How to Choose Grapes

Choosing premium grapes is essential to making good wine.  Below are characteristics of various grapes to help you choose your favorite.

Red Wine Grape Varieties

• Alicante:  A good blending grape.  One of the few red grape varieties that has red pulp as well as a red skin.  Makes intense, dark purplish wines that may be rather neutral in flavor and low in acid.  Use it to add color to short term wines. 

• Barbera: Deep purple grape that often has high acidity.  Especially good when young, or when blended. 

• Cabernet Franc:  Blending grape (with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) for a traditional red Bordeaux.  Similar to Cabernet Sauvignon but lighter in color and body, slightly more herbaceous, and lower level of tannin.  Hints of raspberries, violets, and pencil shavings. 

• Cabernet Sauvignon: Great Cabs have bouquets with traces of cassis, blackberry, cedar, butterscotch, green peppers, chocolate, cocoa, leather, etc. Deep plummy richness.

• Carignane: Good grapey, juicy fruit. Medium tannin.  Blend it with Grenache to make a red table wine. 

• Grenache: Cherry in the color, aroma, and flavor.  Can make a wonderful rose.

• Lemberger: Deep rich flavors and colors with hints of spiciness and earthiness.

• Merlot: Produces supple and richly colored wines with a nutmeg spiciness and plummy fruitiness.  Blends well with Cabernet Sauvignon and is ideal for early drinking. 

• Mission: Primarily a blending grape because of its high concentration of sugar, light color, and low acidity.  Use it to make a light red wine. 

• Pinot Noir: Very tough to describe.  An aroma of raspberries or strawberries; can be full-bodied but is never heavy like Cabernet.  An elegant grape that take a lifetime to make well.

• Petite Sirah: Not related to Syrah or Shiraz.  Deep, dark color with jamminess and good acidity.

• Ruby Cabernet: Deep-colored and pleasant.  Best enjoyed young. 

• Syrah: Known as Shiraz in Australia.  Deep, dark, opaque, burnt purple color. Aroma that's intensely spicy with overtones of tar, and fresh jam.  A flavor that is peppery-rich. 

• Valdepenas: Light color, low acid, rather neutral flavor.  Blends well with Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon to make a Spanish red.  Best enjoyed young. 

• Zinfandel: Deep red-purple color.  Warm (can have high sugars), berry-like, jammy-intense, spicy characteristic.