Grapes — Red or White

Popular grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon is the world's most widely recognized red grape, prized for producing deeply colored, full-bodied wines with firm tannins — the dry, gripping sensation you feel on your gums and tongue after a sip. Its flavor shifts dramatically with climate, from green pepper and blackcurrant in cooler regions to ripe black cherry and jammy fruit in warmer ones. Thick skins and high tannin give it excellent aging potential, often softening into notes of cedar and tobacco after years in the bottle.

Red wineBordeaux

Chardonnay is one of the world's most widely planted white grapes, prized for how dramatically it can change character depending on climate and winemaking. In cool regions like Chablis it stays lean and green-apple crisp; in warmer regions or with oak aging and malolactic fermentation — a winemaking process that softens acidity and adds a buttery, creamy texture — it becomes rich and tropical. On its own the grape is fairly neutral, which is exactly why it takes on the fingerprint of wherever it's grown.

White wineBakhmut

Merlot is a soft, approachable red grape known for its plush texture and gentler tannins than its frequent blending partner, Cabernet Sauvignon. It ripens earlier and produces wines with juicy plum, black cherry, and cassis flavors, ranging from lush and velvety in warm climates to leaner and more herbal in cooler ones like Bordeaux. Its friendly character has made it one of the most popular red wines by the glass worldwide.

Red wineBordeaux

Pinot Noir is a thin-skinned, notoriously finicky red grape that produces light, elegant wines with bright red fruit flavors and silky, low tannins. It's highly sensitive to where it's grown, picking up subtle differences in soil and climate more than almost any other grape. Young Pinot Noir tastes of cherry and raspberry, while aged examples develop earthy, mushroom-like complexity.

Riesling is a highly aromatic white grape capable of more sweetness styles than almost any other — from bone-dry to lusciously sweet dessert wines — while always keeping a backbone of high, mouth-watering acidity. Young Riesling smells of green apple, lime, and white flowers; with age it can develop a distinctive smoky, honeyed character and even a whiff of petrol, a classic and prized trait rather than a flaw. Because it's rarely oaked, the grape's natural character and the personality of its vineyard site come through clearly.

White wineAlsace

Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, aromatic white grape known for its zingy acidity and vivid, unmistakable aromas — think fresh-cut grass, gooseberry, and grapefruit in cooler regions, riper passion fruit and tropical notes in warmer ones. It's almost always made bone dry and unoaked, which lets those punchy aromatics shine through. It's also a key blending partner in the sweet dessert wines of Sauternes.

White wineBordeaux

All grapes

Agiorgitiko (also called Saint George) is the most widely planted red grape in Greece, centered on the Nemea region of the Peloponnese, and it's remarkably versatile — the same grape can make everything from pale, fruity rosé to soft, easy-drinking reds to big, tannic, oak-aged bottlings meant for aging. It's known for deep color, plush plum and red-fruit flavors, and a naturally low acidity that winemakers have to manage carefully. Its texture and approachability have earned it comparisons to a Greek Merlot.

Nicknamed the "Barolo of the South," Aglianico is southern Italy's most structured red grape, producing deep garnet wines with firm, gripping tannins and high acidity that demand a few years in the bottle to soften. With age, the tannins integrate and the wine opens up to reveal plum, dark cherry, and even chocolate-like richness — the backbone of Campania's Taurasi and Basilicata's Aglianico del Vulture.

Red wineCampania

Airén is a hardy, drought-resistant white grape from central Spain's La Mancha region, historically the most-planted grape variety on earth by sheer acreage thanks to its use in everyday table wine and Spanish brandy. On its own it tends to make light, low-acid, fairly neutral wine, though modern cold-fermentation techniques have coaxed more fruit character out of it than older methods ever did.

White wineSpain

Albariño is a light, high-acid white grape from Galicia in northwest Spain, also grown just across the border in Portugal, where it's called Alvarinho. Its thick skins help it survive the damp, Atlantic-influenced climate, and the wines it produces are lean and zesty, with citrus and stone-fruit aromas and often a faint saline, sea-breeze quality. It's almost always made dry and unoaked, meant to be drunk young and fresh.

White wineRías Baixas

Alicante Bouschet

Alicante Bouschet is unusual among red grapes because its flesh, not just its skin, is deep red — it's what winemakers call a 'teinturier' grape, bred specifically to pump extra color into lighter blends. Wines from it are inky, full-bodied, and high in alcohol, though young versions can taste simple until some aging brings out more complexity.

Red wineAlentejo

Aligoté is Burgundy's lesser-known white grape, overshadowed by Chardonnay but valued for its zippy, high acidity and apple-and-lemon character. It's traditionally the base of the Kir cocktail, where a splash of blackcurrant liqueur softens its natural tartness.

White wineBakhmut

Arinto is a Portuguese white grape best known from Bucelas, where it makes some of the country's most age-worthy dry whites thanks to its naturally high acidity. That same zippy, lemony backbone also makes it a favorite blending grape in Vinho Verde and beyond, keeping wines feeling fresh and precise.

White wineVinho Verde

Assyrtiko is a Greek white grape from the volcanic island of Santorini, famous for holding onto piercing acidity even when fully ripe — a rare trick that gives its wines a bracing, saline freshness. Expect citrus flavors and a flinty, mineral edge, often with a briny, seaside quality reflecting the vine's volcanic soil. It ages well and is occasionally made into honeyed dessert wine too.

White wineGreece

Auxerrois is a soft, low-acid white grape closely related to Pinot Blanc, grown mainly in Alsace, Luxembourg, and Belgium's small cool-climate wine regions, where it's often the most widely planted variety despite rarely appearing on a label by name. It makes round, gently floral wines that are softer and less overtly aromatic than most Alsace whites, and it's frequently blended into a cuvée rather than bottled on its own.

