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You’ll all remember the article I published on the Granite Belt in the August edition of our Cellar Club Newsletter, of course. The Granite Belt has over 50 wineries, from boutique producers through to award-winning estates – along with breweries and distilleries [for vodka and gin].
Well, I decided it would be a great break to go see what it was actually like.
This holiday was a little tempered when the area in Brisbane had a series of fires start in early November just before we were due to go. So, we tracked them as best we could via the internet, plus were in contact with the locals [via email]. The locals confirmed the fires were out in their area before we departed New Zealand shores.
The damage done by the fires was quite apparent as we got close to the Granite Belt, which is between 900 – 1,000m above sea level. Both sides of the road were scorched in places, and the railway line that [did] run through Granite Belt territory was completely charred. They use untreated timber in Australia and treat the rails with creosote to preserve it! Fuel to burn there.
On the way to the Granite Belt area, we stopped at the Summer Lane Camel Farm. Nice, and a different place to have morning tea, buy gifts and experience camels, if you’ve never had this experience.
On the Friday evening when we arrived in the Granite Belt, our first stop was at Balancing Heart Vineyard, a short drive from the town of Ballandean, with the backdrop of Girraween National Park. We indulged in a tasting flight and one of their woodfired pizzas – well worth it. They were welcoming and had a relaxed approach at the end of the day.
Balancing Heart Vineyard
Blanc de Blanc – blend of their chardonnays
Verdello – soft, pineappley taste, dry on palate
Rosé – cherries on the tongue and nose
While we were enjoying our time at the vineyard, we could walk along the vines and see the naturally occurring balancing rocks. These were throughout the area and are huge! You could slightly smell the smell of ash or burnt wood in the air, but as they’d had four days of rain before we arrived, the odour wasn’t that strong at all.
Well worth a visit, taste wise and visually.
Saturday, and our second vineyard was Ravencroft Vineyard, which is a boutique vineyard and small batch winery, founded by award-winning winemaker Mark Ravenscroft. The new owners had worked with Mark for three years to get a good transfer of knowledge and skill. All wines are made on-site with minimal intervention and additives.
We joined in with other visitors and did a full tasting:
Verdelho 2022 – very gentle on both nose and taste
Vermintino 2022 – really lemony [their crop wasn’t very good that year, so they imported the grapes from Chalmers in Victoria]
Skin Contact Fiano 2022 – smooth with honey and fruit on the tongue [this is a Naples variety]
Reserve Chardonnay 2021 – it had eight months in oak, and was lovely
Rose Sangiovese – dry Italian style, smooth, could alter with food [Tuscany variety] had added Fiano and Vermentino to boost flavour
Nero d’Avola 2022 – light and grassy – would go great with pizza on a Friday night [Chile variety]
Reserve Petite Verdot – aged in old oak barrels, you can taste mushrooms/ earthiness, smooth and dry.
2022 Cherry Bomb – total cherry nose, smooth, dry, nice cherry flavours on the tongue
Pinotage Waagee 2021 – smooth, dry, fruity, lemony bite at the end as it goes down.
Would recommend a visit, to relax in the atmosphere and taste their wines.
That same day, while it’s not a vineyard, it’s well worth going for a meal at Varias Restaurant & Fine Training facility, training the staff of the future. Their menu reads like a tantalising travelogue of the Granite Belt’s finest food producers. We had the two-course option at $59 per head, plus wines of course:
Sparkling Marsaane – pear, citrus and honey esp. honey, went magnificently with the pork belly entrée’
2023 Verdelho – pears on the nose and palate [John’s wine for the whole meal]
Tempranillo 2023 bronze medal Qld Awards – soft tannins, dry finish, white pepper, red fruit, went well with the Main of brisket with broccalini, pumpkin, greens beans and the best road potatoes.
Dessert was Lemon meringue pie with Raspberry ice cream.
This establishment would be the equivalent to the Whitireia & Weltec Hospitality Campus we’ve been to as a Club in Cuba Street. Well balanced and thought-out meals and wine combinations. Located at the Queensland College of Wine Tourism, this restaurant is all about celebrating seasonal produce year-round.
Then on Sunday, we had what was the most comprehensive wine tasting of the week in the Granite Belt, at Ballandean Estate Wines. Ballandean Estate is Queensland’ oldest operating winery family-owned and operated by the Puglisi family since 1932.
This is a single-vineyard, cool climate made-with-love wine establishment, with Shiraz from 50-year- old vines, as well as their ‘Strange Bird’ varietals.
We had booked in for one of their tastings, hosted by their wine educators. Their tasting came six limited release wines served with a gourmet platter, to complement the tasting. The platter turned out to be a meal in itself! When you arrive at the Estate, you go through to their Barrelroom Wine Lounge.
Must add in that they had a disability path, as well as their main steps, into them establishment. Handy if you are disabled, but perhaps mostly handy on the way out?
Ballandean Estate is one of the vineyards in the Belt that grow ‘Strange Bird’ wines. Strange Bird wines are rare, alternative varieties that represent less than one per cent of Australian vines – albarino (also known as alvarine), chenin blanc, cortese, fiano, gewurztraminer, gros and petit manseng, gruner veltliner, malvasia, marsanne, roussane and savagnin. While we didn’t taste all of these, we certainly tried a few.
Monday night we dined at Granite Belt Brewery. On the way up their driveway, driving past the vines, we saw kangeroos grazing the vines, with joeys in their pouches, so special. They weren’t bothered by us, but were keeping an eye on us, as we’d stopped the car for the photo opportunity. The Brewers is Stanthorpe’s premier brewers, crafting delicious beers and ciders since 2012. They use the local water supply, as well as the finest malts, hops and yeast.
It wasn’t a busy night for the restaurant, but it was about half full, and while they were focussed on craft beer the food and wine was fabulous. Everything was of course overwhelmed by the thunder and lightning storm that hit sometime before we were to leave to go back to our accommodation. Driving back-country roads without the sky full of stars to guide you [besides the GPS], was a little dodgy, so the valley-wide lightening was quite helpful!
OTHER things we enjoyed seeing during our stay was their Mt Marlay lookout – don’t walk up to it! There is an 8% gradient to get up that particular piece of road – drive!
Go and find their pyramid – a local farmer got overwhelmed by the number of smaller granite rocks on his property and constructed a 17m high pyramid with them! Quite impressive and good photo opportunity, though you can’t get into the field now, selfie still looks pretty cool.
Viewing their giant thermometer is fun too. The Belt is the only area in Queensland that usually gets snow every winter. They’re fully equipped and operational during their Winters for visitors.
