Common Varietals vs. Less Common

[TxBrew]

Newbie question here but when you go to the wine shop you have huge sections for Cabernet, Syrah, Riesling, Petite Syrah, Merlot, Pinot Noir ...

As I view the grape growing forum here I see tons of names I have never seen before;

Alwood, Golden Muscat, Frontenac ....

So are these less common varietals just used by amateur wine makers, or are they primarily just blended into the more common names then labeled as the common name for the consumer?

 

[grapeman]

Most of the wine in the US is grown in California and Washington. Those are mainly vinifera type grapes which can be grown in limited areas of the US. Those are the first group of grapes you list. The others are hybrid grapes which have been developed to be grown sucessfully in other areas of the country where the vinifera can't grow well for one reason or another. Since there are more areas that can't grow them, there are more hybrid varieties grown. The total of all the hybrids is much less than the vinifera. That's why you see mostly vinifera names in the stores.

 

[TxBrew]

What is currently happening with the majority of these hybrid grapes?

Are they mainly used by amateur wine makers for personal consumption, mainly used to blend into the non-hybrid wine or are they grown, bottled and sold locally as whatever varietal they are?

 

[robie]

In France and Italy it is even different again.

In Italy, the same grape variety can be called something completely different from one small region to another.

In France, the Burgundy area as an example, there are two main varieties grown - the red is Pinot Noir and the white is Chardonnay. However, each little village that grows a white, for example, likely calls the wine by the name of the village/region, not actually "Chardonnay". One just has to assume if it is a white wine and it is from Burgundy, it is very likely a Chardonnay, with few exceptions. Similar scenario for Burgundian red.

It gets worse in the Bordeaux region of France. There are several varieties of red and white grapes grown, but the wines are seldom labeled by variety. They generally are Bordeaux "blends" of multiple grapes. Which side of the river they come from has a lot to do with which actual varieties the blend contains and also which specific variety is predominant in the blend.

It can get really complicated.

Here in Northern America, we tend to be pretty much varietal oriented. We want a Cab, a Syrah, or a Chardonnay. To some extent and slowly, I think this is changing. I learned long time ago, that at least in my own opinion (and not in every case), a good blend is a better drinking wine. (IMO)

 

[grapeman]

What is currently happening with the majority of these hybrid grapes?

Are they mainly used by amateur wine makers for personal consumption, mainly used to blend into the non-hybrid wine or are they grown, bottled and sold locally as whatever varietal they are?

Some of the grapes are blended with others for house blends of the small wineries in the regions they are grown. I'm sure a few go to home winemakers locally, but the vast majority are used by the small wineries. Many of them can be used as varietals - such as Cayuga White which is grown and produced in NYS. I do most of mine as varietals, but name recognition is an educational process. When I have a visitor, I ask them what wine they normally like to drink. The will tell me something like a Pinot Noir or a Chardonnay. With that in hand, I can try to have them sample one of my varietals I feel comes close to them. I usually get a response such as "You are right, it does taste like a 'fill in the blank'. "

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

What is currently happening with the majority of these hybrid grapes?

Are they mainly used by amateur wine makers for personal consumption, mainly used to blend into the non-hybrid wine or are they grown, bottled and sold locally as whatever varietal they are?

A lot of the grapes grown outside CA,WA,OR and NY are done at "small" winerys where most is consumed on premise, some of the 'larger' vineyards/winerys will sell to local stores but not much outside the state due to limited production. Large winerys, Gallo, Mondovi, etc. not only go nation wide but world wide.

1. Here is some info on US wine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wine

2. Something interesting from Missouri: http://www.localwineevents.com/resources/quiz/answer/314/E/

Information from 1, info in 2 is only beat by the main 4 states in 2009. Currently MO has 118 winerys and countless vineyards.

another interesting MO wine read: http://www.missouriwine.org/system/images/19/original/2010%20Missouri%20Impact%20Study.pdf?1295922658

sorry

 

[TxBrew]

I guess we have limited varietals that grow here so I am not accustom to seeing all these varieties at the store.

Take for instance Niagara. For those in the NE, if you go into your local wine ship you can buy wine that is primarily Niagara and labeled as such.

 

[BobF]

I just had a bottle of Chambourcin (my favorite grape) from an Illinois winery that was VERY good!

 

[Midwest Vintner]

I just had a bottle of Chambourcin (my favorite grape) from an Illinois winery that was VERY good!

Chambourcin is a good one. You should try Hermannhof Winery's version. It's pretty good. We have some from 2004. Much better with some age in it too.

The US way of labeling it is better. The Europeans do it funny. Blending wines and naming a region will only give you a tiny bit of information on what is in the bottle. Their system of gov't making them keep to a specific grape for specific regions, or terroir, is makes them handcuffed. If you have a federal bonded winery (like mine), I have to put exact percentages of contents of the main ingredients on the label and are allowed to us anything we want that is US FDA approved (meaning fruit grown anywhere in the world as long as it has been through customs etc). If we had a Missouri producers license, we would have more lax labeling laws, but have to use 85% MO products to make wine. My winery is not the norm though. Most MO producers are MO regulated and either grow their own or buy from a vineyard.