White wineBelgium

Baga is a thick-skinned red grape from Portugal's Bairrada region, known for producing some of the country's most structured, age-worthy wines. It combines high tannin — the mouth-drying grip common in deeply colored reds — with notably high acidity, which historically made young Baga wines quite austere until winemakers adopted gentler extraction techniques. With time in the bottle it softens into a savory, earthy red with cherry and plum fruit.

Red wineBairrada

Barbera is Piedmont's food-friendly workhorse red: deep ruby in color, with unusually low tannin — the drying grip from grape skins — paired with high, mouthwatering acidity. That combination makes it feel medium-to-full in body but never heavy, with bright cherry and blackberry fruit that can take on plum and spice notes when aged in oak.

Red winePiedmont

Blaufränkisch is Central Europe's flagship dark-skinned red grape, grown mainly in Austria and Hungary (where it's called Kékfrankos). It makes structured, dry reds with dark cherry and blackberry fruit, a peppery spiciness, and tannins — the gripping, drying sensation on your gums — that range from moderate to firm depending on how the wine is made. Unoaked versions are brighter and more food-friendly; barrel-aged versions are richer and built to age.

Red wineBurgenland

Bobal is a thick-skinned Spanish red grape from the Utiel-Requena region near Valencia, valued for its deep color, high acidity, and firm tannins — the drying, gripping sensation on your tongue. It was historically used for cheap bulk wine, but a new generation of producers is now coaxing more serious, age-worthy reds from old, low-yielding vines.

As commonly labeled, Bonarda refers to Argentina's second most-planted red grape, genetically the same variety as Douce Noir in France and Charbono in California (the Italian grapes that also share the Bonarda name, like Croatina, are unrelated). It's a medium-to-full-bodied, deep-colored wine with firm tannins and dark plummy fruit, historically overshadowed by Malbec but prized by enthusiasts for its rustic, food-friendly character.

Red wineArgentina

Cabernet Franc is the softer, more aromatic parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, giving lighter-colored wines with gentler tannins — the mouth-drying grip from grape skins — and a smoother feel. It's known for a distinctive savory, herbal edge (think green bell pepper or leafy tobacco) layered over raspberry and violet fruit, and can be bottled on its own (especially in France's Loire Valley) or blended into Bordeaux-style reds.

Red wineLoire Valley

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon is the world's most widely recognized red grape, prized for producing deeply colored, full-bodied wines with firm tannins — the dry, gripping sensation you feel on your gums and tongue after a sip. Its flavor shifts dramatically with climate, from green pepper and blackcurrant in cooler regions to ripe black cherry and jammy fruit in warmer ones. Thick skins and high tannin give it excellent aging potential, often softening into notes of cedar and tobacco after years in the bottle.

Red wineBordeaux

Carignan is a hardy, high-yielding Mediterranean red grape, also known as Mazuelo or Cariñena in Spain, that was historically planted for bulk production but is now prized for old-vine bottlings, especially in France's Languedoc and Spain's Priorat. It naturally produces wines with high acidity and firm, sometimes astringent tannins, which is why it's traditionally softened by blending with Grenache or Syrah. Old, low-yielding vines can produce concentrated, rustic reds with dark fruit and peppery, herbal character.

Red winePriorat

Carmenère is a deep-colored red grape originally from Bordeaux that nearly vanished after the phylloxera louse devastated European vineyards in the 1800s — for over a century it was mistaken for Merlot in Chile's vineyards until DNA testing revealed the truth in 1994. It needs a long, warm growing season to fully ripen, and when it does, it produces medium-bodied wines with gentler tannins (the drying, gripping sensation on your gums and tongue) than its Cabernet relatives, along with red fruit and a signature herbal, spicy streak. Today it's regarded as Chile's signature grape.

Catarratto is Sicily's most widely planted white grape, historically used as a bulk and blending variety (and in Marsala) but capable of full-bodied, lemony varietal wines in the right hands. It comes in a few near-identical clones that differ mainly in how much waxy "bloom" coats the grape skin.

Cesanese is a light, soft red grape grown almost exclusively around Lazio, the region surrounding Rome. Historically it was often made sweet and fizzy (frizzante or spumante styles), but today most producers make it as a dry, easy-drinking still red best enjoyed young. It carries a slightly bitter edge that's part of its rustic charm.

Chardonnay is one of the world's most widely planted white grapes, prized for how dramatically it can change character depending on climate and winemaking. In cool regions like Chablis it stays lean and green-apple crisp; in warmer regions or with oak aging and malolactic fermentation — a winemaking process that softens acidity and adds a buttery, creamy texture — it becomes rich and tropical. On its own the grape is fairly neutral, which is exactly why it takes on the fingerprint of wherever it's grown.

White wineBakhmut

Chasselas is Switzerland's signature white grape, best known bottled as Fendant or Perlan. It's a gentle, subtly flavored grape whose main job is to transmit the character of the vineyard rather than shout its own fruit, which is why Swiss producers treat it as a mirror of local terroir.

White wineAlsace

Chenin Blanc is an exceptionally versatile white grape from France's Loire Valley, capable of producing everything from bone-dry and sparkling wines to some of the world's great botrytized dessert wines (made using a beneficial mold that concentrates sugar and flavor in the grape). Its naturally high acidity keeps every style balanced, whether the wine is fully dry or intensely sweet. On its own the grape is fairly neutral, so it tends to reflect its vineyard site and the winemaker's choices, showing flavors from green apple and quince to honey and tropical fruit.

