One of the three grapes (along with Macabeo and Parellada) used for the production of the sparkling Spanish wine Cava. It is a productive grape that retains high levels of acidity.
Viura is the white grape of Rioja, Spain and a blending grape in Cava. In Southern France it goes by the name Macabeo. Its wines, which are often blends, are dry with with moderate acidity and notes of white flowers and raw almond.
Vermentino is fresh and lively Italian white grape. It has aromas of lime and grapefruit when grown in cooler sites and tends towards riper and tropical fruit notes like mango and pineapple when grown in warmer locations. The wine is usually medium weight with medium plus acidity levels. Along with Vermentino’s attractive fruit, the wines […]
Many different grape varietals in Italy are called Trebbiano. The most common is Trebbiano Toscano, from Tuscany and once (but no longer permitted) was a required blending component in Chianti. In France, Trebbiano Toscano is the same as Ugni Blanc and is known as Talia in Portugal. There is Trebbiano d’Abruzzo from that same region […]
Torrontés is an aromatic white wine grape from Argentina. It is characterized by floral aromas of rose petal and ripe stone fruit, peach and citrus zest on the palate. Despite the wine’s “sweet” aroma, the palate is usually very dry, lean, crisp and ultra refreshing. The best Torrontes comes from high elevation vineyard sites. Torrontes […]
Seyval Blanc is a French hybrid grape originally released in 1921 in Drome, France, where it was known as Seyve-Villard, named for its creators. Though, it never really took root in France, it is favoured in Canadian vine growing regions for its cold hardiness. It buds and ripens early which is ideal in a marginal […]
Prosecco is actually an Italian sparkling wine made in Veneto, made from Glera grapes. Up until 2009 the grapes for making Prosecco were also called Prosecco, but in order to protect the designated origin of Prosecco and prevent “Prosecco” from being produced in any region in Italy or abroad, the name was changed to Glera. […]
Primitivo, from Puglia, Italy, is a descendant of the Croatian grape “Crljenak”. California’s Zinfandel also has similar roots that trace back to this ancient Croatian grape and DNA testing has shown that Italian Primitivo and American Zinfandel are related and possibly the same grape. Are these grapes exact replicas of each other or natural clones? The […]