They have their own Granite Belt Christmas Tree Farm, which was so much fun! This runs from Oct-Feb of each year. We were there in the last week of November, and it was packed! As well as rolling up to pick your own tree, getting it cut down, then using their tree wrap machine(!) there was a huge barn set up for all sorts of artificial trees and larger decorations, a smaller building with shop full of smaller decorations, plus morning tea supplies and gelato – we tried Christmas cake gelato and Kinder gelato. Both passed the test. Again, would recommend if you’re there at that time. Go to Sutton’s Juice Factory & Cidery – they are famous for their apple pie, and their steak pies are pretty good to! We indulged in both.
There were two places that we wouldn’t recommend, as the experience we were anticipating simply didn’t happen:
Hidden Creek, whose website we had checked 2-3 times before we got to it, to see if we could breakfast there. According to their website this was ok, but on getting to their vineyard, not so:
Robert Channon Wines was off-hand and disorganised. Not welcoming to the point that even though their vineyard had an ‘Open’ sign out at the gate, no-one was around, facilities were semi- closed and the only person we saw ran away!
Despite the above two businesses, we had a delightful time, met interesting and informative people and tasted some great wines. Would recommend paying a visit to the area if you don’t mind a three-hour drive inland from Brisbane.
By Samantha Maxwell & Hayley Hamilton Cogill Tasting Table | Aug 8, 2022 & others
If you’re a beginner in the world of red wine, walking down a wine aisle at a local wine shop or even your grocery store can be intimidating. Sure, you know that Merlot and Malbec are both red, but your knowledge doesn’t go too far beyond that. If that’s the case for you, don’t worry. We’re here to shed some light on the red wine section. The truth is, the vast majority of red wines come down to a handful of grapes, so if you know about those grapes, then you’ll have a much clearer picture of the wine landscape. That can help you choose the perfect red for that steak dinner or select a bottle for your friend’s housewarming party.
We’re going to cover 10 common types of red wine you’ll find on shelves. Of course, there are countless other varieties out there, but these are the types you’re most likely to see regularly. Get acquainted with these varieties first, then make your way to your local wine shop and try them out for yourself. After all, the best way to determine what kind of wine you prefer is by sipping it yourself. Ready to get started? Here’s every major type of red wine you’d ever need to know.
1. Merlot
If you’re looking for an easy, approachable red wine to start sipping, you certainly can’t go wrong with a Merlot. According to Wine Enthusiast, it’s one of the most popular red wines in the world, and it comes in at number two in red wine popularity in the United States (right behind Cabernet Sauvignon). It’s a versatile grape that can be transformed into fruity or oaky wines alike, serving a variety of taste palettes.
When you get a good Merlot, you’re going to experience a well-balanced wine with moderate tannins, moderate acidity, and relatively high alcohol content. Though individual bottles may vary significantly, you can expect a medium or full-bodied wine. It’s common for tasters to pick up notes of cherry, berries, or plums, or you might get a taste of chocolate or vanilla if you’re drinking an oakier variety (via Wine Folly).
While a wine featuring only Merlot grapes is common on its own, these grapes also commonly find their way into Bordeaux blends. One thing’s for sure: If you bring a Merlot to a dinner party, no one is going to complain. We think this is a great entry point for all those just beginning to get into wine.
2. Zinfandel
Let’s clear one thing up right away: Zinfandel is not the same thing as white Zinfandel. The latter is a sweet or off-dry rosé that many wine drinkers dislike. Of course, if you like it, you should enjoy it, but you definitely shouldn’t confuse it with Zinfandel, which is a red wine with moderate tannins and high alcohol levels, per Wine Folly. This results in a big-bodied wine that pairs well with various Arabic and Mediterranean cuisines. However, the wine itself is originally from Croatia, which has a thriving wine industry. Fun fact: Per Wine Folly, Zinfandel is the only grape varietal in the world that has an annual festival called the ZAP Wine Festival.
While white Zinfandel might be more common on grocery store wine shelves than red Zinfandel, you can usually find the latter without too many issues. This grape is also often found in California red blends (via VinePair). If you’re looking for a bold, robust red that will pair deliciously with all of your favorite foods like grilled meats and mezze, you may find just what you’re searching for in a Zinfandel.
3. Cabernet Sauvignon
Moderately bold, full-bodied, and perfect for pairing with food, it’s hard not to love a good Cabernet Sauvignon. This is an extremely popular type of wine. In fact, it’s the most popular in the world. Like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon is a great variety for beginner red-drinkers, as it’s both easy to obtain and has a widely appreciated taste. You may notice notes of black cherry or black currant if you’re enjoying a fruitier Cab, while an oakier variety may evoke notes of graphite or cedar, per Wine Folly. Cabernet Sauvignon is produced worldwide, from France, Italy, and Spain to South Africa, Argentina, and even China.
One of the reasons Cabernet Sauvignons are so popular is because they age really well. Tannins and chemical compounds referred to as phenolics ensure that Cabs taste amazing even after they’ve been in a cellar for decades (via The California Wine Club). The tannins in this wine are more pronounced in younger bottles, but older vintages tend to be more mellow, thus pairing with a wider variety of foods. If you’re looking for the perfect entryway into the world of red wine, grab yourself a Cabernet Sauvignon the next time you’re out.
4. Nebbiolo
According to Wine-Searcher, while Nebbiolo grapes are produced in many parts of the world, they’re overwhelmingly grown in the Piedmont region of Italy. It has high-quality wines that are known for their intense tannin and acidity. Because of these qualities, they pair well with cheese and other fatty, creamy dishes, as the acidity helps cut through those intense flavors (via “Wine Folly: Magnum Edition”). Taste for notes of cherry, leather, rose, and star anise.
You may find cheaper Nebbiolo varieties on the market, but you should expect to pay around $30 for a good bottle. Due to this price point and its intense, bold flavor, Nebbiolo is generally not a wine that new drinkers start with, but it’s certainly worth a try if you’re looking for something new and interesting. There’s a chance that you won’t be able to find it in your grocery store wine aisle, but most well-stocked wine stores, especially those with robust Italian sections, should carry a wide selection of Nebbiolo. This wine can be consumed young, but it typically ages well rather quickly.
5. Syrah (Shiraz)
This one causes quite a bit of confusion for some new wine drinkers because it technically has two names. According to Wine Folly, the grape originated in France’s Rhone Valley, a legendary wine-producing area. However, since then, it has made its way to Australia, and it’s now the most-planted grape in the country. In Australia, they don’t refer to it as Syrah like they do in Europe. Instead, it’s called Shiraz. If you see different wine bottles with these different names, you’ll know that they’re the same grape, and it gives you an idea about where that particular bottle was produced.
