What is a grape variety ?

THE GRAPE VARIETIES

A vine is a plant producing a specific kind of grape which gives a specific range of aromas : this is the grape variety. Each variety has a specific name : Chardonnay, Syrah, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Sauvignon, Chenin, etc.

Some grapes produce red wines and others white wines. What about rosé wine ? Well there is no grape variety for that, as the rosé wine comes from a grape used to make red wine ( I will develop this subject later)!

There are thousands of different kinds of grapes (only in Italy, there are more than a thousand !). But, the way a vine naturally behaves is different from another one. Each vine has natural and intrinsic more or less good characteristics. That is why only a few hundred are kept. And amongst them, some are better than others : they are called the “Noble varieties”.