White wineIndia

Cinsaut (also spelled Cinsault) is a heat-tolerant, drought-resistant dark grape grown widely across southern France, North Africa, and South Africa, where it was historically known as "Hermitage" and is one of the two parents of Pinotage. It makes light-bodied, fruity wines with soft tannins — the gripping sensation on your gums that this grape has very little of — and is prized both as a light red on its own and as a blending partner that adds freshness and juicy red-berry character.

Red wineCalifornia

Colombard is a crisp, high-acid French white grape historically prized as the backbone of Cognac and Armagnac brandy production. Today it's more often bottled as an easy-drinking varietal wine in southwest France, California, and South Africa, valued for refreshing guava and citrus flavors.

White wineCalifornia

Cortese is a Piedmontese white grape best known as the sole variety behind Gavi, a lean, lemony wine popular in nearby Genoa as a seafood pairing. It's typically light and crisp, with lime and green-plum notes, and can turn sharply acidic in cooler vintages. Most Cortese is made in a fresh, unoaked style, though richer barrel-fermented versions exist.

White winePiedmont

Corvina is the backbone grape of Verona's wines, prized for its thick skin, low tannin, and naturally high, tart acidity. Blended fresh it makes the light, cherry-scented everyday reds Valpolicella and Bardolino, but when the grapes are dried before pressing it transforms into the intense, dry Amarone or the lusciously sweet dessert wine Recioto della Valpolicella.

Red wineAmarone della Valpolicella

Counoise is a peppery, high-acid red grape from southern France, best known as one of the traditional thirteen blending grapes of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It has little color or tannin — the gripping sensation on your gums that bolder reds have plenty of — on its own, but its bright acidity and peppery spice make it a valuable seasoning grape in Rhône-style blends alongside Grenache and Mourvèdre.

Red wineCentral Coast

Despite a name meaning "little sweet one," Dolcetto makes an almost always dry, light, easy-drinking red — Piedmont's everyday wine, meant to be enjoyed young rather than cellared. It has lower acidity than its Piedmontese neighbors Barbera and Nebbiolo, with dark cherry and licorice fruit that finishes with a characteristic touch of bitter almond.

Red winePiedmont

Dornfelder is a modern German red grape, bred in 1955 to give German winemakers a deeply colored, structured red in a cool climate that usually favors delicate wines like Pinot Noir. It has thicker skins than most German reds, giving it medium-to-high tannin — the dry, gripping sensation on your gums — and a soft, velvety mouthfeel, with juicy dark-berry and cherry flavors. Most Dornfelder is made dry, though a lighter, fruitier style also exists.

Red wineCalifornia

Encruzado is considered Portugal's finest white grape, grown almost exclusively in the granite hills of the Dao region. It combines riper, fuller texture than most Portuguese whites with a backbone of fresh acidity, which is why it's the grape winemakers reach for when they want a white wine serious enough to age, sometimes with a touch of oak.

Falanghina is an ancient white grape from Campania in southern Italy, thought to be one of the varieties behind the famed Roman-era Falernian wine. It makes fresh, crisp whites with citrus and floral character that are a classic match for the region's seafood-heavy cuisine.

White wineAbruzzo

Fetească Neagră

Fetească Neagră, meaning 'black maiden grape,' is Romania's signature dark-skinned variety, prized for its deep ruby color and blackcurrant flavor that grows richer and smoother with age. It was once mainly used to add body and color to blends with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, but today it's more often bottled on its own as a full-flavored varietal red.

Red wineMoldovan wine

Fiano is an ancient white grape from Campania in southern Italy, best known through Fiano di Avellino, a wine that starts out floral and honeyed in youth and develops nutty, spicy complexity with age. Thick-skinned and low-yielding, the grape gives wines real weight and texture on the palate compared to many lighter Italian whites. It's considered one of Italy's most age-worthy white varieties.

White wineCampania

Frappato is a Sicilian red grape (a crossing of Sangiovese with a still-unidentified variety) best known as the softer, more perfumed partner to Nero d'Avola in Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Sicily's only DOCG wine. On its own it makes pale, light-bodied reds with almost no tannin — the gripping sensation on your gums that heavier reds have plenty of — and a distinctive grapey, floral aroma. It's typically served lightly chilled, more like a fuller rosé than a classic red.

Furmint is Hungary's signature white grape, best known as the backbone of Tokaji, the country's legendary sweet dessert wine made from botrytis-affected ("noble rot") grapes. Its naturally piercing acidity means it can also be made completely dry, giving structured, age-worthy whites with smoke, pear, and lime character.

White wineHungary

Gaglioppo is the backbone of Cirò, the signature red wine of Calabria in Italy's deep south. DNA studies point to Sangiovese as one of its parents. It's full-bodied, high in alcohol, and firmly tannic, needing real time in the bottle to soften into something smooth and complex.

Gamay is the light, juicy grape behind Beaujolais, made famous by the youthful, gulpable style of Beaujolais Nouveau. It has naturally high acidity and very little tannin — the gripping sensation from grape skins — which is why it's often best served with a slight chill, though top Cru Beaujolais sites (like Morgon and Moulin-à-Vent) coax out more depth, spice, and aging potential.

Red wineBeaujolais

Garganega is the main grape behind Soave, Italy's well-known Veneto white, typically producing light, dry wine with lemon and almond notes when yields are kept in check. The same grape's naturally high acidity also makes it ideal for Recioto di Soave, a lusciously sweet wine made from dried grapes. Yields matter a lot here — overcropped vines give thin, neutral wine, while careful farming brings out real character.

