Grape Varieties Introduction
The wine vine is only one genus of a vast family of plants, its name is VITIS VINIFERA. Its varieties can be numbered in thousands - as many as 5000 are named. Those which concern the wine lover are probably not more than about 50 of which 25 or so make up the majority of all wines produced.
All over the Old World of wine growing, the natural selection of the variety which does best, and gives the best quality combined with reasonable quantity and a reasonable resistance to disease, has taken place gradually over the centuries. In many places (for example Chianti, Bordeaux, Chateauneuf de Pape) no one grape provides exactly what is needed. The tradition is either grow a number together, or grow them separately and blend them together.
It is not the traditional practice in the main wine districts of Europe even to mention the kind of grape which goes into a wine. For one thing the choice is so old it can be assumed : for another modern wine law normally make the traditional variety a condition of using the traditional wine name. White AC Burgundy, for example, must be made entirely of Chardonnay Grapes.
For this reason there are many grape varieties which many people are not aware of. The Palomino and Pedro Ximénez of Sherry, the Tintas of Port, the Furmint of Tokay, the Schiava of the Adige and the Chasselas of Switzerland amongst others.
On the other hand, there are some, like the Sercial and Verdelho of Maderia, the Barbera of Piedmont and the Gewurztraminer of Alsace, which have become the names of the wine. In the New World of wine growing the choice of grapes is not a tradition but of judgment, a realistic balance of quality, quantity and hardiness. Hence the best wines of the New World use the grape name to specify the character of the wine. This is known as varietal labeling.
Ampelography - the study of grapes - is one of the most delicate and difficult studies associated with wine. Experts often disagree about the identity of grapes, their relationships remain far beyond lay comment.
