Local grape varieties can be a strong point for wine countries. The wine enthusiast is more and more looking for the unusual and the unknown. Moldova, in the easternmost part of Europe, is in many ways a new wine country despite having many centuries of wine history. To make its voice heard in a competitive […]
A wine does not have to have strong colour to be good, just look at pinot noir and nebbiolo. But it helps, at least if one goes with many consumers’ preconceived ideas. If one were to judge by the colour, foglia tonda would be among the most treasured grapes, but instead the grape has almost […]
Sauvignon Blanc is one of the most popular grape varieties in the world. With 123,000 hectares it is in fact the third most planted white variety in the world, after the Spanish grape Airen (218,000 hectares) and Chardonnay (210,000). France has the biggest plantings, followed by New Zealand, Chile and South Africa. It is a […]
Piedmont has a wealth of little-known traditional varieties. Time to discover them! The wine region Piedmont in north-western Italy is best known for its powerful Nebbiolo wines Barolo and Barbaresco, its fruity Barbera and sweet Moscato wines. But the region has much more to offer. Piedmont hosts an impressive range of indigenous (autochthonous) grape varieties […]
It will hardly surprise anyone that Chardonnay and Cabernet are (still) the most popular grape varieties in the USA. The exiting newcomer on the podium is Pinot Noir that is now solidly in third place. This is not least due to the fabulous success it has had in Oregon. When it comes to which grapes […]
There are a few grape varieties that are more or less unique to a country or that has for some reason become emblematic. Chile has its Carmenere, Argentina has Malbec, and Uruguay has Tannat. Portugal has masses of unique grapes that exist (almost) nowhere else, as does Italy, and Greece and many other countries. South […]
Is there any white wine grape that is more loved all over the world than chardonnay? It may have a natural explanation. It is a grape that fits everyone. It is easy to grow, easy to vinify and easy to like. It can be grown almost anywhere. It has its roots in Burgundy’s relatively cool […]
Malbec’s origin is in Cahors in the south west of France, le Sud-Ouest. But it has become (almost) world famous thanks to Mendoza in Argentina that is by far the biggest producer today. The two regions make very different wines from this same grape variety. This has of course to do with climate and perhaps […]
It is a bit of a trend in the world of wine today to look for more unusual grapes. We had the opportunity to try a variety of wines made from “uncommon” grape varieties, silvaner, weissburgunder (pinot blanc), grauburgunder (pinot gris) and spätburgunder (pinot noir), in a tasting organized by the German Wine Institute. Carl-Erik […]
Malbec is the most famous and important but bonarda is gaining ground, but is really douce noire The most famous grape of Argentina is malbec, originating from the South-West of France. If we exclude some of the uninteresting low-quality grapes it is the most grown grape in Argentina. The second grape, bonarda, is gaining ground […]
A new grape has been born in Switzerland, developed by the research institute Agroscope Changins. The Swiss are good at developing environmentally friendly grapes and this new grape, called Divico, has good resistance to both grey rot, mildiou and oidium. The grape is a cross between two grapes: gamaret and the hybrid bronner. With Divico […]
Last year, in 2012, seven new grape varieties were approved for wine production in France. Five of these were foreign varieties that are considered of interest either for the production of French wines or for plant nurseries to grow for export. The five “foreign” varieties were nebbiolo, nero d’avola, pinotage, touriga nacional and saperavi, a […]
Four new varieties have been born in France. And it’s really four brand new varieties. With names we have never heard of: gaminot, beaugaray, picarlat and granita. These are crossings that have been made at the request of winegrowers in the Beaujolais and Mâcon. The requests were made in the 1970s, but, as we all […]
How provincial protectionism makes it more difficult to sell French wines Vin de France, that is the new name for “vin de table” (wine without a specific appellation, AOP, or IGP), can now have the grape name mentioned on the label. Except for some varieties. It used to be that Vin de Table (now Vin […]
In our last Brief we wrote about the most popular grape varieties grown in Germany. The figures came from a print magazine but after looking at them a little more closely we thought they looked a bit peculiar (as did some of our readers!). So we checked instead the statistics from Deutsche Weininstitut: These figures […]
According to Austrian Wines / Statistik Austria, Vineyard Survey 2009 these are the most planted grape varieties in Austria. Whites first: Grüner Veltliner 29% (+) Welschriesling 8% (-) Müller Thurgau 5% (-) Weißburgunder 4% (?) Riesling 4% (=) Chardonnay 3% (?) Sauvignon Blanc 2% (++) Gemischter Satz 2% (-) Neuburger 1% (-) Muskateller 1% (++) […]
Which is the world’s most planted grape variety? It is a common question in wine quizzes, since few have heard about the obscure grape. It is a Spanish white grape variety (unless it has changed recently, plantings have decreased): airen. It produces large quantities of anonymous wine in central Spain. More interesting and noteworthy are […]
Not just football There’s a lot of talk about South Africa these days (but less and less in some countries perhaps…) with the World Cup in full spin. But disregarding if we’re watching football or not, South African wines are becoming more and more popular. In Sweden, for example, it is the biggest supplier of […]
It’s very popular with varietal wine competitions so for the first time in world history (!) there was recently an International Malbec Competition. Malbec perhaps not the world’s most wide-spread variety but you can find it in several different countries. These are the plantings: – Argentina 24,310 ha – France 6,630 ha – Chile 1,020 […]
What is your guess? Cabernet? Syrah? Ugni blanc? Or something else? No, none of those. For most of the 20th century it was carignan, but half of that acreage has been up-rooted, primarily in the Languedoc region. So, the answer is: merlot. Here’s the latest statistics: 1. Merlot: 117 000 ha 2. Grenache: 99 000 […]
Since 1979 a lot has changed in the vineyards so it is time to review old truths about what is taught in wine classes. The statistics is from Drinks International and based on SCEES RGA79 and CVI (area in ‘000 of hectares): Grape Variety ha 1979 ha 2004 % change Red Grapes 687 627 -9% […]
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