dr. Carole Meredith at the University of California at Davis has confirmed most plantings to be the same grape as Durif, a minor red grape variety first grown in southern France in the late 1800s. Durif is a cross between Peloursin and Syrah. About 10% of Petite Sirah however, is Peloursin, which, observed in the field, is practically indistinguishable from Durif, even by expert ampelographers.

Just to make things more confusing, in France, growers refer to different variants of Syrah as Petite and Grosse, which has to do with the yield of the vines.
Pinot Blanc
Description of over 40 different wine grape varieties, both red wine grapes and white wine grapes.

Pinot Blac is sometimes referred to as a poor man's Chardonnay because of its similar flavor and texture profile, Pinot Blanc is used in Champagne. Burgundy, Alsace, Germany, Italy and California and can make a terrific wine. With wine making expertise, it can be intense, concentrated and complex, with ripe pear, spice, citrus and honey notes. Pinot Blanc can age, but is best drunk early while its fruit still shines through. It is related to the Pinot Gris.
Pinot Gris / Pinot Grigio

Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are in fact the same white grape. Pinot Gris is known as Pinot Grigio in Italy and as Ruländer in southern Germany, producing quite a lot of undistinguished dry white wine and Collio's outstanding whites. As Pinot Gris, it used to be grown in Burgundy and the Loire, though it has been supplanted, but it comes into its own in Alsace, where it's known as Tokay. When good, this varietal is soft, gently perfumed and has more color than most whites.
Pinot Noir

This is the great and world-renowned red grape of the eastern French region of Burgundy and is a touchy variety. The red is lighter in color than most red wines. The best examples offer the classic black cherry, spice, raspberry and currant flavors, and an aroma that can resemble wilted roses, along with earth, tar, herb and cola notes. It can also be rather ordinary, light, simple, herbal, vegetal and occasionally weedy. It can even be downright funky, with overwhelming barnyard aromas. In fact, Pinot Noir is the most fussy of all grapes to grow. It responds strongly to environmental changes such as heat and cold spells, and is notoriously difficult to work with once picked, since its skins are thin and easily bruised and broken, allowing the juice the freely flow. The vine itself is very slow to mature with low yields and early-ripening fruit. Even after fermentation, Pinot Noir can hide its weaknesses and strengths, making it a most difficult wine to evaluate out of barrel. In the bottle, too, it is often changes color, showing poorly one day, brilliantly the next.

There are many different clones grown, developed to suit the different climatic and soil conditions as the variety generally benefits from a cool climate rather than a hot, dry one. Today there is also a greater understanding and appreciation for varying approaches to Pinot Noir wine, even if there is less agreement about those styles--should it be rich, concentrated and loaded with flavor, or a wine of elegance, finesse and delicacy? Or can it, as in the traditional Pinot Noir, be both? Even varietal character remains under discussion. Pinot Noir can certainly be tannic, especially when it is fermented with some of its stems, a practice that many vintners around the world believe contributes to the wine's backbone and prolonged existence. Pinot Noir can also be long-lived, but predicting with any accuracy which wines or vintages will age is often the decisive test in forecasting.

It is also of great importance in the Champagne region of North Eastern France where it is pressed immediately after picking in order to yield white juice and blended with Chardonnay to produce the famous sparkling wine of the region. It is just about the only red grown in Alsace. In California, it excelled in the late 1980s and early 1990s and is on the brink of further progress. California and Oregon certainly have a legitimate claim to producing world-class Pinot Noir.

It is a medium-bodied and more complex wine with a cherry/strawberry aroma and palate which with age may develop characteristics more reminiscent of Burgundy with the fruit becoming more like plums and with a longer palate. Whether the wine is bone dry or rich and spicy, it has a hint of honey.
Pinotage

Developed in the early 1900s and used principally in South African wines. Pinotage is a blend between the Pinot Noir and Cinsault varieties. Pinot Noir is very difficult to grow successfully, whereas Cinsault is sturdy and resistant to most vine ailments. It was hoped, by crossing these two, the new variety would gain the good points of both parents - classic Pinot Noir taste with a large crop from easy-growing vines.

The grape makes a wine that is hearty, with a fruity and spice taste. Some tasters remark on a banana-like taste.
Riesling

The Riesling grape is believed to be indigenous to Austria and Germany, and has been planted there for almost 1,000 years. One of the world's greatest white wine grapes. Riesling does best in cool climates and is very resistant to frost. It is planted very widely in the northern European growing regions but is less popular in other areas of the world. Because the variety excels in cooler climates, its tendency is to ripen slowly makes it an excellent source for sweet wines made from grapes attacked by the noble rot Botrytis cinerea, which withers the grapes' skin and concentrates their natural sugar levels.

