Wine varietals
Tap any grape for tasting profile, regions, pairings, and recipes that use it.
Reds
- Cabernet Sauvignon The world's most-planted red, structured and tannic.
- Pinot Noir Thin-skinned, terroir-transparent, the heartbreak grape.
- Sangiovese Tuscan staple — high acid, savory cherry, dusty tannin.
- Merlot Plum-and-cocoa Right Bank workhorse and Cabernet's blending partner.
- Cabernet Franc Herbal, peppery parent of Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Petit Verdot Late-ripening Bordeaux blender — color, tannin, violet.
- Malbec Argentina's adopted hero — inky, plummy, floral at altitude.
- Syrah / Shiraz Northern Rhône's peppery flagship; Australia's Shiraz powerhouse.
- Grenache / Garnacha Heat-loving GSM blender; Châteauneuf and Priorat backbone.
- Mourvèdre / Monastrell Late-ripening, gamey, dense — Bandol's anchor.
- Pinot Meunier Champagne's third grape; fruit and approachability.
- Tempranillo Spain's noble red — leather and red fruit, made for oak.
- Graciano Rioja's perfume-and-spine blender, rarely solo.
- Carignan / Cariñena / Mazuelo High-acid, high-tannin Mediterranean blender; old-vine quality.
- Nebbiolo Piedmont's pale, perfumed, savagely tannic king.
- Barbera Piedmont's everyday red — high acid, low tannin, food-friendly.
- Dolcetto Piedmont's everyday-purple aperitif red.
- Corvina Veneto's lead grape for Valpolicella and Amarone.
- Primitivo Puglia's sun-baked red; genetically identical to Zinfandel.
- Negroamaro Puglia's bitter-finishing dark red — earthy, herbal.
- Nero d'Avola Sicily's main red; sun-baked plum and licorice.
- Nerello Mascalese Mount Etna's pale, ash-tinged, Burgundy-like red.
- Aglianico Southern Italy's Nebbiolo equivalent — tannic and ageworthy.
- Montepulciano Adriatic-coast workhorse; deep color, soft tannin.
- Touriga Nacional Portugal's noble red — Port's backbone, increasingly solo.
- Touriga Franca Most-planted Douro red — Port's aromatic lift.
- Zinfandel California's adopted red; jammy, peppery, brambly.
- Carmenère Chile's signature red; herbal, plummy, long misidentified.
- Pinotage South Africa's homegrown cross — polarizing but distinctive.
- Gamay Beaujolais — bright, juicy, drink-young red.
- Mencía Spain's revival grape — schist soils, fresh and floral.
- Tannat Tannic to a fault — Madiran's grape, Uruguay's pride.
- Bonarda Argentina's number-two red; juicy and underrated.
- Cinsault Mediterranean rosé and Pinotage parent.
- Nero di Troia Northern Puglia's structured red — high tannin, rose perfume.
Whites
- Chardonnay The white chameleon — steel to oak, Chablis to Napa.
- Riesling High-acid, low-alcohol, dry to honeyed-sweet.
- Sauvignon Blanc High-acid, herbal, citrusy; the world's defining cool-climate white.
- Pinot Gris / Pinot Grigio The same grape, two styles: rich Alsace Gris, lean Italian Grigio.
- Gewürztraminer Lychee, rose, and ginger — the most aromatic white.
- Viognier Condrieu's grape — peach, honeysuckle, full-bodied.
- Chenin Blanc Loire's chameleon — bone-dry to honeyed-sweet, including sparkling.
- Sémillon Sauternes's botrytis canvas; Hunter Valley's longest-living white.
- Albariño Galicia's seafood white — saline, peachy, mineral.
- Loureiro Vinho Verde's perfumed second grape; floral and zippy.
- Trajadura Vinho Verde's roundness — soft, ripe, middle-of-the-blend.
- Verdejo Rueda's signature grape — herbal, citric, slightly bitter.
- Muscat / Moscato An ancient family of grapes; the only ones that smell like grapes.
- Vermentino Mediterranean coastal white; saline, citric, herbal.
- Garganega Soave's main grape; almond, lemon, sometimes underrated.
- Glera Prosecco's grape — neutral fruit, tank-method bubbles.
- Grillo Sicilian white — lemony, saline, formerly the Marsala backbone.
- Catarratto Sicily's most-planted grape; rising serious bottlings.
- Grüner Veltliner Austria's native white — peppery, herbal, long-aging.
- Furmint Tokaji's noble grape; high-acid, citrusy, age-worthy.
- Hárslevelű Tokaj's perfumed second grape; linden honey character.
- Trebbiano Italy's most-planted white; mostly neutral, sometimes distilled.
- Marsanne Northern Rhône white — full-bodied, waxy, often with Roussanne.
- Roussanne Marsanne's aromatic blending partner; pear and herb.
- Picpoul Languedoc's lemony shellfish white; Picpoul de Pinet.
- Assyrtiko Santorini's volcanic white — saline, high-acid, mineral.
- Petit Manseng Southwest France's Jurançon grape; passion fruit and honey.