EXPAND YOUR RED-PERTOIRE
Stuck in a wine rut? Try these new varietals and fast-track your way to becoming a wine expert
Aussie consumers are reasonably patriotic when it comes to wine. After all, more than 80 per cent of wine sold in Australia is from Australian wine producers. However, wine imports from international competitors are certainly on the rise. And the rise in popularity of the obscure and not-so-well known grape varietal shows this is what people want. Australian producers are getting ahead of this curve by producing some of these emerging varietals right here.
There are literally hundreds of Italian wine varieties alone that we’ve never even heard of, while it may be challenging pronouncing some of these varietals don’t let that put you off.
• NERO DAVOLA From Sicily, this is dark in colour and weighty. Try it if you like shiraz.
• SANGIOVESE The most widespread grape in
Tuscany. Medium-bodied and dry, with black cherry notes. Try if you like pinot noir.
• GRENACHE One of Spain’s most popular red wines. Light and fruit-forward, similar to syrah.
• MALBEC Inky dark in colour and with blackberry notes, this Argentinian grape is one of their biggest exports.
• GAMAY/BEAUJOLAIS Grown in Beaujolais (next to Burgundy) in France, this is a light- bodied wine, very similar to pinot noir.
• ZINFANDEL Despite being well known as a big, bold red from California, this varietal came to America in the mid-1800s from Croatia. Try if you like cabernet sauvignon.
• PINOTAGE South Africa’s most popular varietal. Not to be confused with pinot noir, pinotage is more shiraz-like.