varietals

Gewürztraminer [ɡəˈvʏɐtstʁaˈmiːnɐ] is an aromatic wine grape variety that performs best in cooler climates. It is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz, and in French it is written Gewurztraminer (without the umlaut). Gewürztraminer is a variety with a pink to red skin colour, which makes it a "white wine grape" as opposed to the blue to black-skinned varieties commonly referred to as "red wine grapes". The variety has high natural sugar and the wines are white and usually off-dry, with a flamboyant bouquet of lychees. Indeed, Gewürztraminer and lychees share the same aroma compounds.

In Australia

Australian Gewürztraminer is more notable for its occasional use of old names like Traminer Musqué and Gentil Rose Aromatique than the actual quality of the wines. However those from the country's coolest regions can be fine examples. These include Gewürztraminers from the Adelaide Hills,

Marsanne is a white wine grape, most commonly found in the Northern Rhône region. It is often blended with Roussanne. In Savoie the grape is known as grosse roussette. Outside France it is also grown in Switzerland (where it is known as ermitage blanc or just ermitage), Spain (where it is known as Marsana), Australia and the United States.

In Australia

In Australia, the grape was first planted in Victoria in the 1860s. The Victorian vineyard of Tahbilk has Marsanne vines which date back to 1927 and are some of the oldest in the world.

Mourvèdre, Mataró, or Monastrell is variety of wine grape used to make both strong, dark red wines and rosés. It is an international variety grown in many regions around the world.

In Australia

There are around 12 square kilometres of Mourvèdre in Australia, with the most significant plantings in South Australia and New South Wales. It is usually found in Rhone-style GSM blends of Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvèdre. It has also found its way into Australian fortified wines.

Characteristics

Mourvèdre produces tannic wines that can be high in alcohol, and is most successful in Rhone-style blends. It has a particular affinity for Grenache, softening it and giving it structure. Its taste varies greatly according to area, but often has a wild, gamey or earthy flavour, with soft red fruit flavours.

The muscat variety of grapes of the species Vitis vinifera is widely grown for wine, raisins and table grapes. Their color ranges from white to near black. Muscat almost always has a pronounced sweet floral aroma.

History

Muscat grapes are grown around the world, and the breadth and number of varieties of muscat suggest that it is perhaps the oldest domesticated grape variety. There are theories that most families within the Vitis vinifera grape variety are descended from the Muscat variety. Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have analyzed pots from King Midas's burial mound and determined that Muscat grapes were a key component of the alcoholic beverage served at his funeral feast. Liquid gold indeed!

In Australia

In Australia, where it is known as Tokay, the grape is used to make an increasingly popular fortified wine, sometimes known as Liqueur Tokay. Those made in the Rutherglen region generally receive considerable aging in hot cellars,

Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen, it is added in small amounts to add tannin, colour and flavour to the blend. It has attracted attention among winemakers in the New World, where it ripens more reliably and has been made into single varietal wine. It is also useful in 'stiffening' the mid palate of Cabernet Sauvignon blends. When young its aromas have been likened to banana and pencil shavings. Strong tones of violet and leather develop as it matures.

History

Verdot was included in James Busby's collection of 1832, and it was trialled by Sir William Macarthur in the 1840s. In 2000 there was 1600 hectares in Australia with Kingston Estate in South Australia having the largest planting, four times more than in France.

Characteristics

It is increasingly being used

Pinot Gris is a white wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir grape, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name ("gris" meaning "grey" in French) but the grape can have a brownish pink to black and even white appearance. The word "Pinot", which means "pinecone" in French, could have been given to it because the grapes grow in small pinecone-shaped clusters.

The wines produced from this grape also vary in colour from a deep golden yellow to copper and even a light shade of pink, and it is one of the more popular grapes for orange wine.

The clone of Pinot Gris grown in Italy is known as Pinot Grigio.

In Australia

Pinot Gris was first introduced into Australia in 1832 in the collection of grapes brought by James Busby. In Victoria, wines from the grape are labeled both Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio,

Pinot noir (French pronunciation: [pinoˈnwaʁ]) is a red wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French words for "pine" and "black" alluding to the varietals' tightly clustered dark purple pine cone-shaped bunches of fruit.

Pinot noir grapes are grown around the world, mostly in the cooler regions, but the grape is chiefly associated with the Burgundy region of France. It is widely considered to produce some of the finest wines in the world, but is a difficult variety to cultivate and transform into wine.

Despite this, Pinot wines are among the most popular in the world. Joel Fleischman of Vanity Fair describes Pinot noir as "the most romantic of wines, with so voluptuous a perfume, so sweet an

Sangiovese (san-jo-veh-zeh) is a red Italian wine grape variety whose name derives from the Latin sanguis Jovis, "the blood of Jove". Known throughout most of central Italy, outside Italy it is most famous as the main component of the blend Chianti, Carmignano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Morellino di Scansano, although it can also be used to make varietal wines such as Brunello di Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino or Sangiovese di Romagna, as well as modern "Super Tuscan" wines like Tignanello. Young Sangiovese has fresh fruity flavours of strawberry and a little spiciness, but it readily takes on oaky, even tarry, flavors when aged in barrels.

In Australia

Sangiovese is becoming increasingly popular as a red wine grape here in Australia, having been introduced by the CSIRO in the late 1960s. This is part of a growing trend in Australia to use a wider range of grape varieties for winemaking. As in California, Australian winemakers have begun seeking out the best vineyard

Sémillon is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, most notably in France and here in Australia. The history of the Sémillon grape is hard to determine. It is known that it first arrived in Australia in the early 19th century and by the 1820s the grape covered over 90 percent of South Africa's vineyards, where it was known as Wyndruif, meaning "wine grape".

In Australia

Sémillon is widely grown in Australia, particularly in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney, where for a long time it was known as "Hunter River Riesling". Four styles of Sémillon-based wines made there: a commercial style, often blended with Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc; a sweet style, after that of Sauternes; a complex, minerally, early picked style which has great longevity; and an equally high quality,dry style, which can be released soon after vintage, as a vat or bottle aged example. (Hunter Valley Semillon is never matured in oak.) The latter two