Riesling is considered on of the 'noble' grape varieties for wine making. It is best known for producing the wines of Germany's Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and Rheingau wines, but it also achieves brilliance in Alsace and Austria. While the sweet German Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese wines, along with Alsace's famed Selection de Grains Nobles, are often celebrated for their high sugar levels and ability to age almost endlessly, they are rare and expensive.

Riesling has the ability to produce wines that range from bone dry to very sweet but are usually made in dry of semi-dry styles. Its high acidity and distinctive floral, citrus, peach, honeysuckle and mineral accents have won dry Riesling many fans.

The wines from Germany's Mosel region are perhaps the most genuine expression of the grape, offering lime, pie crust, apple, slate and honeysuckle characteristics on a light-bodied and racy frame. Germany's Rheinhessen, Rheingau and Pfalz regions produces wines of similar characteristics, but with increasing body and spice. In Alsace, Riesling is most often made in a dry style, full-bodied, with a distinct gasoline aroma. In Austria, Riesling plays second fiddle to Gruner Veltliner in terms of quantity, but when grown on favored sites it offers wines with great focus and clarity allied to the grape's typically racy frame.

In other regions, Riesling struggles to maintain its share of vineyard plantings, but it can be found (often under synonyms such as White Riesling, Rhine Riesling or Johannisberg Riesling) in California, Oregon, Washington, New York's Finger Lakes region, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South America and Canada. Riesling deserves another try. Look for the resurgence of this fine varietal, especially out of Canada.
Wine Making Grapes
Sangiovese

This red-wine grape originated in the Tuscan area of Italy. In some ways sangiovese is to Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino as cabernet sauvignon is to Bordeaux. Both form the base of wines normally blended with other varietals and both by themselves share a certain distinctive elegance and complexity, when well-made. The grape is slow to mature and late-ripening. It has relatively thin skins and a tendency to rot in dampness. It does not mature well if planted above an elevation of 1,500 feet. However, vineyards with limestone soil seem to produce wines with more forceful aromas. Sangiovese is distinctive for its supple texture and medium-to full-bodied spice, raspberry, cherry and anise flavors. When blended with a grape such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese produces red wine of excellent quality.

It is a bit surprising that Sangiovese wasn't more accepted in California given the strong role Italian settlers played in the state's winemaking heritage, but now the grape appears to have a bright future in the state, both as a stand-alone varietal wine and for use in blends with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and maybe even Zinfandel. Expect sweeping stylistic changes as winemakers learn more about how the grape performs in different locales as well as how it marries with different grapes. It is definitely worth watching.
Sauvignon Blanc

"[Sauvignon blanc] bangs you in the mouth - like an old peasant with his wooden shoe......The Sauvignon is the whipper-snapper. It's not solid enough. It's violent, it's sharp, it bites, it cries, it's like a ferocious dog you keep on a leash."
Troisgros, as quoted by Israel Shenker in the N.Y. Times

This grape is very easy to identify in a blind tasting. But what is difficult is finding the right words to describe it. In France this variety may be known as Petit Sauvignon or Sauvignon Jaune in the Gironde region of South West France and Sauvignon Fume or Blanc Fume in West and Central France. It is another white with a notable aroma, this one with a herbaceous or musky nose. The pure varietal is found mainly in the Loire, at Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume, As part of a blend, the grape is all over Bordeaux, in Pessac-Leognan, Graves and the Medoc whites; it also shows up in Sauternes. New Zealand has had overwhelming triumph with Sauvignon Blanc, producing its own perfumed, fruity style that spread across North America and then back to France.

Sauvignon Blanc has been used for many years in France. In the United States, Robert Mondavi rescued the varietal in the 1970s by labeling it Fume Blanc, and he and others have enjoyed success with it. The key to success seems to be in taming its overt varietal intensity, which at its extreme leads to pungent grassy, vegetal and herbaceous flavors. A popular alternative to Chardonnay, employing barrel fermentation, sur lie aging and malolactic fermentation. It is also a popular wine to produce because it is an exceptional producer and a highly lucrative wine to make.

