Wine Grape Varieties A to Z: Every Grape on Giggly Grapes in One Place

There are more than a thousand wine grapes grown commercially and you will only ever meet about fifty of them. This is the fifty, in alphabetical order, with one honest line on each and a link to the full profile where we have one. Five grapes that did not need a page of their own get a proper paragraph further down.

If you are new to all this, the beginners guide explains the words used here (tannin, acidity, body) in about two minutes.

Table of Contents

1. Reds
2. Whites
3. Five grapes that deserve a paragraph
4. Which grape should you try next?

Reds

Grape	In one line	Body
Abouriou	Rare south-west French red, dark, rustic and fruity, drunk young.	Medium
Agiorgitiko	Greece’s most planted red, soft plum and spice, from Nemea.	Medium
Aglianico	Southern Italy’s answer to Barolo: firm tannin, dark fruit, needs time.	Full
Alicante Bouschet	One of the few grapes with red flesh, so the wine is inky black. Big and rustic.	Full
Baga	Portugal’s tannic, high-acid red from Bairrada. Ages beautifully, hard work young.	Medium to full
Barbera	Piedmont’s everyday red: bright cherry, high acid, low tannin, perfect with pasta.	Medium
Bombino Nero	Puglian grape mostly made into rosé. See below.	Light
Cabernet Franc	Cabernet Sauvignon’s parent. Lighter, leafier, raspberry and pencil shavings.	Medium
Cabernet Sauvignon	The world’s most planted red. Blackcurrant, cedar, firm tannin. Coonawarra and Margaret River do it best here.	Full
Carignan	Old-vine Mediterranean workhorse, now fashionable again. Dark fruit, earthy, high acid.	Medium to full
Carménère	Lost Bordeaux grape rediscovered in Chile. Green capsicum, plum, soft tannin.	Medium to full
Cinsault	Pale, fragrant, low-tannin red from the south of France. Great chilled.	Light
Corvina	The main grape of Valpolicella and Amarone. Sour cherry when fresh, raisin and chocolate when dried.	Light to full
Dolcetto	Piedmont’s “little sweet one”, which is actually dry: plum, almond, soft, drink young.	Medium
Durif	Petite Sirah in America, Durif in Rutherglen. Inky, tannic, huge.	Full
Gamay	The Beaujolais grape. Juicy red berries, low tannin, serve cool.	Light
Grenache	Pale, perfumed, raspberry and white pepper, sneaky alcohol. Barossa and McLaren Vale old vines are world class.	Medium
Malbec	French grape, Argentine fame. Blackberry, plum, cocoa, velvety.	Full
Merlot	Soft plum and chocolate, the friendly red. Right Bank Bordeaux and Coonawarra.	Medium to full
Montepulciano	Abruzzo’s easy-drinking red: dark cherry, soft, cheap and cheerful.	Medium
Mourvèdre	Mataro in the Barossa. Meaty, gamey, tannic; the M in GSM.	Full
Nebbiolo	Barolo and Barbaresco. Pale colour, tar and roses, ferocious tannin, long life.	Full
Negroamaro	Puglia’s “black bitter”: ripe, spicy, herbal, a bitter twist on the finish.	Full
Nero d’Avola	Sicily’s main red. Plum, black cherry, warm spice. Now grown in the Riverland too.	Medium to full
Petit Verdot	Bordeaux’s seasoning grape, bottled on its own in Australia: violets, blackberry, serious tannin.	Full
Pinot Noir	The difficult one. Red cherry, earth, silk. Burgundy, Tasmania, Yarra, Mornington.	Light to medium
Pinotage	South Africa’s own crossing (Pinot Noir and Cinsault). Smoky, dark, divisive.	Medium to full
Primitivo	Zinfandel under its Italian name. See below.	Full
Sagrantino	Umbria’s tannin monster. Blackberry, cocoa, needs a decade.	Full
Sangiovese	Chianti and Brunello. Sour cherry, dried herbs, dusty tannin, made for tomato.	Medium
Shiraz	Australia’s grape. Blackberry, pepper, chocolate; Barossa is big, Hunter is earthy, Canberra is peppery.	Full
Tannat	Uruguay’s grape and Madiran’s. As tannic as the name suggests.	Full
Tempranillo	Rioja and Ribera del Duero. Strawberry, leather, vanilla from American oak.	Medium to full
Touriga Nacional	The top Port grape, also a fine dry red: violets, blackberry, dense.	Full
Xinomavro	Greece’s Nebbiolo. Tomato leaf, dried strawberry, high acid and tannin.	Medium to full
Zinfandel	California’s jammy, boozy, brambly red. Same grape as Primitivo.	Full