This full-bodied red wine has a moderately high alcohol level, medium-high tannins, and tends to be on the drier side (though not intensely so). It’s excellent when paired with dark meats and intense spices, as those flavors tend to bring out its fun, fruity side. Notes of blueberry and plum are standard, as are tobacco and milk chocolate aromas.
If you’re already a fan of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and want to branch out to try something new, Syrah is an excellent option. These wines share many of the same characteristics, but Syrah is a slightly less common find in the U.S.
6. Malbec
Are you looking for a way to get into South American wines? Then do we have a treat for you: it’s called Malbec! Malbec is grown everywhere from South Africa to New Zealand, but most of its production comes from Argentina, per Wine Folly. VinePair says that it’s been a popular blending grape in France for over 100 years, but Malbec has grown as a wine in its own right over the past few decades. And the stuff from Argentina is generally regarded as some of the best.
If you like juicy, fruity wines, Malbec is going to be perfect for you. Don’t assume that juiciness means it will be too sweet, though. Most Malbec is quite dry. We love that this type of wine is affordable so that everyone can enjoy it. If you’re looking for a good bottle of Malbec, you can expect to spend around $15. You should be able to find Malbec at most shops that sell wine.
While many red wines tend to have a longer finish (meaning the flavor stays with you for a while after you take a sip), the finish on Malbec is relatively short. This means it’s great for pairing with red meats that tend toward the leaner side.
7. Pinot Noir
Burgundy is one of the most legendary wine regions globally, and Pinot Noir is right at home there, according to Decanter. However, it’s also grown in other parts of the world, from Chile to Switzerland, so you shouldn’t worry about tracking down a Burgundy if you can’t find it at first. This light-bodied red is great for those who generally drink white wine but want to branch out and try something new. It’s not very sweet, but the acidity is intense, making it ideal for pairing with foods that you normally wouldn’t think of eating with a glass of red wine (via “Wine Folly: Magnum Edition”). Chicken, for instance, is an excellent pairing with Pinot Noir.
Unfortunately, Pinot Noir can be more expensive than other bottles, which means you’ll want to spend around $30 for a bottle of the good stuff. Pinot Noir is an incredibly finicky varietal for grape growers to work with, per Wine Enthusiast, since it is susceptible to disease and root rot. But even though it is hard to grow, Pinot Noir is a fave for many drinkers, and if you haven’t tried it yet, it’s worth a sip.
8. Cabernet Franc
Never seen a Cabernet Franc in the flesh before? You’re not alone. It’s not especially common to see this wine on its own because it is most often used for blending with other varietals into Bordeaux red wines. However, it is sometimes produced as a single varietal, according to MasterClass. When you drink this wine, expect a medium-bodied red with plenty of acidity that makes it sippable and perfect to pair with tomato-based dishes. You might pick up on notes of strawberry or raspberry as well as bell pepper and chili pepper.
If you’re looking for intense tannins, then Cabernet Franc is probably not for you. While it can often be confused with Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon grapes have a thicker skin than Franc ones, which gives Sauvignon a heavier and more intense flavor. However, if you’re not super into red wines generally, this wine is a great place to start. It’s a fun option to serve at a party if you want to introduce your guests to something a little different than what they might be used to drinking.
9. Sangiovese
According to Wine Folly, Italy, Tuscany grows most of the world’s Sangiovese, a dry, acidic, savory red wine. Because it’s so acidic, it can pair well with spicy and other acidic dishes, making it one of our favorites for a dinner party. It pairs excellently with tomatoes and potent herbs. It can be a great option for vegetarian cooking — as long as the food you’re eating has plenty of plant-derived fats. However, Sangiovese generally isn’t amazing for pairing with sweet dishes, so if you’re looking for a dessert-adjacent drink, it’s usually not the way to go.
Wine Folly refers to Sangiovese as a “chameleon,” meaning that different wines using this varietal will taste different. The variation is huge, so it pays to learn about the specific region you’re getting your Sangiovese from if you’re curious about the details. This fun, interesting wine is a great option for food lovers and those who want to branch out to slightly less recognized varietals that are still widely available.
10. Grenache
Grenache, also known as Garnacha in Spain, is a common grape used in wines throughout the world. VinePair describes the flavor as berry-forward with notes of strawberries and white pepper along with a hint of Fruit Roll=Ups. Umm … sign us up! This varietal was originally cultivated in Spain, and it’s sold both as a single varietal as well as appearing in blended bottles. You may want to consider pairing it with autumnal dishes like roasted veggies, lamb, or even prime rib. However, The Wine Cellar Insider shares that it’s extremely versatile, so don’t be afraid to try some creative pairings if that’s what you’re into.
While Grenache can be quite expensive, you won’t have to spend a fortune to enjoy this wine to its fullest. A $15 to $20 bottle can give you a good idea of what this grape offers and initiate you into a whole new world of red wine. Give it a try the next time you cook a special dinner.
11. Lambrusco
From Italy’s Emilia-Romagna, Lambrusco is a regional designation and a mix of various grapes that grow wildly and flourish quickly (via Wine Traveler). Yes, it can be confusing. Don’t fret, though. You’ll love this type if you like juicy, lively wine with an effervescence. With origins potentially dating back to 160 BC, Wine Folly says Lambrusco tends to be low-alcohol and easy-drinking.
The different varieties range from pale-pink to inky purple, the site says, and are produced either dry or semi-sweet. The wines also tend to have aromas of wildflower, black cherry, pomegranate, and wild herbs. Flavors can be fruit-forward like tart cranberry and sour cherry, or savory with black tea, spice, and olive. Best served chilled, this type of sparkling wine always has a bubbly element as a semi-sparkling frizzante or fully-carbonated spumante.
Regional classifications can help you determine which you’ll most enjoy. Lambrusco di Modena is an uncomplicated and approachable introductory style. Lambrusco di Grasparossa is dark, dry, and structured with blue-and-black fruit flavors, bold tannins, and mouth-watering astringency. If you’re a fan of semi-sweet, fruity, and creamy wines, Lambrusco Salamino and Lambrusco Reggiano should be on your list.
Lambrusco is known for high acidity that pairs with rich, fatty foods, particularly from the Emilia-Romagna province — home of balsamic vinegar of Modena, mortadella, and Parmesan-Reggiano cheese. Pair Lambrusco with parmesan risotto or a charcuterie board with Prosciutto di Parma.