It can be crisp and refreshing, matches well with all types of foods. It costs less to produce and grow than Chardonnay and it sells for less too. It also gets less respect from vintners than perhaps it should. Its popularity rises then diminishes, at times appearing to challenge Chardonnay and at other times appearing to be a cash-flow afterthought. Even at its very best, it does not reach the kind of richness, depth or complexity Chardonnay does and in the end that alone may be the essential difference.

It is usually best drunk young, as it does not particularly benefit from ageing. The one exception is sweet white Bordeaux, typically made with Sauvignon blanc as a major component.
Semillon

Golden and thin-skinned, it is the primary grape in White Bordeaux wines. On its own or in a blend, this white can age. However, when used to make wines on its own, Semilllon is almost always disappointing, producing a dull, tasteless drink that is only really good for distilling to brandy. Even in Sauternes its usage is only assured by the intervention of the botrytis fungus. It is thus almost always used in blends. With Sauvignon Blanc, its traditional partner, make rich, honeyed wines,

Semillon is relatively disease resistant, however it is susceptible to Botrytis cinerea (bunch rot). Botrytis infects the grape during autumn causing it to shrivel and dry up. By harvest time the juice is extremely concentrated and honey sweet. Australia's Hunter Valley uses it alone to make a full-bodied white that used to be known as Hunger Riesling, Chablis or White Burgundy. In South Africa was once so prevalent that it was just called "wine grape," but it has declined drastically in importance there.

In the United States, Semillon enjoys only humble success as a varietal wine in California and Washington state, but it continues to become less prevalent in California. It can make a wonderful late-harvest wine, and those wineries that make it the center of their attention can make well balanced wines with complex fig, pear, tobacco and honey notes. When blended into Sauvignon Blanc, it adds body, flavor and texture and adds grassy herbal notes. It can also be found blended with Chardonnay, more to increase the volume of wine than to add anything to the package.
Wine Grape Varieties
Seyval

Seyval is popular on the east coast of the US and Canada, and is one of the most widely planted grapes east of the Rocky Mountains in the US. Wines from this grape can have melon-like flavors, as well as grassy/hay overtones.
Syrah or Shiraz

Shiraz is the name of an old city in Iran ( Persia). It is known in France and California as Syrah, and in Australia as Shiraz. It is the most widely planted red grape in Australia. Red Hermitage and Cote-Rotie in France, Penfolds Grange in Australia--the epitome of Syrah is a majestic red that can age for half a century. The grape seems to grow well in a number of areas and is capable of rendering rich, complex and distinctive wines, with pronounced pepper, spicy blackberry, plum, black cherry, tar, leather and roasted nut flavors, a smooth, supple texture and smooth tannins. In southern France it finds its way into a variety of blends such as in Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Languedoc-Roussillon. Known as Shiraz in Australia, it was long used for bread-and-butter blends, but an increasing number of high-quality wines are being made, especially from old vines in the Barossa Valley. In the new world, it is often a mixing partner with Cabernet Sauvignon.

In the United States., Syrah's rise in quality is remarkable. It appears to have the early-drinking appeal of Pinot Noir and Zinfandel and few of the peculiarities of Merlot, and may well prove must less difficult to grow and vinify than any other red wines aside from Cabernet.

If you happen to come across a bottle of Petite Sirah, it is not related to the Syrah/Shiraz grape at all. See our description for Petite Sirah.
Tempanillo

The word 'Tempanillo' in Spanish quite literally means "early". But don't be fooled. This black grape still has enough time on the vine to produce deeply colored purple and intense wines. Tempanillo is Spain 's major contribution to red wine. It is indigenous to the country and is seldom grown anywhere else. It is the principal grape in the red wines from Rioja and Ribera del Duero, which are two of Spain's most important wine regions.

In Rioja, Tempranillo it is often blended with Garnacha, Mazuelo and a few other minor grapes. When made in a traditional style, Tempranillo can be garnet-hued, with flavors of tea, brown sugar and vanilla. When made in a more modern style, it can display aromas and flavors of strawberries, blackberries, red and black stone fruit like plums and prunes, minerals, licorice, tobacco and leather with velvety spice accents and hints of vanilla and chocolate. An easy drinking wine! Riojas tend to be medium-bodied wines, offering more acidity than tannin.

