Red Wines
There are over 1,000 grape varieties in the world, only a fraction of which are suitable for
wine makingwhich of course leaves an even smaller fraction suitable for red wine making. Right now, the world wine market focuses on about 40 to 50 different red wine grape varieties, the majority of which are listed below.
Popular Red Wine Grape Varieties
* '''Anglianico''': At its best, Aglianico makes dark, powerful red wines of high quality. But its production is relatively small, and in many cases the variety is merely part of a blend with other varieties of Southern Italy. Nevertheless, it is one of Italy's finest red varieties, and has excellent potential.
* '''Barbera''':
Barbera is a very unusual red variety because it has almost no tannin. It does have deep colour and high acidity, as well as the intense spicy and redblended, and similar in taste to Merlot.
** Food Pairings: Barbera wines are versatile: they match many dishes, including tomato sauces.
** Grape Production: Originally a red wine grape of Italy, it is common in California (USA) as well.
** Textures and Flavours: Juicy black cherry and plum fruit, with a silky texture and excellent acidity.
* '''Cabernet Franc''':
Cabernet Sauvignon is often blended with Cabernet Franc and Merlot. It usually undergoes oak treatment.
** Food Pairings: Best with simply prepared red meat.
** Grape Production: Cabernet Sauvignon is planted almost wherever red wine grapes grow. It is part of the great red
Médoc wines of France, and among the finest reds in Australia, California (USA) and Chile.
** Textures and Flavours: Fullbased flavour. Certain bottles include green bell pepper, eucalyptus, and mint flavours.
* '''Canaiolo''': ''Canaiolo Nero'', as it's officially known, produces slightly bitter, rather bland wine that becomes part of the traditional blend for
Chianti. This variety, sometimes called ''Cagnina'', is occasionally made into a red dessert wine by that same name. Canaiolo has many synonyms including ''Caccione Nero, Tindilloro, Uva Canina,'' and ''Uva Merla''.
** Food Pairings: This wine goes best with traditional Tuscan fair, heavy meats and tomato and pepper based sauces.
** Grape Production: This grape variety is predominantly produced in Tuscany, Italy.
** Textures and Flavours: The best can be a nice combination of very ripe strawberries and leather, but the worst are used to soften the Chianti wine blends and not much else.
* '''Carignan'''/'''Carignane''': Although this red grape originated in northern Spain's Cariñena district, it's become the most widely grown red grape in France, especially throughout the Languedoc-Roussillon region. With its high yields,
Carignan produces more red wine than any other grape variety, but because of its less than extraordinary flavours, it is often blended with wines from softer grapes, primarily Grenache and Cinsault. In France most of these wines end up as ordinary table wines.
** Grape Production: Northern Spain, France, Italy, Algeria, Israel.
** Textures and Flavours: This grape is noted for its deep purple colour, high tannins, and high alcohol. At its best, Carignan produces wines that are fruity and spicy.
* '''Carménère''': Though originally grown in France,
Carménère was brought over to Chile in the late 1800's where it still remains the predominant flavour of their regional wines. With Carmenère, Chileans produce wines with a plumy fruit flavour reminiscent of Merlot, and a firm structure, similar to Cabernet Sauvignon. The grape also adds a sizeable dose of pepper and spice, which helps distinguish it from other Chilean varieties.
** Grape Production: This grape is predominantly grown in Chile.
** Textures and Flavours: Plummy, spicy, black fruit, rustic, rich.
* '''Corvina''': Most
Corvinaalone variety of fine wines.
* '''Dolcetto''':
Dolcetto is a variety that's quite important in Piedmont, Italy, where it's valued not only for its deep colour and spicy, berry character, but also for its early-ripening tendency.
* '''Gamay''':
Gamay, a wine that actually tastes like grapes, is low in tannin and high in popularity throughout the Beaujolais district of France.
* '''Grenache/Garnacha''': The
grenache or
garnacha grape creates a wine high in alcohol, and with sweet, peppery flavours.
* '''Lagrein Scuro''': This grapebodied reds and light rosés, as well as some rich, dark red wines.
* '''Lambrusco''': An ancient, native Italian variety,
Lambrusco is widely popular in the United States. This grape has delicious flavours of red fruits and spice, medium tannin, and high acidity.
* '''Malbec''': Originally a common grape in Bordeaux,
Malbec has increased its status in the French region of Cahors, where they create distinctive wines that require 70% of the variety. The grape's made an even more prosperous home in the developing wine region of Argentina, where Malbec has become the country's national grape. Malbec is often blended with varieties such as Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and
Petit Verdot to make Bordeaux style wines.
** Food Pairings: All types of meat-based meals.
** Grape Production: Malbec has its origins in the French Bordeaux region, but today it is more widely recognised in the French Cahors regions, and in Argentina. It is also available in Chile, Australia, and in the cooler Californian regions of the USA.
** Textures and Flavours: Malbec’s characteristics vary greatly depending on where it is grown and how it is transformed. Generally it produces a smooth, well coloured wine that tastes of plums, berries, and spices. In Argentina, the grape produces spicy wines reminiscent of blackberries and chocolate, with a velvety texture. In Cahors, it makes quickly matured and full bodied wines, with dark and sometimes gamyflavours.