12. Barbera
Slo Wine shares that over 5000 varieties of wine grapes are included in the Italian National Registry! Of which, they add about 350 are actively growing native varieties. Within Italy’s northwestern Piedmont region, Barolo might be best known for its production of powerful, tannic (and often expensive) wine from nebbiolo grapes.
But, it isn’t the only variety grown in this region notable for white truffles, chestnuts, and hazelnuts. The barbera wine grape thrives on low slopes and valleys below the fog line (as in, the less-than-prime locations) throughout the Piedmont province, notes Wine Folly.
Barbera wines are fleshy and food-friendly with a light-to-medium body. With its rich purple color, this wine can confuse your palate. You may expect the wine to be dense and tannic. Instead, barbera is aromatic and fresh with high acidity. The wine site shares the wine’s flavors include juicy wild strawberry, tart cherry, and pencil lead. A young, fresh style of wine also has a structure, texture, and balance that is ideally enjoyed the first few years after release.
Some of the best come from vineyards around Asti and Alba, where the wines are bright and fresh with an easy approachability. Outside of Italy, barbera is grown in California, Australia, and Argentina, typically delivering darker fruit notes with higher alcohol from the warmer growing conditions.
Barbera wine is usually quite affordable, making it the perfect Tuesday night wine for pairing with regional dishes like truffle-topped chestnut agnolotti.
13. Tempranillo
Tempranillo is a tale of mediums: Medium to full-bodied, medium to low acidity, medium to high tannin, medium alcohol, and a lot of flavor. Though various red wine varieties originate in Spain, tempranillo is the country’s signature grape. Foods and Wines of Spain says tempranillo grapes cover 20% of Spain’s total vineyard area. The grape’s native region, Rioja, enjoys high elevations with warm days and cool nights, resulting in balanced, fresh wines with notes of red fruit, soft herb, and leather. In central Spain’s Ribera del Duero and Toro regions, Wine-Searcher finds the wines are more rugged, tannic, and high in alcohol due to the extreme temperatures.
Tempranillo comes from the Spanish word temprano, meaning early, because it ripens quickly, producing thick-skinned grapes on highly productive vines. The variety goes by different names, including tinto fino, cencibel, and tinta de toro, with each showing different characteristics and styles. The best tempranillo wines are from areas preserving the fruit’s natural acidity.
Tempranillo has an affinity for American oak aging, embracing the oak’s vanilla coconut flavors in the wine. As the wine ages, tertiary qualities emerge like dried cherry, fig, and woody herbs. By law, a Rioja Reserva wine must age at least three years, of which one year must be in barrel and six months in bottle (via Rioja Wine). Rioja delivers incredible quality for the price point. Delicious Rioja Reserva wines are available for under $20 from producers like CVNE, Beronia, and LAN.
14. Carménère
As Spain has tempranillo and Argentina has malbec, the signature red wine of Chile is carménère. Though a native Bordeaux variety, its success shines brightest in South America. After phylloxera devastated the vine in France, carménère was considered extinct. However, before the pest spread throughout Europe, vintners took cuttings of the carménère vines to Chile says Wine Enthusiast.
Vinepair adds Chilean vintners had misunderstood what variety they were growing for decades. They thought the carménère was merlot, and treated it as such in the vineyard, harvesting the fruit side by side with early-ripening grape. In the 1990s scientists confirmed they were growing a late-ripening carménère. In 1998, the Chilean Department of Agriculture designated carménère as a distinct variety, skyrocketing production. The sun-loving variety now thrives throughout Chile’s Central Valley.
Carménère wines made from unripe grapes display bitter green pepper, paprika, and Tabasco. These qualities are similar to the carménère parent grape, Cabernet Franc. The wines have moderate tannin, medium to full body, rich concentration, and flavors of black plum, fig, cherry, and woody herb. Though most carménère grapes are grown in Chile, vintners in Italy and New Zealand dabble with small productions, though they too likely began growing the grape confusing it with something else.
15. Tannat
Tannat is believed to originate from the Basque country on the border of France and Spain. Today, it is most widely planted in France’s Madiran region. Wine Enthusiast says tannat’s opaque, purplish-black wine grapes are filled with tannin and thrive in arid, desert-like conditions, like the dry and dusty vineyards of California’s Paso Robles.
Tannat is the signature variety of wine grape for Uruguay, where vintners first planted tannat vines in the 1870s. However, Uruguayan tannat is unlike other versions worldwide, in part, because cuttings came from vines from the Basque country arrived before the phylloxera louse wiped out much of Europe’s vineyards throughout the 1800s (via Vinepair). Chile’s old vine tannat produces wines that have bold tannin with racy acidity, dense concentration and structure, and a rustic yet finessed Old World style.
In addition to its powerful flavor profile, tannat may be one of the healthiest red wines available. The Grape Collective adds tannat has high levels of antioxidants, including polyphenols, procyanidins, flavenoids, and resveratrol, thanks to the number of seeds grown within tannat grapes; most grapes have two or three seeds, but tannat has five. If you haven’t tried tannat and want to start with a good one, we love Bodega Garzon — and we’re not the only ones. Bodega Garzon’s Reserva Tannat has landed on Wine Enthusiast’s top 100 wines of the year multiple times.
16. Mourvèdre
Deep and intense, mourvèdre is a robust, sun-loving grape that creates concentrated, full-bodied wines. The variety originates from eastern Spain, where it is known as monastrell. Cellar Tours finds that Phoenicians are believed to have introduced the grape to Spain around 500 BC before the Romans brought it to France, where it took on its internationally recognized name, mourvèdre. A challenging variety to work with, the late-ripening grape requires a long-growing cycle to fully mature, which pushes alcohol levels to extremes, often exceeding 16%, says Cellar Tours. It becomes a continuous juggling act in the vineyard as picking mourvèdre wine grapes early, before the fruit is ripe, creates intensely tannic wines with astringency.
Blending mourvèdre with other varieties, like grenache and syrah, helps create wines with balance and appealing flavors, such as the bold wines of France’s Bandol. Wine Folly shares that Bandol wines are full-bodied and tannic, with peppery, meaty flavors. Wile the wine grape is integral to red blends, in Spain, mourvèdre, or monastrell, is still showcased on its own.
Mourvèdre benefits from aging to soften tannins, the wine site suggests up to ten years for the Bandol selections. Open and decant mourvèdre wine an hour or so before dinner to introduce oxygen into the wine, helping the flavors open. The meaty and robust wines pair well with hearty dishes like boneless short ribs, roasted leg of lamb, or venison.
17. Portuguese Field Blend
Deep red grapes creates sweet, fortified port wines, and dry, concentrated red table wines.