White wineSoave

Gewürztraminer

Gewürztraminer is one of the most instantly recognizable white grapes, thanks to its pink-tinged skin and an intensely perfumed bouquet often compared to lychee, rose petals, and spice, hence the name, German for spiced Traminer. It tends to run low in acidity and finishes anywhere from off-dry to lusciously sweet, giving it a bigger, richer presence on the palate than most whites.

Pink/gris wineAlsace

Glera is the white grape behind Prosecco, grown mainly around Conegliano and Valdobbiadene in Italy's Veneto region. It's a fairly neutral variety on its own, but shines when made into light, fruity sparkling wine with delicate green apple and blossom aromas.

White wineProsecco

Godello is a white grape from Galicia in northwestern Spain that makes rich, textured wines often likened to white Burgundy for their waxy mouthfeel and balance of fruit and minerality. Once nearly extinct, it has been revived over the last few decades and is now considered one of Spain's most exciting quality whites. It shares its genetic identity with Portugal's Gouveio grape just across the border.

Graciano is a low-yielding Spanish red grape best known as the seasoning in Rioja blends — even a small splash brings deep color, bright acidity, and structure that helps wines age gracefully for decades. It thrives in warm, dry climates and is harvested late, giving wines a notably aromatic, almost floral lift alongside dark fruit.

Red wineSanta Barbara County

Grechetto is an Italian white grape grown mainly in Umbria, where it forms the backbone of blends like Orvieto, adding herbal, nutty richness and structure to otherwise light wines. Its thick skins let growers leave it on the vine longer to build up sugar, which occasionally goes into sweeter, dessert-style wines. On its own it makes a simple, food-friendly dry white.

White wineUmbria

Greco is a white grape of ancient Greek origin grown mainly in Campania, southern Italy, where it makes the textured, mineral-driven wine Greco di Tufo. Its wines tend to have real body and structure for a white, with orchard-fruit flavors and herbal, green notes that gain depth with age. A separate, more rustic sweet dessert wine called Greco di Bianco is also made in Calabria from partially dried grapes.

White wineCampania

Grenache is a thin-skinned red grape that thrives in hot, dry climates and produces sweet-fruited, full-bodied wines that are naturally low in tannin and acidity. Because it's prone to oxidation and pale color, it's most often blended with sturdier grapes like Syrah and Mourvèdre (the classic 'GSM' blend), though it also makes excellent rosé and sweet fortified wines. Expect ripe raspberry and strawberry fruit with a peppery, spicy edge.

Red wineChâteauneuf-du-Pape

Grenache Gris is a grey-pink-skinned color mutation of Grenache noir, grown mostly in Roussillon in southern France. On its own it makes textured, fairly full-bodied white wines, and it's also blended alongside its red and white Grenache siblings into the sweet fortified vins doux naturels of Banyuls and Rivesaltes.

Grillo is a Sicilian white grape that thrives in intense heat, historically prized as a backbone of fortified Marsala wine. In recent decades it's been reborn as a still varietal white, giving richer, higher-alcohol wines with citrus and herbal character than many other Sicilian whites.

White wineSicily

Grüner Veltliner

Austria's signature white grape, known for bright citrus and stone-fruit flavors with a distinctive peppery, savory edge that sets it apart from fruitier whites. It's usually made bone-dry with crisp acidity, ranging from light everyday styles to age-worthy wines that gain complexity over years in the bottle. Its food-friendly character has made it a go-to choice on restaurant wine lists.

White wineAustria

Inzolia (called Ansonica in Tuscany) is a Sicilian white grape known for a soft, nutty character and relatively gentle acidity compared to other island whites. It's traditionally one of the base grapes for Marsala and also makes easy-drinking still white wine, often blended with Catarratto or Grillo.

White wineSicily

Kadarka is a historic Hungarian red grape once the backbone of Egri Bikavér ('Bull's Blood'), prized for its peppery spice and bright acidity. It fell out of favor in the 20th century because its thin skin makes it prone to rot and low yields, but a handful of producers keep it alive for its distinctively elegant, food-friendly style.

Kerner is a German white grape created in 1929 by crossing the red Trollinger grape with Riesling, inheriting much of Riesling's aromatic, floral character but with softer acidity and a fuller texture. It typically shows a pronounced grapey, Muscat-like bouquet alongside bright fruit flavors. It's grown widely across Germany's wine regions as an easier-ripening, food-friendly alternative to Riesling.

White wineMosel

Kotsifali is a Cretan red grape that ripens to high sugar levels, giving wines with real alcohol warmth but naturally soft tannins and gentle acidity. Because it's light in color and structure on its own, it's almost always blended with the deeper-colored, higher-acid Mandilaria grape to produce a more balanced wine.

Lagrein is the dark-skinned specialty of South Tyrol in the Italian Alps, a close relative of Teroldego. It makes full-bodied but not heavy wines that are highly tannic — tannin being the dry, gripping feeling on your tongue — with high acidity, deep color, and a plummy, earthy character underpinned by a distinct minerally edge. A paler, chillable rosé style called Lagrein Kretzer is also widely made from the same grape.

Loureiro takes its name from the Portuguese word for laurel, a nod to its intensely floral, perfumed character. It's one of the star grapes of the Vinho Verde region on the Portugal-Spain border, producing light-bodied, low-alcohol white wines with brisk acidity that historically went into blends but are now increasingly bottled on their own.

White wineVinho Verde

Macabeo (also called Viura) is Spain's workhorse white grape, dominant in Rioja and Catalonia. It makes light, mildly tart wines meant for early drinking, and is one of the three grapes — along with Xarel·lo and Parellada — that blend together to make Cava, Spain's traditional-method sparkling wine.

