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Grape varieties
A dozen grapes will get you a long way — but the grape alone does not determine the wine.
The short answer
A grape variety is a specific kind of grapevine, propagated from cuttings, so every Chardonnay vine is a clone of the same original plant. Variety sets the range a wine can occupy; place and winemaking decide where within it the wine lands.
Overview
Learning eight or ten varieties covers most of what you will encounter, and gives you a genuine map rather than a list of names.
Reds worth knowing: Cabernet Sauvignon (structured, blackcurrant), Merlot (soft, plummy), Pinot Noir (light, perfumed), Syrah/Shiraz (peppery or chocolatey depending on climate), Malbec (dark, velvety), Sangiovese (high acid, sour cherry), Tempranillo (savoury, leathery), Grenache (ripe, high alcohol).
Whites: Chardonnay (varies enormously), Sauvignon Blanc (herbaceous, aromatic), Riesling (high acid, dry to sweet), Pinot Grigio (light and neutral, or full and spicy as Pinot Gris), Chenin Blanc (versatile, waxy), Albariño (saline, crisp).
The essential caveat: the grape is not the wine. Chablis and buttery Californian Chardonnay are both 100% Chardonnay and taste nothing alike. Place, climate and winemaking often matter more than variety.
That is why WineHQ keeps grapes and styles as separate things.
Where you can see it
- One grape, two wines
- Chablis and a ripe Californian Chardonnay are the same variety and taste almost nothing alike.
- Two names, one grape
- Syrah and Shiraz are one variety. The names signal a style expectation rather than a difference in the plant.
What people get wrong
1 widely repeated claim this page corrects.
Sources
Sources consulted
- WSET educational materials and the Systematic Approach to Tasting — Wine & Spirit Education Trust
- Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) — Julius Kühn-Institut, Institute for Grapevine Breeding Geilweilerhof