Wine varietals
Every wine guide in varietals — 41 in all. Read the overviews for free; the deeper material comes with a subscription.
Albariño
A study guide to Albariño (Alvarinho) — Green Spain's thick-skinned, high-acid, saline white from Rías Baixas and Vinho Verde, and how lees ageing gives it texture.
Read guide →Aligoté
A study guide to Aligoté — Burgundy's "other" white grape, its razor of acidity, the Kir cocktail, and its rehabilitation from vin ordinaire to serious Bouzeron.
Read guide →Barbera
A study guide to Barbera — Piedmont's juicy, high-acid, low-tannin everyday red, the foil to Nebbiolo, from fresh Barbera d'Asti to oak-aged Nizza.
Read guide →Cabernet Franc
A study guide to Cabernet Franc — the aromatic parent of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, its leafy-and-raspberry core, and how it tastes in the Loire, Bordeaux, and California.
Read guide →Cabernet Sauvignon
A study guide to Cabernet Sauvignon — its accidental Bordeaux parentage, the cassis-and-cedar core, and how it tastes across Bordeaux, California, Australia, and South Africa.
Read guide →Carignan
A study guide to Carignan/Cariñena/Mazuelo — from the engine of Europe's wine lake to the Languedoc's old-vine cult grape, and how carbonic maceration redeemed it.
Read guide →Carménère
A study guide to Carménère — the lost grape of Bordeaux reborn in Chile, grown for a century as "Merlot", its late-ripening green-pepper problem, and its plush, savoury profile.
Read guide →Chardonnay
A study guide to Chardonnay — the winemaker's white grape, its Burgundy home, and how oak, malolactic and place drive it from steely Chablis to buttery Meursault.
Read guide →Chenin Blanc
A study guide to Chenin Blanc — the high-acid shape-shifter behind Vouvray, Savennières and the Layon, and South Africa's old-vine treasure.
Read guide →Cinsault
A study guide to Cinsault — the drought-proof grape behind the world's rosé, Pinotage's parent, and the pale, perfumed red rediscovered from Lebanon to South Africa.
Read guide →Cortese
A study guide to Cortese — the crisp, mineral white grape of Piedmont behind Gavi, all lemon, almond and searing acidity, and the region's answer to a serious dry white.
Read guide →Corvina
A study guide to Corvina — the sour-cherry grape of Verona behind Valpolicella, Ripasso and mighty Amarone, and how drying the grapes builds a whole ladder of styles.
Read guide →Fiano
A study guide to Fiano — southern Italy's ancient, age-worthy white from Campania's Fiano di Avellino, all honey, toasted hazelnut and waxy texture over fresh acidity.
Read guide →Furmint
A study guide to Furmint — Hungary's great white, the grape of Tokaj's golden Aszú and, increasingly, of bone-dry, smoky, high-acid whites from volcanic soils.
Read guide →Gamay
A study guide to Gamay — its exile from Burgundy, the granite-and-carbonic Beaujolais style, and how it tastes as cru, Nouveau, in the Loire, and in Oregon.
Read guide →Garganega
A study guide to Garganega — the grape of Soave, unfairly tarred by cheap industrial wine but, on the volcanic Classico hills, a mineral, almond-scented serious white.
Read guide →Gewurztraminer
A study guide to Gewurztraminer — lychee and rose in a golden, low-acid frame; the pink-skinned Savagnin mutation that found its true home in Alsace.
Read guide →Grenache
A study guide to Grenache/Garnacha — the Mediterranean's warm-climate engine, from Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Priorat to Rioja, old-vine Australia, and Banyuls.
Read guide →Malbec
A study guide to Malbec — the black wine of Cahors, its rebirth at altitude in Mendoza, and how the French and Argentine styles differ in the glass.
Read guide →Mencía
A study guide to Mencía — north-west Spain's fresh, floral, slate-mineral red from Bierzo and Ribeira Sacra, identical to Portugal's Jaen, and why altitude and soil define it.
Read guide →Merlot
A study guide to Merlot — its Cabernet Franc parentage, the plush plum-and-chocolate core, and how it tastes across Bordeaux, California, Chile, and Washington.