White winePenedès

Malbec is a thick-skinned black grape prized for its inky, opaque color and plush dark-fruit character. Its French homeland of Cahors produces a rustic, notably tannic style — tannins are the drying, gripping sensation from grape skins — while Argentina's high-altitude vineyards coax out a smoother, velvety-textured version with ripe blackberry and violet notes that made the grape world-famous.

Red wineArgentina

Malvasia Bianca

Malvasia Bianca is a member of the ancient, widespread Malvasia family of Mediterranean grapes, prized for its heady floral aromas and soft, round texture. It's made in styles ranging from dry table wine to lusciously sweet dessert and fortified wines, often carrying a touch of natural residual sugar even in "dry" bottlings.

White wineSanta Barbara County

Marsanne is a white grape from France's northern Rhône Valley that makes rich, full-bodied wines with a nutty, honeyed texture. Young Marsanne shows white peach and pear, developing deeper spice and quince notes as it ages; it's often blended with the more aromatic Roussanne to add lift.

White wineCalifornia

Mavrodaphne is a Greek red grape used almost exclusively for a rich, fortified dessert wine — fortification means extra grape spirit is added during fermentation, which stops the yeast and locks in natural sweetness. The result is a dark, syrupy wine in the style of tawny Port, with deep notes of dried fruit and chocolate that build as it ages in barrel.

Mavrud is a rare, late-ripening red grape native to Bulgaria's Thracian lowlands, prized for its small berries, low yields, and ability to produce dense, tannic wines with real aging potential. It typically shows a spicy, dark-berried character, and some ampelographers speculate it may be an ancient relative of the French grape Mourvèdre, though this link is unconfirmed. Outside Bulgaria it remains little known, but within the country it's considered one of the great native reds.

Red wineBulgarian wine

Melon de Bourgogne

Melon de Bourgogne is a neutral French white grape best known as the sole grape behind Muscadet, a light, bone-dry wine from the mouth of the Loire River. Winemakers there often age it "sur lie" — resting the finished wine on its spent yeast cells — which adds a subtle creamy texture to its naturally crisp, saline character. It's rarely seen as a standalone varietal outside this small corner of France.

White wineLoire Valley

Mencía is a fragrant, dark-skinned Spanish grape grown mainly in Bierzo and Ribeira Sacra in the northwest, often compared to a lighter, earthier cousin of Cabernet Franc or Pinot Noir. Old vines grown on steep, slate-rich hillsides produce elegant, structured wines, though the grape can turn out thin and diluted when overcropped on flatter, fertile land.

Red wineSanta Barbara County

Merlot is a soft, approachable red grape known for its plush texture and gentler tannins than its frequent blending partner, Cabernet Sauvignon. It ripens earlier and produces wines with juicy plum, black cherry, and cassis flavors, ranging from lush and velvety in warm climates to leaner and more herbal in cooler ones like Bordeaux. Its friendly character has made it one of the most popular red wines by the glass worldwide.

Red wineBordeaux

Montepulciano (not to be confused with the Tuscan hill town of the same name, or the Sangiovese-based wine made there) is a thick-skinned central and southern Italian red grape that produces deeply colored, plummy, full-bodied wines. Its tannins — the drying grip from grape skins — are notably softer and riper than those of most other Italian reds, making it approachable and food-friendly.

Red wineAbruzzo

Moscato Rosa is a rare, intensely perfumed member of the Muscat family, named for its pink-to-copper colored skin. Grown mostly in Italy's Trentino-Alto Adige region, its naturally sweet grapes are fermented with their skins on, like a red wine — a process called maceration — giving the finished wine a striking ruby color despite being a dessert wine rather than a table red. Yields are low and the vine is finicky to grow, so bottles are treated as rare, special-occasion treats.

Pink/gris wineFriuli-Venezia Giulia

Moschofilero is a Greek grape with striking pink-grey skin that's usually pressed gently to make pale, delicate white wine, though rosé and sparkling versions exist too. It's highly aromatic, with a perfumed rose-petal and spice character similar to Muscat, balanced by refreshing acidity. It's grown mainly in the cool, mountainous Mantineia region of the Peloponnese.

Pink/gris wineGreece

Mourvèdre is a thick-skinned Mediterranean red grape — also known as Monastrell in Spain and Mataro in the US and Australia — that needs plenty of heat and sunshine to ripen fully. It produces deeply colored, full-bodied wines with high tannins and often high alcohol, along with earthy, gamey, and blackberry flavors that mellow into leather and spice notes with age. It's a key blending partner in Rhône-style GSM (Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre) blends and forms the backbone of France's Bandol region.

Red wineJumilla

Müller-Thurgau

Müller-Thurgau is a mild, low-acid German white grape created by crossing Riesling with another variety, bred to ripen earlier and more reliably than its famous parent. It makes soft, fruity wines meant to be drunk young, and was historically the workhorse grape behind cheap, slightly sweet blends like Liebfraumilch. Modern versions, sometimes labeled Rivaner, are usually made dry and simple.

White wineBaden

Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains

Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains is considered the finest of the many Muscat grape varieties, prized for its intensely perfumed aroma of orange blossom, peach, and grapes themselves — most white grapes don't actually smell much like grapes, but Muscat genuinely does. It's most famous for sweet and fortified wines (fortified means extra grape spirit is added to boost the alcohol and stop fermentation, preserving natural sweetness), though a handful of regions like the Greek island of Samos also make it dry. Yields tend to be low, and the vine needs a long growing season to ripen fully.

