Wine Grape and Varietal
Profiles
The interdependent factors that affect
wine flavor are the variety or varieties of grape used, the location
where the grapes are grown (appellation), the treatment of those vineyards
and skills of the vineyardist and the equipment and techniques used
by the winemaker, as well as his skills in applying them. |
| Looking for a unique gift? Wine baskets are a nice option if you want to send more than just wine. |
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Arguably, the type(s) of grape used
is the dominant factor in wine flavor. Take any World Famous Vineyard
(or even an entire Appellation), plant it with a different variety
and the wine from there would become unrecognizable, even if treated
in the same way and by the same hands.
Different varieties of grape have
differing aroma and flavor characteristics. Varietal character,
however, while somewhat predictable, is not precise; variations occur,
since virtually all vines are propagated by cloning. Some grape
types are more prone to clonal variation, than others. The
name of a particular varietal, therefore, should be considered a "surname"
for vines that share a genetic history. Each varietal "family"
may, in turn, include only a few or very many individual "sibling"
clones, each with its own particular traits.
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see table and links below) |
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There are over 10,000
documented varieties within species Vitis vinifera. Of these, on a
commercial scale, primarily three are used for raisin production and
less than a dozen for table grapes, while about 230 have some prominence
in the world of fine wines. The wine consuming public, however, tends
to focus on only a hand full of these.
One explanation why
so many wine drinkers are stuck on drinking only Chardonnay, Merlot,
and Cabernet Sauvignon is that they know little about any of the dozens
of other wine grapes available. The profiles here describe some of
the history and cultivation characteristics of different wine grape
varieties and the typical aromas and flavors in the varietal and blended
wines they produce.
We have limited our
selections to the 80-odd that are of most importance or interest to
American consumers and those approved by the TTB for use by American
wineries. "White" grapes are listed in GREEN,
"black" (red) grapes are in PURPLE;
not all of the varieties listed are yet profiled/linked. For additional
information, please use the Related Links list below the table
of varieties.
RELATED
LINKS
Tim Ramey
photographed many of the images of grape varieties to
illustrate The
Great Wine Grapes,
written by his father, Bern C. Ramey. They appear in our
profiles with his kind permission. Tim Ramey Photography
is located in Chicago, Illinois.
Dr. Francois Lefort of
the University of Crete directs
the
Greek
Vitis Database, a
multimedia web-backed genetic database for germplasm
management of Vitis resources in Greece (more
info). He has
kindly granted PfW his permission to reproduce some of
the leaf and cluster photos of the varietals most
familiar to Americans. While visiting the Greek Vitis
Database, to browse all records in any of the files,
click CLEAR,
then SEARCH.
The Vitis
International Variety
Catalogue is one
of three grapevine databases of the German Federal Centre
for Breeding Research on Cultivated Plants. Dr. Erika
Dettweiler has given us her kind permission to reproduce
some of the grape cluster photos from this site. There is
also a database of Genetic
Material and one
of Scientific
Literature in the
fields of viticulture and enology.
See also
Anthony J. Hawkins' excellent Super
Gigantic WWW WineGrape Glossary
Varietal
Wines Grown in Slovenia
has information about and illustrations of many ancient
and modern varieties unique to Eastern Europe.
The Consorzio
Cal-Italia Wines & Vines Guide lists details regarding the
twenty varieties grown and produced by the members of this marketing
group for California wineries producing classic Italian varieties.
