Part One: Grape Varieties—some short notes

A Vigneron in Hermitage has no decision to make about the vines which he plants. Syrah has always been the traditional grape of the Northern Rhone just as Pinot Noir has in Nuits St. Georges and Sauvignon in Sancerre. A grower in Bordeaux, however, has a more difficult problem. What proportion of his vineyard should be plant with Cabernet Sauvignon? What proportion with Merlot? Should be have any Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc? In the New World the choice is even wider as almost any vine will yield well.

All grape varieties are natural mutations of the genus Vitis. The wine vine is but one of these, a wild woodland plant of Europe and East Asia-Vitis Vinifera. The precise origin of all the grape varieties of Europe is shrouded in the mists of time. There are now more than 4,000 named varieties of the wine grape. Only about forty of these have a recognizable flavor and only about twelve are used constantly in wine making. There is a new tendency to plant the Classic Grape Varieties everywhere and almost to forget about the others.

White grapes

Riesling:

The main classic grape from Germany. The wines are crisp, very fruity and refreshing. The Riesling is very versatile. Probably at its zenith in Alsace where it can be regarded as the ‘Kind of Grapes.’ Also grown in the USA and in Australia. Can be made into bone dry wine (Alsace Riesling tout-court, German Trocken and Kabinet wines); or a very sweet wine (Alsace Selection des Grains Nobles, German Auslese, BA, TBA; Australian and American individual dried bunch selected late harvest wines).

The wine often smells rather petroly or diesely, especially when mature.

Brand recommendation:

Trimbach from Alsace France & Joh. Jos Prum from Germany

Chardonnay:

The greatest of all white wine grapes. The wine can be fat, rich and buttery-especially in California, but can be far more restrained, delicate and elegant when grown in a cooler climate like that of Burgundy. Also used Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier for Champagne. Now grown very extensively in anywhere vines are planted. Really known as the white grape of Burgundy, Puligny, Batard, Chassagne Montrachet, Le Montrachet, Corton Charlemagne, etc.

There is no real comparison to make here-Chardonnay smells of Chardonnay!

Brand recommendation:

Louis Jadot from Burgundy France & Kendall Jackson from USA

Gewurztraminer:

The easiest wine to identify because of its spicy, pungent smell. Principally grown in Alsace in every degree of dryness/sweetness. Also in Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Australia, USA (less successful here).

Spicy, almost perfumed, pungent. Some people find lychees.

Brand recommendation:

Trimbach from Alsace France

Muscat:

Another Alsace grape. There are many different varieties and sub-varieties of the Muscat. Seen in Sitges, Frontignan and Beaumes de Venise as a Vin Doux Naturel, this is made by stopping the fermentation before all the natural sugar has been converted into alcohol. The grape of Asti Spumante.

Honey and flowers, not as pungent as the Gewurztraminer, but vaguely similar.

Brand recommendation:

Brown Brothers Moscato or Orange Muscat & Flora from Australia

Sauvignon Blanc:

Widespread in Bordeaux where it is made into sweet and dry wines, in Sancerre, Pouilly sur Loire, in Australia and California (where it is sometimes referred to as Fume Blanc as in Mondavi). Usually a dry, fruity but quite light wine, but even in France can be richer (Pouilly Fume-Baron de “L”, Mondavi Fume Blanc) and can also be heavy when the grapes are affected by ‘pourriture noble’ and mixed with Semillon. Perhaps now most associated with Marlborough in New Zealand.

The dry wine smells strongly of gooseberries.

Brand recommendation:

Henri Bourgeois from Loire France & Kim Crawford from New Zealand