Nebbiolo is the noble grape behind Barolo and Barbaresco, Italy's most prestigious age-worthy reds. Despite producing pale, brick-colored wines, it's deceptively powerful, with some of the highest tannin and acidity levels of any red grape, requiring years of bottle aging to soften. Its signature aroma profile — often described as 'tar and roses' — combines dried cherry, violet, and earthy, savory notes.

Red wineBarbaresco

Negroamaro is the deeply colored, rustic red grape of Puglia in southern Italy's hot, sun-baked heel. Its name roughly translates to "black and bitter," a nod to the earthy, faintly bitter edge that runs alongside its dark fruit character. It's traditionally blended (notably with Malvasia Nera) but also bottled solo as a medium-to-full-bodied red, and increasingly turned into fresh, fruity rosato.

Nerello Mascalese

Nerello Mascalese is the pale, high-acid red grape grown on the volcanic slopes of Sicily's Mount Etna, where old, ungrafted vines are still common. Its light colour and firm structure have drawn constant comparisons to Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo, though its flavour leans more toward red cherry, dried herbs, and a distinct smoky, mineral edge from the volcanic soil it grows in. It rarely reaches the deep colour or heavy tannin of a typical bold red, favouring acidity and elegance instead.

Nero d'Avola ("the black grape of Avola") is Sicily's flagship red, named for the sun-baked town where it originated. It makes warm, full-bodied wines with ripe, rounded tannins — the drying grip from grape skins, here softened by Sicily's heat — deep blackberry fruit, and a peppery edge that has earned it comparisons to New World Shiraz.

Palomino is a low-acid, fairly neutral white grape grown around Jerez in southern Spain, where it forms the base of nearly all sherry. On its own it makes undistinguished table wine, but its tendency to oxidize is exactly what winemakers exploit to create the tangy, savory character of fino and manzanilla sherry.

White wineSherry

Parellada is the most delicate and floral of the three grapes used to make Cava, grown at higher, cooler vineyard sites in Catalonia to keep its natural freshness and lower alcohol. On its own it makes light, crisp white wine that's easy to drink young.

White winePenedès

Pedro Ximénez (often shortened to "PX") is a Spanish white grape usually dried in the sun after harvest to concentrate its sugars, then fortified and aged in a solera system into an intensely sweet dessert sherry. The result is a thick, almost black wine tasting of raisins, figs, and molasses.

White wineJumilla

Petite Sirah (genetically known as Durif, a crossing of Syrah and Peloursin bred in France in the 1880s) makes intensely dark, inky wines despite its confusingly modest name. It's full-bodied with very high tannin, giving it a firm, gripping structure built to age for decades, alongside black pepper and blueberry notes.

Red wineCalifornia

Petit Manseng is a small, thick-skinned white grape from southwest France whose skin resists rot, letting growers leave it on the vine well into autumn to shrivel and concentrate its sugars. That's what makes it the backbone of Jurançon's famous late-harvest dessert wines, which stay remarkably fresh thanks to the grape's naturally high acidity; it also makes striking dry, aromatic whites.

White wineBordeaux

Petit Verdot is a deeply colored, thick-skinned Bordeaux red grape that ripens so late it often struggled to mature in France's cooler vintages, which is why it's traditionally used only in small amounts to add color, tannin, and backbone to Cabernet-based blends. On its own, especially in warmer regions like Australia, Spain, or California, it makes intensely dark, full-bodied wines with firm tannins and aromas of violet, blackberry, and a distinctive pencil-shavings note. It's a powerful, structured grape best suited to fans of bold reds.

Red wineCalifornia

Picpoul (Piquepoul) is a white grape from France's Languedoc coast whose name translates roughly to "lip-stinger," a nod to its mouth-puckering acidity. It's best known as Picpoul de Pinet, a zesty, seaside white so associated with shellfish that locals simply call it "the oyster wine."

White wineLanguedoc-Roussillon

Pinotage is South Africa's signature red grape, bred in 1925 by crossing Pinot Noir with Cinsaut. It's naturally high in tannins — the gripping, drying sensation on your gums — which winemakers tame with shorter maceration, and it ripens early with high sugar, giving deep-colored, full-bodied wines. Its flavor can range from smoky bramble and dark fruit to a distinctive banana or tropical-fruit note, and it also turns up in rosé, fortified, and sparkling styles.

Red wineSouth Africa

Pinot Gris is a pink-skinned mutation of Pinot Noir, and it makes strikingly different wines depending on where it's grown. In Italy, picked early as Pinot Grigio, it's light, crisp, and citrusy; in Alsace, it's richer, spicier, and almost oily in texture. Either way, the juice is pressed off the skins quickly, so the wine stays essentially tannin-free.

Pink/gris wineAlsace

Pinot Meunier is one of the three classic grapes of Champagne, alongside Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, prized for ripening reliably even in cool, damp vintages. It's a natural mutation closely related to Pinot Noir, and while it's rarely bottled on its own, standalone versions show a light body, low tannin, and soft, plush red-fruit flavors.

Red wineChampagne

Pinot Noir is a thin-skinned, notoriously finicky red grape that produces light, elegant wines with bright red fruit flavors and silky, low tannins. It's highly sensitive to where it's grown, picking up subtle differences in soil and climate more than almost any other grape. Young Pinot Noir tastes of cherry and raspberry, while aged examples develop earthy, mushroom-like complexity.

Plavac Mali is a bold, full-bodied red grape native to the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, related to Zinfandel through a shared parent grape. It ripens unevenly in the hot Adriatic sun, producing wines with high tannins — the dry, gripping sensation you feel on your gums and tongue — and high alcohol. Expect rich, dark-fruited wines with notes of dried fig and warm spice that can age for years.