If you stroll through the slate-filled, steeply terraced vineyards along the Douro River in Portugal, you will see a patchwork of vines known as the Portuguese field blend. The Best Portugal explains this melange of deep red grapes creates sweet, fortified port wines, as well as dry, concentrated Portuguese red table wines. The site says the combination varies, but includes varieties like tinto roriz (the Portuguese tempranillo), touriga nacional, alicante bouchet, touriga franca, and legally upwards of 90 more. All of these are warm-weather varieties that thrive in hot, arid temperatures.
Wine-Searcher reports the effects of global warming in wine-producing regions means thick-skinned, high-tannin, and warm weather varieties that might have been obscure in the past could become the standard vines in the future. The site says varieties commonly included in the Portuguese field blend are heat resistant and adapt well to little rainfall and extreme daytime temperatures.
Although Portugal’s field blend is often best associated with fortified port wines, the blends meld harmoniously as dry Portuguese table wines. Wine Enthusiast shares that in the past these wines left much to be desired; however, when Portugal joined the European Union in 1986, investment from the EU brought about essential improvements and modern technology to vineyards and wineries — white Vinho Verde has famously benefited from a modern update. Leading Portuguese winemakers, like Symington and Esporao, are crafting high-quality, affordable table wines that are powerful and have an easy-drinking, balanced style.
18. Red Meritage
Blend of words: “merit” to indicate quality and “heritage,” referring to the historic art of blending.
Every Bordeaux wine is a blend of select varieties — including cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and merlot — that must come from the celebrated Bordeaux region in France. So, how could every other international winemaker blending these varieties distinguish their wine as a premium product and differentiate itself from various other Bordeaux-style red table blends?
Enter the Meritage Alliance: The Alliance began in the United States in 1988, known then as the Meritage Association, when producers sought a way to discern their New World wine blends. The name is a blend of words: “merit” to indicate quality and “heritage,” referring to the historic art of blending. With the label, premium quality blends of white and red noble varieties denoted higher prestige and the finest wines of the vintage, particularly the red blends from Napa Valley.
The Meritage Alliance is dominated by New World members mainly from California but includes international makers from Argentina, Mexico, Australia, and Canada. For red wines to be classified as a Meritage, the grape blend must contain only cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, malbec, petit verdot, carmenère, or the relatively obscure varieties of Saint-Macaire and Gros Verdot. Red Meritage wines can also include no more than 90% of any one variety. Enjoy red Meritage wines with dishes that pair well with Bordeaux wines, including braised lamb, pork belly, beef cheeks, or slow-cooked, sous vide ribeye.
19. Gamay
Best served slightly chilled, highlighting the natural fruit notes.
If you have ever tried a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau wine, you have enjoyed gamay grapes. The quickly produced, grape juice-like wine is released on the third Thursday of November and raced from the Beaujolais region to Paris to celebrate the first wines of the season on Beaujolais Nouveau Day. But, gamay wines are so much more than the youthful nouveau selections.
Like pinot noir in weight and body, gamay has light tannin and high acidity, shares Vinepair. Gamay wines are also usually best served slightly chilled, highlighting the natural red fruit notes. Styles range from light and fresh to well-rounded and age-worthy. One thing is sure, all gamays are approachable, easy to drink, and delicious.
The most famous gamay wines come from Beaujolais, a 34-mile-long area in central France south of Burgundy that encompasses 12 regional designations. Vinepair says wines labeled as Beaujolais are most common, but the 10 cru Beaujolais, like Morgon, Fleurie, and Brouilly, are the most high-quality wines. If you are a fan of light-bodied wines, Wine Folly says wines from Fleurie showcase floral aromas with a delicate softness. If you prefer something heartier, the site adds the Morgon wines are similar in taste to pinot noir from Burgundy thanks to notes of dark cherry, mushroom, and truffle, especially when allowed to age.
Due to gamay’s overall low alcohol, juicy fruit, and fresh acidity, the wine is incredibly food-friendly: Pair with salmon tacos, crispy roast duck, and roasted turkey and cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving.
20. Mencia
Spain’s answer to Pinot Noir
Mencía is Spain’s answer to Pinot Noir. The thick-skinned up-and-coming mencía grape produces aromatic, complex wines filled with notes of wildflowers melding with dried leaves or truffles. These intoxicating aromas lead to flavors of wild strawberry and pomegranate, then finishing with spicy, freshly cracked pepper. Cellar Tours says mencía, pronounced “men-thee-ah,” is a native variety to northwest Spain, specifically Bierzo in Castilla y Leon and neighboring Galicia. The delicate variety presents various challenges in the vineyard because mencía is sensitive to disease, can quickly lose acidity, and delivers high-alcohol levels, adds Cellar Tours. However, when mencía is crafted with care, the expressive wines are some of the most compelling, delicious selections from Spain today.
A region filled with mountains and valleys, Wine Tourism Mag says Bierzo benefits from its location nestled between Galicia’s rainy, humid, Atlantic-influenced climate, and Castilla y Leon’s sunshine-filled, continental climate. Wine Enthusiast adds that Bierzo enjoys a balanced growing season thanks to its higher, cooler elevation compared to the rest of the province, resulting in wines showcasing minerality that’s attributed to the region’s slate and schist deposits — a defining element of these expressive wines.
We love the wine with grilled pork belly or roasted mushroom burgers. Though the popularity of the wines has grown in recent years, mencía remains affordable, with options from Losada, Raul Perez, and Avancia often costing less than $20 — making it a good option for a red wine spritzer.
21. Cinsault
Cinsault should hold a permanent position in your wine rack if you are a fan of refreshing, balanced wines with ripe red-fruit flavors. Cinsault, also known as cinsaut or hermitage in South Africa, is a heat-loving red grape from southern France. It is a vigorous vine, producing a lot of fruit each year thanks to its resistance to drought and love of hot, dry growing conditions. But, just because the vine delivers like the “Giving Tree” doesn’t mean the fruit quality is lacking: Cinsault produces clean, crunchy, bright rosé wine and luscious, dry red wines.
Cards of Wine notes cinsault is often used as a blending partner with Rhone varieties in the wines from France’s Rhone Valley and Languedoc-Roussillon. It is also a key part of South Africa’s regional favorite, pinotage, which is blended with pinot noir, the site adds. But, cinsault can easily shine as a single variety wine thanks to its wild red berry and stone fruit flavors. Henry Jeffreys shares in Club Oenologique that today young winemakers are producing high-quality, single-variety South African cinsault wines from old bush vines. The light-bodied wines are low alcohol, refreshing, and affordable, he adds.
