Please note that italics refer to grape varieties that have their own entries in this guide to hundreds of the most significant grapes currently grown around the world to produce red, and pink, wine. Abouriou , minor variety in South West France which was also known as Early. More...

Please note that italics refer to grape varieties that have their own entries in this guide to hundreds of the most significant grapes currently grown around the world to produce white wine. Airén , the grape of the vast La Mancha region in central Spain.. More...

  Ten, perhaps five, years ago very few wine lovers outside Austria had even heard of Grüner Veltliner. Today, no self-respecting restaurant wine list, whether in New York or Hong Kong, can afford to be without at least one example of this, Austria’s signature white wine grape.. More...

Ten, perhaps five, years ago very few wine lovers outside Austria had even heard of Grüner Veltliner. Today, no self-respecting restaurant wine list, whether in New York or Hong Kong, can afford to be without at least one example of this, Austria’s signature white wine grape.   I. More...

Semillon (Sémillon in French) is one of those grapes like Riesling which tends to be much more appreciated by wine insiders than by the average wine drinker. They know that, were it not for the richness of Semillon the wine and the thin skins with their propensity to be nobly affected by. More...

The Muscat grape may not be thought of as one of the great international classics but its history is many times longer than that of such newcomers as Cabernet Sauvignon for example. It was almost certainly the grape variety referred to by writers in classical times as being particularly attractive. More...

The most extraordinary thing about the story of Viognier is how very nearly and how very recently it almost shrivelled to extinction. When I wrote Vines, Grapes & Wines in 1985 (for publication in 1986) I was able to identify records of just 32 hectares or 80 acres of it planted in the entire. More...

Gewurztraminer (Germans spell it Gewürztraminer) competes with Sauvignon Blanc as the beginner's grape - the one that is easiest for a newcomer to wine to recognise. With Sauvignon it's all about that unforgettable smell and a virtual absence of colour. With Gewurz, it's all about another. More...

"Useful rather than exciting" would be a fair description of this versatile grape variety. It is part of the vast family of vaguely Burgundian vines whose parents have recently been revealed by DNA analysis to be the noble, dark-skinned Pinot Noir and a rather obscure, ordinary white grape widely. More...

In my 1986 book Vines, Grapes and Wines ( Reben Trauben Weine , Hallwag 1987 in German) - the world's first consumer guide to wine grapes I believe - I divided them into three categories: Classic, Major and Other (Klassische, Wichtige and Sonstige). Many wine lovers were doubtless puzzled that I. More...