In Ribera del Duero, wines are also divided along traditional and modern styles, and show similarities to Rioja. The more modern styled Riberas, however, can be quite powerful, offering a density and tannic structure similar to that of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Tempranillo is known throughout Spain under different names such as Cencibel, Tinto del Pais, Tinto Fino, Ull de Llebre and Ojo. It's also grown along the Douro River in Portugal under the monikers Tinta Roriz (used in the making of Port) and Tinta Aragonez.
Trebbiano and Ugni Blanc

Tremendously prolific in Italy where it is known as Trebiano and in Ugni Blancin France where it is called Ugni Blanc. This grape is low in alcohol but high in acidity. The Trebbiano varietal is traditionally blended with varieties that exhibit more predominate traits and is found in almost any basic white Italian wine. It is so ingrained in Italian winemaking that it is actually a sanctioned ingredient of the blend used for (red) Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. In Tuscany, the Trebbiano is blended with the Malvasia varietal in the production of Chianti.

The grape produces neutral, light, dry, white wines that are high in acid and moderate in alcohol. The flavor and aroma is practically undistinguishable. The wine is very pale in color and, at times, exhibits an attractive, bitter almond note in the finish. It is best drunk immediately.
Viognier

Viognier, the rare white grape originated in Condrieu in France's Rhone Valley, is one of the most difficult grapes to grow but seems to be recovering worldwide in both popularity and acreage. Crucially it must be picked at optimum ripeness. When harvested too early and under-ripe the resulting wine can be thin, dilute and unbalanced, while if picked too late then the wine will lack the grape's distinctive peach and honeysuckle aroma.

The main appeal of Viognier is its potentially powerful, rich, and complex floral and spicy aroma that often seems like overripe apricots mixed with orange blossoms or acacia. It has a distinctive and sweet aroma. Nevertheless, Viognier is usually made in a dry style and seems to attract more of the typical Chardonnay drinker.

It is used in the Condrieu's rare whites and sometimes blended with reds in the Northern Rhone. There are also a variety of wines available from southern France, most of them somewhat light.
Zinfandel
Wine Making Grapes

The origins of this tremendously versatile and popular grape are not known for certain, although it was thought to have come from Southern Italy as a cousin of Primitivo. However, recent research in Croatia and at the University of California at Davis, using DNA profiling, has proved Zinfandel is a clone of the Croatian variety Crljenak. The Italian Primitivo,also originally mutated from Crljenak. Further research may indicate the very first plantings migrated from Albania or Greece. In April, 2002, the TTB ( Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) announced they are considering ruling Zinfandel and Primitivo synonymous for use on wine labels. Producers of California Zinfandel will probably object, anticipating that Italian producers with a bountiful supply would then be able to undercut the market with inexpensive Primitivo wine labeled "Zinfandel".

It was a popular variety with home winemakers during the American prohibition era because its thick skins allowed the grapes to ship without damage. It later (late 1970's and early 1980's) became popular for the wines produced from it with forward fruit flavors and spicy overtones. Zinfandel declined in popularity in the mid 1980's and became unprofitable to grow until "White Zinfandel" was introduced. White Zinfandel is a blush-colored, slightly sweet wine.

Real Zinfandel, the red wine, is the quintessential California wine. It has been used for blending with other grapes, including Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah. It has been made in a claret style, with berry and spicy flavors, mild tannins and pretty oak shadings. It has been made into a full-bodied, ultra-ripe, intensely flavored, lively, complex and age worthy wine. Sometimes it is made into late-harvest and Port-style wines that feature very ripe, raisin-like flavors, alcohol above 15 percent and chewy tannins.

Zinfandel's popularity among consumers fluctuates. In the 1990s Zinfandel is enjoying a miniature revolution of popularity, as winemakers took renewed interest, focusing on higher-quality vineyards in areas well suited to Zinfandel. Styles emphasizing the grape's zesty, spicy pepper, raspberry, cherry, wild berry and plum flavors, and its complex range of tar, earth and leather notes. Zinfandel lends itself to blending.

Zinfandel is a challenging grape to grow: its berry size varies significantly within a bunch, which leads to uneven ripening. Water management is also particularly critical to raising Zinfandel. Under stress from lack of moisture, it is prone to raisining. It also ripens more unevenly than most other varieties and it is not uncommon for green and raisined berries to occur within the same cluster. Closer attention to viticulture and an appreciation for older vines, which tend to produce smaller crops of uniformly higher quality, account for better balanced wines.
Zweigelt

Or "Blauer Zweigelt" is a red varietal that originally comes from Austria. A full bodied wine with light spice, firm tannins and light acidity. This hybrid is a 20th century cross of Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent. Zweigelt, like Zinfandel, is a grape of real potential. Both are cultivated primarily in one part of the world but could do as well elsewhere. Niagara Canada is starting to produce Zweigelt wines and should do well, given that their climate is similar to Austria's.