Are you sick of the trying the same old chardonnay wine? Isn’t it nice to try something new and exciting? It certainly is in the world of wine. Take a look at some of the following grapes and see what tickles your wine fancy.
Saperavi Grape:
Meaning dye or paint due to its intense dark red colour. These grapes are the most important for Georgian wine culture and produce deep red wines which are suitable for extended periods of aging, up to 50 years. Saperavi grapes have a strong flavour and texture, which makes them a natural pairing for game dishes or hearty winter foods.
Mavrud Grape:
Legend contends that during the reign of Khan Krum of Bulgaria, all vineyards were ordered destroyed. Later, a lion escaped from its cage and terrorized the city. However, a fearless young man named Mavrud (now the name of a wine grape) confronted and slew the lion. The king summoned Mavrud’s mother to learn the source of such courage. She said she had secretly saved a vine, made wine, and that this was the source of Mavrud’s bravery. Khan Krum ordered the vineyards replanted.
Tannat Grape:
Tannat is a red wine grape, historically grown in South West France in the Madiran AOC and is now one of the most prominent grapes in Uruguay, where it is considered the national grape. Tannat wines produced in Uruguay are usually quite different in character from Madiran wines, being lighter in body and lower in tannins.
Albarino Grape:
The grape is noted for its distinctive aroma, very similar to that of Viognier, Gewurztraminer, and Petit Manseng, suggesting apricot and peach. The wine produced is unusually light, and generally high in acidity with alcohol levels
Falanghina Grape:
It is considered a characterful ancient grape variety. It is cultivated on the coast of Campania north of Naples, and frequently consumed in southern Italy along with seafood.
Muscat grape:
Muscat is a large family of grapes the two most famous being Muscat Ottonel and Muscat Blancs a Petit Grains. Muscat wines tend to be light, and dry with a fruity, musky character and an intensely aromatic bouquet
Bukettraube Grape:
Originally from Germany Bukettraube has a muscat like bouquet with a palate of peaches, apricot, and pear.
Nebbiolo Grape:
Nebbiolo produces lightly colored red wines which can be highly tannic in youth with scents of tar and roses. As they age, the wines take on a characteristic brick-orange hue at the rim of the glass and mature to reveal other aromas and flavors such as violets, tar, wild herbs, cherries, raspberries, truffles, tobacco, and prunes.
Tsolikouri Grape
Tsolikouri grapes make lovely wines with floral muscat aromas and crisp apple flavours
Gruner Veltliner Grape:
Gruner Veltliner is a late ripening varietal and produces wines that are pale green in colour. Fruit notes of grapefruits, limes, pears, and is known for having a hint of white pepper on the finish. The best wines possess a steely backbone of acidity which enables them to age gracefully.
Roussanne Grape:
Roussanne produces richly aromatic wines, often with fruit characteristics of lime and blossom.
Nero D’Avola Grape:
Nero D’Avola makes a rich, perfumed and velvety red wine that’s easy to drink.
Prosecco Grape:
The Prosecco grape (also know as Glera) is prized for its delicate aromas and flavours of apples, pear skins, with an almond finish.
Pecorino Grape:
The Pecorino grape is a legendary story of a variety that was literally brought back from the brink of extinction. Not too long ago, just a few vines were discovered in a nearly wild state in a narrow canyon in Italy’s Marche region. Clippings were cut, and identified as the historic Pecorino grape, which was long thought to have been extinct. Cantina Tollo took the torch of re-establishing the variety as a missing piece of the local Abruzzese viticultural history. The origin of the name is that the grape variety was once a favorite snack of the sheep that were often driven through vineyard lands on their way to lower pastures. In Italian “Pecora” means sheep.
Viognier Grape:
Viognier is fast growing in popularity the choice of drinkers and growers alike. The last ten years has seen a massive increase in Viognier production. The main attraction of Viognier is its potentially powerful, rich, and complex aroma that often seems like overripe apricots mixed with orange blossoms or acacia. With as distinctive and sweet an aroma-flavor profile as Gewürztraminer, Viognier is nevertheless usually made in a dry style and seems to appeal more to the typical Chardonnay drinker.