Read guide →Montepulciano
A study guide to Montepulciano — Abruzzo's deeply coloured, soft, great-value red (not the Tuscan town), all black cherry and gentle tannin, plus the Cerasuolo rosé.
Read guide →Mourvèdre
A study guide to Mourvèdre/Monastrell/Mataro — the sun-worshipping, tannic heart of Bandol and the structural spine of GSM blends worldwide.
Read guide →Muscat
A study guide to the Muscat family — the only wine that smells of the grape itself, from bone-dry Alsace to Asti's froth and the fortified sweets of Beaumes-de-Venise and Rutherglen.
Read guide →Nebbiolo
A study guide to Nebbiolo — the "tar and roses" grape of Barolo and Barbaresco, pale in colour but ferocious in tannin and acid, and one of the world's greatest age-worthy reds.
Read guide →Nero d'Avola
A study guide to Nero d'Avola — Sicily's flagship red, from easy-drinking Sicilia DOC bottles to serious Noto and Pachino wines and the island's only DOCG blend.
Read guide →Petit Verdot
A study guide to Petit Verdot — Bordeaux's late-ripening "seasoning" grape of colour, tannin and violet perfume, and how it tastes solo in warm regions.
Read guide →Pinotage
A study guide to Pinotage — South Africa's own crossing of Pinot Noir and Cinsault, its four signature styles from light varietal to coffee-and-chocolate, and the banana pitfall.
Read guide →Pinot Gris
A study guide to Pinot Gris/Grigio — one grape, two personalities; the grey-skinned Pinot Noir mutation behind Italy's crisp Grigio and Alsace's smoky, honeyed Gris.
Read guide →Pinot Meunier
A study guide to Pinot Meunier — Champagne's quiet workhorse, the floury-leafed Pinot mutation that keeps non-vintage blends fruity, supple, and safe.
Read guide →Pinot Noir
A study guide to Pinot Noir — the thin-skinned "heartbreak grape," its ancient Burgundy roots, and how it tastes from the Côte d'Or to Oregon, Sonoma, and Central Otago.
Read guide →Riesling
A study guide to Riesling — the world's most terroir-transparent white, from bone-dry Alsace and Australia to the Prädikat ladder of the Mosel, plus the petrol question.
Read guide →Sangiovese
A study guide to Sangiovese — Tuscany's high-acid, savoury red behind Chianti, Brunello and Vino Nobile, all sour cherry, tomato leaf and tea, and Italy's ultimate food wine.
Read guide →Sauvignon Blanc
A study guide to Sauvignon Blanc — the aroma chemistry of pyrazines and thiols, Sancerre vs Marlborough, and how one grape became the world's freshest white.
Read guide →Semillon
A study guide to Semillon — Bordeaux's waxy white workhorse and Sauternes grape, and the ageless, low-alcohol Hunter Valley original, plus Barossa, Margaret River and botrytis styles.
Read guide →Syrah
A study guide to Syrah/Shiraz — its Rhône parentage, the black-pepper signature, and how one grape splits into two styles across the world's climates.
Read guide →Tempranillo
A study guide to Tempranillo — Spain's noble black grape, the soul of Rioja and Ribera del Duero, its red-fruit-and-leather core, and its lifelong love affair with oak.
Read guide →Torrontés
A study guide to Torrontés — Argentina's aromatic white that smells sweet but tastes dry, its Muscat parentage, and why high-altitude Cafayate makes the best of it.
Read guide →Verdicchio
A study guide to Verdicchio — the Marche's finest white, all lemon, almond and fennel over searing acidity, with a surprising gift for ageing, and secretly Trebbiano di Soave.
Read guide →Viognier
A study guide to Viognier — apricot-and-honeysuckle perfume, famously low acidity, Condrieu at its heart, and a near-extinction story with a happy ending.
Read guide →Zinfandel
A study guide to Zinfandel — California's jammy, high-alcohol red that turned out to be Italy's Primitivo and Croatia's Tribidrag, plus the uneven-ripening quirk and White Zin.
Read guide →