Red wineCroatia

Poulsard (also spelled Ploussard) is a thin-skinned red grape from the Jura region of France. Despite being genetically a dark-skinned variety, its skins are so low in color and tannin (the gripping compounds that give red wine its structure) that the wine comes out extremely pale, sometimes almost like a rosé or even a white. What it lacks in color it makes up for in delicate floral aromatics.

Primitivo is the Italian identity of the same grape known as Zinfandel in California and Tribidrag in its native Croatia — all three are genetically identical but marketed as distinct regional specialties. Grown mainly in Puglia in Italy's south, it ripens early and accumulates high sugar, producing bold, high-alcohol red wines packed with dark berry fruit and a touch of dried fig. Primitivo di Manduria is the grape's most celebrated Italian expression.

Red wineCalifornia

Refosco is a deep violet-colored red from Friuli-Venezia Giulia in northeastern Italy (and across the border in Slovenia and Croatia, where the same grape is called Teran). It's a structured wine, with firm tannins and notably high acidity that give it real backbone, plus a slight bitter edge on the nose that softens into floral notes after several years in the bottle. Flavors run toward currants, wild berries, and plum.

Red wineFriuli-Venezia Giulia

Ribolla Gialla is a light, high-acid white grape from the Friuli region of northeastern Italy and neighboring Slovenia, where it's called Rebula. Made the conventional way it gives a crisp, floral white that turns nutty with age, but the region is equally famous for fermenting it "on the skins" for weeks — an ancient technique that produces amber, more tannic "orange wines" with far more texture than a typical white.

White wineFriuli-Venezia Giulia

Riesling is a highly aromatic white grape capable of more sweetness styles than almost any other — from bone-dry to lusciously sweet dessert wines — while always keeping a backbone of high, mouth-watering acidity. Young Riesling smells of green apple, lime, and white flowers; with age it can develop a distinctive smoky, honeyed character and even a whiff of petrol, a classic and prized trait rather than a flaw. Because it's rarely oaked, the grape's natural character and the personality of its vineyard site come through clearly.

White wineAlsace

Rkatsiteli is one of the oldest cultivated grape varieties in the world, an ancient white grape from Georgia and the Caucasus. It's prized for its natural, racy acidity, which keeps both its dry table wines and its lusciously sweet dessert wines from Kakheti feeling balanced rather than cloying, and it's also the grape most associated with Georgia's amber, skin-contact orange wines made in buried clay vessels called qvevri.

White wineGeorgia

Rondinella is a light, easy-drinking Italian red grape from Veneto that rarely takes center stage — it's almost always blended with Corvina and Molinara in Valpolicella and Amarone wines. On its own it has fairly neutral flavor, but growers love it for its high yields, disease resistance, and its knack for drying out well without rotting, which is essential to Amarone's grape-raisining process.

Roter Veltliner

Roter Veltliner ('red Veltliner') is a historic Austrian white grape named for its pinkish-red skin — but despite the similar name, it's not genetically related to the far more famous Grüner Veltliner. Once nearly forgotten, it survives today mainly around Austria's Wagram district, where loess soils help it produce full-bodied white wines with racy, mouth-watering acidity, ripe stone-fruit and citrus flavors, and a savory white-pepper spice note. Top examples can age for a decade or more, developing nutty, honeyed complexity.

Roussanne is a white grape from France's Rhône Valley, named for the russet (reddish-brown) blush its skin takes on when ripe. It's a fussy vine to grow, but rewards patience with wines that shift with climate: floral and crisp with higher acidity in cool spots, richer with honeyed pear and nutty depth in warmer ones. It's often blended with Marsanne to add lift and aromatic complexity.

White wineCalifornia

Sangiovese is Italy's most planted red grape and the backbone of Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino. It produces medium-bodied wines with high acidity — the tart, mouthwatering sensation that makes a wine feel fresh — and firm tannins, along with distinctive sour-cherry and dried-herb flavors. Its bright acidity makes it a natural partner for Italy's tomato-based cuisine.

Red wineBrunello di Montalcino

Sankt Laurent is a highly aromatic dark-skinned grape grown mostly in Austria and the Czech Republic, and DNA studies show it's an offspring of Pinot Noir. Like its famous parent, it produces medium-bodied, silky wines with fine tannins — the gripping sensation on your gums — and refreshing acidity from the cool climates it favors. It ripens early and is prone to poor fruit-set, which keeps yields (and plantings) small.

Saperavi is Georgia's most important red grape and one of the few 'teinturier' varieties, meaning its flesh, not just its skin, is red, which gives its wines an exceptionally deep, almost inky color. It's a hardy, cold-tolerant vine that produces full-bodied wines with firm tannin and notably high acidity for a red grape, making it well suited to long aging. Depending on how it's made, Saperavi ranges from bone dry to semi-sweet, as in the popular Georgian styles Mukuzani (dry) and Kindzmarauli (semi-sweet).

Red wineGeorgia

Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, aromatic white grape known for its zingy acidity and vivid, unmistakable aromas — think fresh-cut grass, gooseberry, and grapefruit in cooler regions, riper passion fruit and tropical notes in warmer ones. It's almost always made bone dry and unoaked, which lets those punchy aromatics shine through. It's also a key blending partner in the sweet dessert wines of Sauternes.

White wineBordeaux

The signature white grape of France's Jura region, best known for vin jaune — an oxidative style aged under a veil of yeast, similar to sherry, that gives it a distinctive nutty, savory character unlike any other dry white. Outside Jura it also appears as a food-friendly, high-acid still white.

