Grapes Flashcards
Corivina
Structure:
Light - Medium Body
Low Tannin
Medium + Acid
Notes:
Sour cherry, almond, cinnamon, chocolate and green peppercorn
Veneto Italy
Blended with Rondinella and Molinara
Valpolicella, Ripasso, Amarone, Recioto
Gamay
Thin skinned light ruby colour
High Acid
Low tannin (stem inclusion)
Medium Alcohol
High quality sees some oak treatment but not new oak.
Drink young
Notes:
Red fruit, cherries, currants, cranberry, violets and black pepper
Best examples Beaujolais France
Nebbiolo (the fog)
Thin skinned. Often oxidation leaving a brown or orange rim.
High High High
Can age very well
Notes:
Red currant, cherries, lots of none fruit: rose, leather, tobacco, olive, mushroom, tar, anise, truffles
Piedmont north Italy - Barolo, Barbaresco
Sangiovese
Thin skinned
High acid
Medium + to high tannin
Notes:
Cherries, red currants, cranberry, tomato leaf, olive, tea leaves, earth, leather, violets
More earth than fruit driven
Chianti and Brunello in Tuscany
can see oak
Merlot
Thick skin
Medium Tannins and Medium Acid
Notes:
Black fruit, plum, blackberry, mint
Oak
Blended with Cab Sauv think Bordeaux
Sweetness in warm climates
Pinot Noir
Thin skinned
High Acid Medium Tannins
Notes:
Strawberry, cherry, earth notes
Stand alone except in champagne
Shows TERROIR in best examples
Can have French oak
Like cool climate
Grenache
Thin skinned
Medium to medium plus acid and tannin
Medium plus alcohol
Tends towards oxidation
Notes:
Stewed strawberries, dried herbs, leather, cooked plum, spices, clay pot
Australia - Barossa
France - CNDP
Spain - Priorat
Spain - Rioja
Warm climate
Zinfandel/Primativo
Thick skin
Uneven ripening
Medium to medium plus acid
Medium tannins
High alcohol
Full body
California- dry creek valley and Lodi
Cabernet Sauvignon
Thick skinned
Late ripening
Medium plus to high tannin
Medium acid
Medium plus to high alcohol
Medium plus to full body
France - Bordeaux
California - Napa Valley
Chile - Central Valleys
Australia- Coonawarra
Notes:
Graphite, cedar, black currant, black cherry, pyrazines mint, bell pepper, sage
Syrah
Thick skinned purple grape
Medium plus tannin
Medium to medium plus acid
Medium plus to high alcohol
Medium plus to full body
Notes:
Blueberry, plum, tobacco, pepper, dried herbs, sage, eucalyptus
Australia - Barossa
France - hermitage (Rhône)
Malbec
Originally from Cahors France, famous in Argentina
Thrives in a warmer climate
Thick skinned purple grape
Medium plus tannin
Medium to medium plus acid
Medium plus to high alcohol (warm climate)
Medium plus to full body
Notes:
Bold fruit, smooth chocolatey finish, blackberry, sweet tobacco, cocoa, sugared plum, baking spices (oak)
France - Cahors
Argentina - Mendoza
Tempranillo
Early ripening “temprano”
More purple and inky when grown in warmer climates
Often sees new oak
Clones - Iberian peninsula
Medium plus tannin
Medium to medium plus acid
Alcohol high (warm climate)
Full body (high alcohol)
Notes:
Cherry, dried fig, cedar, tobacco, dill, roasted tomato, Parmesan cheese
Spain - rioja and Ribera del duero
Sauvignon Blanc
High aromatic intensity
Pyrazines: bell pepper, grass, mint, peas
Thiols: gooseberry, grapefruit, passionfruit, blackcurrant
High acid,
Medium to medium plus alcohol
Light to medium body
Bordeaux blended with semillion and oaked
NZ lean and crisp
Chenin Blanc
Dry to sweet styles
Can show botrytis
Vouvray, loire valley, Anjou and Touraine
Acid high
Medium minus to high
Light to full
Notes:
Quince, yellow apple, pear, honey
Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio
Pinot Gris references Alsatian style fruited and more floral. May show botrytis
Pinot Grigio lighter, crisp, citrus, mineral driven style northern Italy. Shows less contact
Dry to sweet
Medium to medium plus
Acid, alcohol and body