Whites

Grape	In one line	Style
Airén	Spain’s most planted grape, mostly for brandy. Neutral, cheap, occasionally decent.	Dry, neutral
Albariño	Galicia’s seafood white: peach, lime, salt. Now in the Adelaide Hills.	Dry, crisp
Arneis	Piedmont’s pear-and-almond white. Soft acid, drink young.	Dry, gentle
Assyrtiko	Santorini’s volcanic white, now in the Clare Valley. See below.	Dry, razor acid
Chardonnay	Does whatever the winemaker wants: lean Chablis, buttery Margaret River, sparkling in Tasmania.	Dry, light to rich
Chenin Blanc	Loire and South Africa. Apple, honey, wax. Dry, sweet or sparkling.	Anything
Fiano	Campanian white with honey, hazelnut and texture. Doing well in McLaren Vale.	Dry, textural
Gewürztraminer	Lychee, rose and ginger. Loud. Made for Thai and Indian food.	Off-dry, aromatic
Glera	The Prosecco grape. Pear, green apple, light bubbles.	Sparkling
Grüner Veltliner	Austria’s white pepper and green apple grape. Now grown in the Adelaide Hills.	Dry, crisp
Hanepoot	South African name for Muscat of Alexandria, usually sweet and fortified.	Sweet
Marsanne	Rhône white with honeysuckle and quince. Tahbilk in Victoria has the world’s oldest vines.	Dry, full
Muscat	The grape that tastes of grapes. Rutherglen’s fortified glory. See below.	Dry to sweet
Pinot Grigio / Gris	Grigio is light and crisp, Gris is richer and spicier. Same grape, two styles.	Dry
Riesling	Lime and slate when dry (Clare, Eden Valley), honey and apricot when sweet (Mosel). Ages for decades.	Dry to sweet
Roussanne	Marsanne’s blending partner. Herbal tea, pear, more acid.	Dry, full
Sauvignon Blanc	Passionfruit and cut grass in Marlborough, flint and gooseberry in Sancerre.	Dry, crisp
Semillon	The Hunter Valley’s secret: lean and lemony young, toast and honey after ten years. Sweet in Sauternes.	Dry or sweet
Soave	Not a grape but a wine, made from Garganega. See below.	Dry, light
Torrontés	Argentina’s perfumed white: rose, peach, dry finish.	Dry, aromatic
Verdejo	Rueda’s grassy, fennel-scented white. Spain’s Sauvignon Blanc.	Dry, crisp
Verdelho	Madeira grape that found a home in the Hunter and Swan Valley. Tropical fruit, dry.	Dry, fruity
Vermentino	Sardinian and Ligurian seaside white, now all over the Riverland. Lime, herbs, salt.	Dry, crisp
Viognier	Apricot and honeysuckle, full and oily. Yalumba made it Australian.	Dry, rich

Five grapes that deserve a paragraph

Assyrtiko

Santorini’s white, grown in volcanic ash on vines coiled into baskets against the wind. Lemon, lime, green apple and white flowers, a flinty smokiness and a salty finish, with acidity sharp enough to cut through anything and a surprising 13.5 to 14.5% alcohol from the island sun. Serve it at 8 to 10°C with grilled octopus, whole fish, feta or oysters. Sigalas and Gaia are the Greek benchmarks. Jim Barry planted Australia’s first Assyrtiko in the Clare Valley and released it in 2016; Henschke followed in the Eden Valley, and both are worth finding. If you like dry Riesling or Chablis, you will like this.

Bombino Nero

A southern Italian grape from Puglia and Abruzzo whose name means “little black bomb”, which oversells it. It is a light red with raspberry, cherry, a floral lift and soft tannin, and most of it is made into rosé; Castel del Monte Bombino Nero is Italy’s only rosé with top DOCG status. High acidity keeps it fresh. Serve at 12 to 14°C as a rosé, a little warmer as a red, with antipasti, grilled vegetables, Caprese salad, seafood pasta or a Margherita pizza. Drink it young. Torrevento, Rivera and Tormaresca make the ones you are most likely to see.

Muscat

Muscat is a family, not a single grape: Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, Muscat of Alexandria, Moscato Giallo and a dozen cousins share the name and the perfume. It is probably the oldest wine grape still cultivated, and it is the one variety that actually tastes like grapes: fresh grape, orange blossom, honeysuckle, rose and ripe peach. It comes in every style, from frothy 5% Moscato d’Asti to bone-dry Alsace Muscat to the dark, sticky fortified Muscats of Rutherglen in north-east Victoria, which are among the greatest sweet wines in the world and taste of raisin, toffee, coffee and fig. Serve light styles at 6 to 8°C with pavlova, fruit or spicy Asian food, and Rutherglen Muscat at 12 to 14°C with sticky date pudding, blue cheese or dark chocolate. Campbells, Chambers, Morris and Stanton and Killeen are the Rutherglen names; De Bortoli and Yalumba make good lighter versions.

Primitivo

Genetically the same grape as Zinfandel; both trace back to a Croatian variety called Tribidrag. Primitivo is the Puglian version, and Primitivo di Manduria is the appellation to look for. Expect ripe blackberry, plum and fig with dried herbs, liquorice and earth, at a robust 14 to 15.5% alcohol. Serve at 16 to 18°C and decant young bottles for half an hour. It was built for southern Italian food: sausage, lamb with rosemary, rich ragù, salami, aged cheese, and anything off a barbecue. It is usually much cheaper than Californian Zinfandel for the same grape and the same flavours. Feudi di San Gregorio and Tormaresca are reliable; Mollydooker makes a Zinfandel in McLaren Vale if you want the local version.

Soave

Soave is a place in the Veneto, not a grape, but people search for it as one. The grape is Garganega, with a little Trebbiano di Soave allowed. Green apple, pear, white peach and lemon zest with a signature bitter-almond note on the finish, light to medium body, crisp acidity, 11.5 to 13% alcohol. Look for Soave Classico, from the volcanic hills around the town, rather than plain Soave from the flat land; Soave Superiore is riper and a touch richer. Serve at 8 to 10°C, no decanting, with seafood risotto, grilled white fish, prawns, asparagus or bruschetta. Pieropan, Inama, Gini, Anselmi and Ca’ Rugate are the producers who made the region’s name.

Which grape should you try next?

If you drink Shiraz, try Durif or Touriga Nacional. If you drink Pinot Noir, try Gamay, Cinsault or an Etna Rosso. If you drink Sauvignon Blanc, try Verdejo, Grüner Veltliner or Assyrtiko. If you drink Chardonnay, try Fiano or Marsanne. If you drink Moscato, try a Rutherglen Muscat and never look back.