Waters & Wine

Less celebrated grape varieties deserve their time in the spotlight

It’s easy to draw parallels between the purchasing decision of buyers at the LCBO and radio-station programmers. The desire for both is to focus on the material with the greatest commercial appeal.

As the radio station cliché goes, the hits just keep on coming. New and classic singles from popular performers get airplay. Lesser known album tracks don’t.

In the world of wine, popular wine regions are often typecast as the producer of their single, most successful styles. Marlborough, New Zealand, delivers Sauvignon Blanc and, to a lesser degree, Pinot Noir. Mendoza, Argentina, means Malbec.

The Napa Valley is Cabernet Sauvignon, with some Sauvignon Blanc and, maybe, Merlot thrown in.

That’s not to say, those regions don’t produce other grape varieties. They do, which is a source of frustration for wineries wishing to sell the diversity of their range and alienating for consumers looking to embrace that variety.

It is also perilous should consumer taste change. Consider scenario of Australian Shiraz.

In the 1990s, Shiraz was the wine world’s grape. But that position was usurped by Malbec from Mendoza, and the Australian industry is still trying to regain its footing in Canada and the United States.

At the height of the Shiraz fad, one of its bestselling brands took out ads proclaiming how much wine they exported each day. Instead of telling a story or making a virtue of their ripe and juicy flavour profile, Yellow Tail boasted how much volume they made.

The braggadocio that helped Elvis Presley sell records in the 1950s — 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong was the title of one of the King’s greatest hits collections — didn’t work the same magic for cut-rate, generic wine.

This week’s recommended wines are great examples of less celebrated grape varieties coming from regions with a commercial superstar. They’re a reminder that there’s more to Marlborough and Casablanca Valley than meets the eye on liquor store shelves.