Cinsault Rhone blends are perfect pairing partners for hearty, fatty dishes like Irish stew. Cinsault rosé wines are excellent with seafood and shellfish, grilled vegetables, and summer salads. Pop a bottle of single-varietal cinsault wine in the fridge for 15 minutes before opening and sip solo on a lazy summer afternoon.
22. Chambourcin
Mony Knight. Okahu Wines, Northland. One of the few NZ wineries selling Chambourcin.
Chambourcin is a species of grapevines belonging to the Vitis genus in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. It is a French-American interspecific hybrid grape variety used for making wine. Its parentage is uncertain. The hybrid was produced by Joannes Seyve who often used Seibel hybrids produced in the 1860s. The grape has only been available since 1963; it has a good resistance to fungal disease, and is one of the parents of the new disease resistant variety, Regent, which is increasing in popularity among German grape growers.
The grape produces a deep-colored and aromatic wine. It can be made into a dry style or one with a moderate residual sugar level. Chambourcin is a teinturier a grape whose juice is pink or red rather than clear like most red vitis vinifera cultivars.
The red juice fermented over the red skins can produce a very strongly flavoured wine. Most red wines are served at cellar temperature (55-58 degrees F.) to bring out the flavour but some Chambourcin wines have such a strong flavour that it is recommended that they be served chilled.
Chambourcin has been planted widely in the mid-Atlantic region of North America, particularly in such states as New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. It is also grown in Harrow and Ruthven, Ontario, and in Kelowna, B.C., Canada; several counties in Virginia; Frederick, Washington, Harford, Prince George’s County, Maryland, Calvert County, Maryland, and St. Mary’s County, Maryland; Kent County, Delaware; Monroe County, Indiana; Daviess County, Kentucky; in the Ohio River Valley AVA Ohio; Greenbrier, Calhoun, Roane, and Mineral counties in West Virginia; Allegan County, Michigan; the Shawnee Hills AVA of southern Illinois; the Yadkin Valley and Haw River Valley of North Carolina; Western Tennessee in the Mississippi Delta AVA[3][circular reference]; Missouri; south-central Kansas; Norman Oklahoma; New Zealand’s Northland Region;[4] the Hunter Valley Region of New South Wales and other warm, humid regions in Australia; also in France and Portugal.
The main types of wine include red, white, rosé, sparkling, and fortified and dessert wines.
Exploring new wines can help expand your palette and knowledge of drinks to pair with different dishes.
Grapes from all over the world give wines a range of flavours from fruity to oaky to dry.
Wine types vary and each style has a distinct taste that suits different people’s preferences. d3sign/Getty Images
Humans have produced and enjoyed wine for over 8000 years, so it stands to reason that this grape-based beverage would be easy and stress-free to enjoy, right?
Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Wine education covers a great deal of information, from grape types to geographic regions to flavour profiles. While some drinkers love to geek out to the nuances and details of this subject, others can feel a bit overwhelmed when they walk into a wine shop.
While there’s no limit to the amount of information that you can learn, a few basic guidelines will help direct your shopping experience and allow you to get your hands on a bottle that suits your tastes and preferences.
As vast as the world of wine is, most wines can be classified into five main categories: red, white, rosé, sparkling, and fortified and dessert wines. Below, you’ll find a rundown of these categories, with a breakdown of 28 popular variety types.
To offer some expert insight, we’ve enlisted sommelier and wine educator Caroline Conner who teaches online courses to wine lovers seeking to enhance their knowledge and broaden their wine-related horizons.
Why is it important to know about different types of wine?
“The best way to learn about wine is to approach it like learning a language,” says Conner. “You can DIY it, but without lots of real-life practice, it’s hard to get anywhere.” Knowing what you’re tasting and why can help you along your wine journey in a number of ways:
Developing your palate: You may have heard the term “palate” tossed around by wine drinkers in the past, but it really just refers to a sense of taste, which can be developed by simply tasting. The more flavours you experience, the more sophisticated your palate will become because you’ll understand how taste elements differ from each other and how they work together to create unforgettable flavours.
Discovering food and wine pairings: Wine and food are a natural match for each other, and when you figure out which wines taste best with which dishes (according to your own palate), then you can take your meals to the next level.
Gaining a global perspective on wine: As corny as it sounds, you really can “travel the world” by tasting wines from different countries, continents, and regions. Learning about the climate and soil conditions of a particular country can help you understand how the wines from that nation develop their flavours. Paying attention to common wine and food pairings from that country will clue you in on how best to enjoy the bottles you purchase.
How to talk about wine
Because flavours are so subjective, it’s easy to dismiss wine-tasting terms as pretentious and less-than-useful. However, understanding a few basic phrases can give you all the vocabulary you need to describe the wines you enjoy (and the ones that you don’t). To get you started, here are a few commonly-used wine words:
Dry: “Dry” essentially translates to “not sweet”. Dry wines don’t contain residual sugar from the fermentation process (or, if they do, it’s in a very low quantity).
Off-dry: An off-dry wine features a small amount of residual sugar, which gives it a gentle sweetness. The French term for off-dry, “demi-sec,” is also frequently used in wine tastings and on bottle labels.
Sweet: A sweet wine — also known as a dessert wine — contains significant amounts of residual sugar and has a pronounced sweetness in its flavour.
Oaky: Many red wines and certain white wines undergo a process of ageing in oak barrels, and said barrels impart a woodsy, toasty flavour to the wine. The more time the wine spends in the oak barrels, the stronger the “oaky” flavour will become.
Full-bodied: This is a term generally used to describe red wines, and it refers to both the flavour of the wine and to its texture. A full-bodied wine boasts rich, complex flavours, a robust texture that coats your mouth and tongue, and (in most cases) a higher alcohol content than a light-bodied or medium-bodied wine.
Tannins/Tannic: Tannins are natural compounds found in wine grapes (particularly in the skins of said grapes). These compounds affect the texture of the wine in the mouth; the drying sensation that you may experience when drinking a glass of red wine comes from tannins. Tannins exist in both white and red wines, but because red wines are produced and aged with the grape skins still in contact, the tannic structure of red wines tends to be more prominent.
Grape: The vast majority of wines produced worldwide use grapes as their core ingredient. Wine grapes differ from “table grapes” designed for eating; they’re typically smaller, juicier, and more acidic. Most wine grapes are of the Vitis vinifera species, a style of grape specifically cultivated for wine production.
Style: Some wines are named after the style of grape used to make them; “Chardonnay”, “Cabernet Sauvignon”, and “Pinot Noir” are all examples of grapes that often lend their names to their wines. However, some wines take their names from the regions where they’re produced. French wines are especially notable for this pattern: “Champagne”, “Bordeaux”, and “Burgundy” all fit into the “wines named after regions” theme.