* '''Merlot''':
Merlot is a smooth, fruity wine often described as soft and easily drinkable. The Merlotripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin.
** Food Pairings: Merlot wines couple nicely with most foods.
** Grape Production: A key element in the Bordeaux blend, Merlot is the most commonly grown grape in France. However, it is also grown in Italy, Romania, California and Washington States of the USA, Chile, Australia, and other regions.
** Textures and Flavours: Typical scents include black cherry, plums and herbal flavours, with rounded, medium body and textures. The Merlot type of wine has less tannin than heavier wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon.
* '''Molinara''': Molinara is a red Italian wine grape grown primarily in the Veneto region of north-eastern Italy. It adds acidity to the blends
Valpolicella and Bardolino made with Corvina and Rondinella. The wine's high propensity for oxidation, coupled with its low colour extract, has caused a decline in favour and plantings among Venetian vineyards.
* '''Montepulciano''':
Montepulciano produces mediumfruity, and vegetative flavours; these wines range from great tasting to laughable.
* '''Mourvédre''':
Rhone (and sometimes Australian & Spanish) partner, Grenache. Mourvèdre is rarely bottled as a single variety, but some parts of Spain and California have been successful cultivating the grape for its own wines, with outstanding results.
** Grape Production: Southern Rhone (France), Spain, Australia, California (USA).
** Textures and Flavours: Meaty, rustic, blackberry, leathery, herbs, spicy, gamy.
* '''Nebbiolo''':
Nebbiolo is the key Italian grape in
Barolo and
Negroamaro is a native variety that's widely planted in the South of Italy, especially Puglia; it makes flavourful, high-alcohol wines.
* '''Nero D'Avola''':
Pinot Noir is difficult to grow, rarely blended, with no roughness.
** Food Pairings: Excellent with grilled salmon, chicken, and lamb.
** Grape Production: Makes the great reds of Burgundy in France, and good wines from Austria, California and Oregon regions of the USA, and New Zealand.
** Textures and Flavours: The structure is delicate and fresh. The tannins are very soft, and the aromatics are very fruity (cherry, strawberry, plum), often with notes of tea-leaf, damp earth, or worn leather.
* '''Pinotage''': A South African cross of Pinot Noir and
Cinsaut, this redbetter than most Cinsaut wines but not as good as Pinot Noir.
* '''Primitivo''':
Primitivo makes deeply coloured wines with spicy, ripe berry character, full body, and high alcohol.
* '''Rondinella''': Rondinella is an Italian wine grape mainly grown in the Veneto region of Italy and used in wines such as Valpolicella and Bardolino. The grape has rather neutral flavours, and is often blended with Corvina and Molinara. Like Carignan, it is favoured by growers due to its prolific yields. The vine is very resistant to grape disease and, although the grapes don't necessarily have high sugar levels, they do dry out well for use in the production of straw wines and recioto blends.
* '''Sangiovese''':
Sangiovese is the most planted red variety in Italy's vineyards. It is the major grape of Chianti and
Shiraz or
Syrah are two names for the same variety. European vintners only use the name Syrah.
** Food pairings: Meat (steak, beef, wild game, stews, etc.)
** Grape Production: Syrah excels in California (USA), in Australia, and in France's Rhone Valley.
** Textures and Flavours: Syrah contains aromas and flavours of wild black-fruit (such as blackcurrant), with overtones of black pepper spice and roasting meat. The Shiraz variety gives hearty, spicy reds, often complemented by warm alcohol and gripping tannins. Occasionally toffee notes arise from the wine having rested in oak barrels. While Shiraz is used to produce many average wines it can produce some of the world's finest, deepest, and darkest reds with intense flavours and excellent longevity.
* '''Tempranillo or Tinta Roriz''':
Tempranillo is the main grape used in wines from the Spanish regions of
Rioja and
Port. It also grows in certain regions of South Africa where it is usually made into varietal wines.
* '''Tinta Cão''': Tinta Cão is a Portuguese red wine grape that has grown primarily in the Douro region since the sixteenth century. Unfortunately, despite the high quality of the grape, the vine produces very low yields which has led to its near extinction. The vine favours cooler climates and can add finesse and complexity to any wine blend.
* '''Touriga Francesa''': Touriga Francesa is a Portuguese red-wine grape that is important in the production of Port. Although Touriga Francesa is lighter and more delicate in body, colour, and flavour than Touriga Nacional, it has a wonderful perfume character that makes it perfect for Port blends.
* '''Touriga Nacional''':
Zinfandel, an exclusively Californian grape, makes everything from blush wine (
White Zinfandel), to rich, heavy reds.
** Food pairings: Depending upon the type of Zinfandel, it pairs well with tomato-sauce pastas, pizza, and grilled and barbecued meats.
** Grape Production: California, USA.
** Textures and Flavours: Often spicy, with berry and pepper tones.
General Temperature Guidelines
Red wines can provide delightful and refreshing flavours, but these flavours can be masked if the wines are not served at the right temperatures. If the temperature is too cold, the subtle flavours and textures will be lost. If the temperature is too warm, the wine will taste somewhat flat and non-refreshing. A common misconception is that you should drink red wine at room temperature, but that is not really true. Most reds taste best between 16°C to 18°C (62°F to 65°F). For more specific guidelines, see chart below.
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