Now that you know how to talk about it, let’s get into the wines themselves. Below are many of the most popular wine styles you’ll find in stores and at restaurants, along with a few underrated gems.
Red Wines
Merlot
Cabernet Sauvignon is a very popular red wine, while a merlot offers a softer taste. Peter Dazeley/Getty Images
Merlot is a red grape that’s grown throughout Europe, South America, Africa, Australia, and the United States. According to Conner, “some of the greatest wines in the world” are Merlots. “It’s plummy and juicy, and a bit softer than Cabernet [Sauvignon], which it is often blended with,” she says. It tastes delicious alongside charcuterie boards, roasted vegetables, and even cheeseburgers.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon can grow in a wide variety of regions and is, therefore, an easy bottle to scoop up at any wine shop. As for flavour, Cabernet Sauvignon is full-bodied and dry. “Cabernet Sauvignon is ‘bigger’ than Merlot, and it has lots of tannins, which are those chewy, drying particles in reds,” says Conner. “It’s wildly popular and you can find stunning examples all over the world.”
Pinot Noir
“Pinot Noir is widely loved because it’s one of the rare lighter reds, but has tons of flavour and complexity,” says Conner. “It’s most famously from Burgundy, but there’s great Pinot all over the place, like in Oregon, New Zealand, and even Germany.” But she does warn that these wines can be fairly pricey: “Pinot is picky and fickle, it’s prone to disease and only thrives in certain climates. You have to be a good winemaker to make the best of it, in any conditions! That’s why it’s so prized, because when it’s good, it’s good, and the winemaker took these grapes from the right place, treated them right, and made them sing.”
Syrah/Shiraz
Wines made with this red grape can claim two names, depending on where the grapes are grown and where the wines are produced. In the Rhȏne Valley region of France, these wines are called Syrah, but in Australia, they’re known as Shiraz. In both cases, you’ll find a rich, deeply-hued red wine with strong dark-berry notes and high tannins.
Zinfandel
Like Syrah/Shiraz, the Zinfandel grape produces “big” red wines with lots of stage presence. Notes of dark fruit, tobacco, and leather are common when tasting Zinfandels. It’s a popular grape in California vineyards (and most Zinfandel is indeed grown in the Golden State), but you can also find it in Italy, South Africa, and New Zealand.
Gamay
The Gamay grape is perhaps best known as the primary grape used to make Beaujolais. Made in France, Beaujolais wines are beloved for their light texture, high acidity, low tannins, and bright fruit flavours. Every November, the first release of Beaujolais bottles (known as “Beaujolais Nouveau”) makes a huge splash in the wine market both in the U.S. and abroad.
Sangiovese
If you’ve ever enjoyed a glass of Chianti at an Italian restaurant, then you’ve experienced the Sangiovese grape. This purple-red grape produces many styles of wine made throughout Italy, all notable for their medium body, high tannins, red fruit flavours, and hints of spice. If you need a wine to pour at a red-sauce dinner, then Sangiovese will do you right.
White Wines
Chardonnay
Some well-known white wines include Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and Albariño. Mykhailo Lukashuk/Getty Images
“Chardonnay is a true winemaker’s grape; it can really do it all,” says Conner. “A lot of people think they don’t like it because all they’ve tried is their mom’s oak-bomb, buttered-popcorn ’90s Chardonnay. This style still exists, but it’s not very trendy anymore, so it’s easy to find Chards with less oak, more fruit, and more balance. Try Chablis from France if you want to taste a spectacular unoaked Chardonnay.”
Sauvignon Blanc
This white grape famously makes lightweight wines with clean acidity and pronounced fruitiness. “Sauvignon Blanc is all about that fruit,” says Conner. “It has two main styles: the super-intense version with passion fruit aromas coming out of New Zealand, and the more restrained, grassy French style from Sancerre. There are great Sauvignon Blancs from Chile and the USA too.”
Riesling
White grapes are typically easier to grow in cooler climates than red grapes, and Riesling, which originally hails from Germany, serves as a prime example. Riesling wine is highly versatile; it can be sweet, dry, still, sparkling, and anything in between. Its fruity, floral flavours tend to pair well with white meat, fish, and anything spicy.
Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris
Known as Pinot Grigio in Italy and Pinot Gris in France, this white grape makes a highly approachable and popular wine with citrus notes, zingy acidity, and a pleasant undercurrent of minerality. Alongside a platter of fresh seafood or a cheese plate, Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris truly shines.
Gewürztraminer
The Gewürztraminer grape is native to Germany, and wines made with it tend to feature fruit flavours like apricot and pear, along with herbaceous notes. In the US, Gewürztraminer proves especially popular at Thanksgiving, thanks to the fact that the wine’s gentle fruit and herbal aromas pair perfectly with turkey, stuffing, and all of the fixings.
Chenin Blanc
Commonly grown in the Loire Valley of France and in South Africa, the Chenin Blanc grape translates to a white wine that’s light-bodied, appealingly tart, and easy to pair with a variety of dishes. Try it with soft cow’s milk cheeses like brie or with grilled or roasted veggies.
Albariño
If you’re a fan of Sauvignon Blanc but want a white wine with even more fruit presence, then Albariño, a wine style native to Spain, could be perfect for you. Albariño is a medium-bodied white, which means it works very well as a food wine. Pair it with shellfish, white meat, or an entrée salad.
Rosé
Rosé wine is made by removing skins from red grapes. Dulin/Getty Images
Contrary to popular belief, most rosé wines aren’t made by combining white grape juice with red grape juice. Instead, they’re made by removing the skins from red grapes after a brief period of time, resulting in a wine that’s light, refreshing, and a pretty shade of pink.
Provençal Rosé
Some rosés are made with only one type of red grape, but many — like the mega-popular, super-refreshing pale-pink rosés that come from Provençe, France — come from a blend of grapes. Conner urges us to embrace blended wines like Provençal rosés: “I think that blends are underrated,” she says. “Many of the famous European wines are blends, and all the better for it! Blending is part of the art of winemaking, and especially with climate change disrupting vineyards, it will continue to be important in order to achieve balanced wines.”
Zinfandel Rosé
Zinfandel rosés got a bad rap for many years due to the perception of “White Zinfandel” as overly sweet and not especially nuanced. However, you can now find plenty of quality Zinfandel rosés on the market, and many feature a delicate sweetness that makes them a great partner for BBQ dishes or grilled salmon.
Grenache Rosé
Grenache is one of the grapes most commonly used in the Provençal rosé blend, but you can also find rosés made solely from this red grape. Grenache rosés burst with summery fruit flavours like strawberry and watermelon, and they’re delicious with Caprese salads, grilled eggplant, and Mediterranean fare.
Sangiovese Rosé
Italian “Rosato” wine often comes from the Sangiovese grape, which gives this varietal a darker hue than some competitors and makes it a robust and spicy wine with plenty of red fruit flavour. There’s no better partner for Sangiovese rosé than pizza (especially grilled pizza).
Tempranillo Rosé
Spanish Tempranillo (also grown in the US and South America) has an almost savoury quality to it, which gives this medium-bodied rosé an advantage where food friendliness is concerned. Enjoy it with anything from grilled meats to tacos to seafood to Spanish classics.
Sparkling Wines
Champagne
Champagne isn’t the only type of sparkling wine — there’s also Crémant, prosecco, cava, and Lambrusco. Yulia Naumenko/Getty Images
Some drinkers use “Champagne” as a catch-all term for “sparkling wine,” but the only wines that can truly claim the Champagne name must be produced in the Champagne region of France from grapes grown there. You can use white grapes to make a Champagne (called a “blanc des blancs”) or red grapes (a “blanc des noir”), but either way, you’ll end up with a phenomenal bottle packed with citrus notes, a bit of yeastiness, and a prominent fizz.
Crémant
Not all sparkling wines produced in France fall into the Champagne category. If a wine is made using the same techniques as Champagne but isn’t from the Champagne region, then it’s known as a Crémant. Crémants boast many of the same flavour characteristics as Champagne, but they can often be purchased at a far lower price, making them one of the best bargains in the wine world.
Prosecco
These once-obscure sparkling wines of Venice now claim a major share in the wine market, and these Italian sparklers are bright, crisp, fresh, and very reasonably priced. Drink with a cheese and charcuterie board for a great start to a fun evening.
Cava
Cava, the sparkling wine most closely associated with Spain, uses the same production process as Champagne, but it’s made with a different range of grapes. The result is a dry and lively wine with a pleasant minerality — an almost flinty taste that comes from the soil where the grapes are grown. In fact, this minerality makes Cava a smart pairing choice for creamy dishes and sauces, since the wine has enough fortitude to cut through those weightier ingredients.
Lambrusco
All of the sparklers listed above are whites — even the Champagnes that are made from red grapes. But you can also find sparkling reds, a great example of which is a Lambrusco. Lambrusco comes from Italy and is made from grapes of the same name. It can be either sweet or dry, but all versions have a relatively light body and a potent fizziness that makes it a whimsical choice for pizza or pasta night.
Fortified and dessert wines
Port
Fortified and dessert wines include Port, Sherry, Madeira, and Moscato. Westend61/Getty Images
One of the most popular sweet wines on the market, Port takes its name from its country of origin, Portugal. It’s a fortified wine, which means that it has a distilled spirit added to it, upping its alcohol content. Port comes in four different varieties: Ruby (a red Port), Tawny (a barrel-aged Port), White (a Port made with white grapes), and Rosé (a Port made the same way a typical rosé wine would be made). Bold cheeses, BBQ with a sweeter glaze, and, of course, desserts all pair beautifully with Port.
Sherry
Like Port, Sherry qualifies as a fortified wine. It comes from the Andalusia region of Spain, and while all Sherry undergoes some level of ageing, darker versions (like Oloroso Sherry and Amontillado Sherry) spend more time in the barrel than lighter versions (like Fino Sherry). Sherry can be drier than other fortified wines, which gives it more food flexibility. It works just as well with an appetizer spread as it does with dessert.
Madeira
Madeira, a fortified wine from a Portuguese island off the coast of Africa, bears many similarities to Port and Sherry. It often features nutty flavours and a hint of caramel, along with fruit notes like orange and peach.
Moscato
A sweet Italian wine made from the Muscat Blanc grape, Moscato can be either still, sparkling, or semi-sparkling (with a lighter level of effervescence). The most popular Moscato, known as Moscato d’Asti, falls into the latter category. Moscato’s pronounced but not overwhelming sweetness lets it pair nicely with spicy dishes, savoury cheeses, and fruit-based desserts.
Insider’s takeaway
At the end of the day, a “good wine” is any wine that you enjoy. Spending serious bucks on high-end bottles isn’t necessary for a great tasting experience, but a bit of know-how will help simplify your shopping and will increase your chances of ending up with a wine that’s exactly what you want to drink.
This was a very enjoyable tasting. Cenna was a very knowledgeable presenter with a great relaxed style. She admitted to a few nerves to start with but was soon interacting nicely with the members. The wines presented were great wines at a good value for money. The tasting was a good night.
Whilst we haven’t used Negociants before, the fact that we are now licensed means we can deal with this type of operation in the future. We will keep it in mind to pencil Negociants in for another tasting soon, as they have a really good provider base.
Glengarry’s Sunday ramblings of all things vinous, grain and glorious. A tour of Italy – Part 1 comes from The Sunday Sediment Issue 5.
Veneto
Veneto is home to the glorious sinking city of Venice and the romantic jewel that is Verona. Here, you’ll find great value Soave, Valpolicella and Bardolino wines. Less than half of the wine produced in Veneto is able to be labelled with the Italian quality mark of DOC, with large quantities of IGT (table wine) produced there, making it an important region for quantity. It is also home to the superstar Amarone, and to the sparkling Prosecco wines made in Conegliano-Valdobbiadene. Read more in the Glengarry Wineletter – #232 August 2017.
Piemonte
Bruno Giacosca
Piemonte produces some of Italy’s most long-lived wines. A treasure trove of culinary delights, it is home to Barolo, Barbaresco, truffles and hazelnuts. The predominant red grapes are the indigenous Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto, the whites, Arneis and Moscato. The wines are distinctly regional and oozing with flair. Lovers of Pinot Noir will feel right at home with Nebbiolo, which is bottled in its own right as well as being the variety behind the famed Barolo wines. Read more in the Glengarry Wineletter – #232 August 2017.
Toscana
Cesare & Andrea Cecchi with La Signora Cecchi
A long with Piemonte, Toscana (Tuscany) has the highest percentage of top-tier DOCG wines, and is home to the scarlet giants Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. It is here that the new meets the old head-on, giving rise to the so-called Super Tuscans. The main variety in Tuscany is Sangiovese, used to make Chianti, with the variety’s greatest expression derived from the legendary Brunello clone developed by Montalcino’s Biondi-Santi family.
Read more in the Glengarry Wineletter – #232 August 2017.