Savatiano is Greece's most widely planted grape, a drought-hardy vine grown chiefly around Attica that produces light, neutral, high-yielding white wine. On its own it rarely draws much attention, but it's the traditional base for retsina, where its mild character leaves plenty of room for the added pine resin to actually come through.

Scheurebe is an aromatic German white grape, a Riesling cross bred in 1916, known for bold blackcurrant and grapefruit aromas when the grapes are picked fully ripe. It's historically most famous in sweet, botrytized dessert wines — made from grapes affected by "noble rot," a beneficial fungus that concentrates sugar and flavor — though dry versions have become increasingly common. It carries less acidity than Riesling but more overt, pungent fruit character.

Schiava is a light, pale-ruby red grape grown across South Tyrol in northern Italy, where it's traditionally the everyday sipping wine. It's low in tannin (the gripping sensation on the tongue that comes from grape skins) and body, making it feel almost as easygoing as a rosé, with a fresh strawberry character and a faint smoky, mineral note. In Germany, where the same grape is called Trollinger, versions can lean slightly off-dry.

Sémillon is a low-acid white grape that produces rich, almost oily-textured wines, ranging from understated dry whites to some of the most famous sweet wines in the world. In Bordeaux's Sauternes region it's the backbone of luscious dessert wine made from grapes affected by noble rot — a beneficial fungus that shrivels the berries and concentrates their sugar. Dry versions, especially from Australia's Hunter Valley, start out lean and citrusy but develop toasty, honeyed richness with age.

White wineBordeaux

Seyval Blanc is a French-American hybrid grape bred for cold-hardiness, now a workhorse white in England, Canada, and the northeastern United States. It produces crisp, citrusy wine with a mineral edge reminiscent of white Burgundy, and is one of the few hybrids that takes well to oak aging and malolactic fermentation (a winemaking step that softens acidity and adds a creamy texture).

White wineEnglish wine

Silvaner (also spelled Sylvaner) is a white grape most associated with Germany's Franconia region, where it's valued precisely because it doesn't shout its own flavor — it acts as a "blank canvas" that reflects the earthy character of the vineyard soil. Wines are typically dry with brisk acidity, ranging from simple everyday drinking to elegant, food-friendly bottlings at their best.

White wineBaden

Syrah (called Shiraz in Australia) is a dark-skinned grape that makes powerful, peppery red wines with substantial tannin and full body. Cooler regions like France's Rhône Valley produce elegant, floral versions with blackberry and cracked black pepper notes, while warmer regions like Australia yield richer, jammier wines with notes of licorice and smoked meat. It ages well, developing leather and earthy complexity over time.

Red wineAustralia

Tannat is a thick-skinned, deeply colored red grape famous for having some of the highest tannin levels of any wine grape — tannin being the dry, gripping sensation on your tongue that comes from grape skins and seeds. It's the backbone of Madiran in southwest France, where wines can be intensely structured and built to age, while in Uruguay (its adopted homeland) it's often coaxed into a softer, more approachable style with gentler tannins and riper fruit.

Red wineUruguayan wine

Tempranillo is Spain's signature red grape, the backbone of Rioja and Ribera del Duero. It's relatively low in acidity and tannin on its own, giving it a smooth, approachable character with flavors of plum and strawberry, though extended aging in oak barrels — traditional in Rioja — adds notes of leather, tobacco, and vanilla. Its name comes from 'temprano,' Spanish for 'early,' a nod to how early it ripens.

Red wineRibera del Duero

Teroldego is the signature red grape of Trentino in northern Italy, best known from the Teroldego Rotaliano DOC. It makes deep, purplish wines that are full-bodied but surprisingly approachable, since the tannins (the gripping, drying sensation on your tongue) are round and soft rather than harsh. Expect dark fruit and a touch of spice, with a character often compared to its cousin Lagrein, only a bit gentler.

Red wineCalifornia

Torrontés is Argentina's signature aromatic white grape, grown at high altitude in provinces like Salta and La Rioja. It produces intensely floral, peachy wines that smell almost like Muscat or Gewürztraminer, but are best drunk young since they don't age well.

White wineArgentina

Touriga Nacional

Touriga Nacional is Portugal's most celebrated red grape, historically the top-quality component in Port and increasingly used to make bold, dry table wines in the Douro and Dão regions. The vines are naturally low-yielding with tiny, thick-skinned berries, giving wines intense color, high tannin, and concentrated black fruit and violet aromas. It ages remarkably well, whether bottled as a sweet fortified Port or a dry red.

Trebbiano (known as Ugni Blanc in France) is one of the world's most widely planted white grapes, prized for its high yields and sharp, high acidity rather than deep flavor. It makes light, fresh, fairly neutral wines and is also the backbone of Cognac and Armagnac brandy, since high-acid, low-flavor base wine distills cleanly.

White wineAbruzzo

Tribidrag is the ancient Croatian name for the black-skinned grape that DNA testing proved is genetically identical to Zinfandel (California) and Primitivo (Italy) — three names for the same vine, separated by centuries of migration. Wines are robust and full-bodied, ripening to high sugar levels that push alcohol past 15%, with fruit character ranging from bright raspberry in cooler sites to jammy blackberry, anise, and black pepper in warmer ones.

Trousseau is a specialty of the Jura region in eastern France, and the same grape appears in Portugal under the name Bastardo. It produces deep cherry-red wines with notably high alcohol and bright, almost tart acidity, layered with red berry fruit and a distinctive savory, earthy edge.

Verdejo is the signature white grape of Spain's Rueda region, prized for its aromatic lift and a distinctive faint bitterness on the finish reminiscent of almonds. Modern winemaking, including cool night harvesting, has moved it away from its old oxidized, sherry-like style toward a fresh, vibrant modern white. It's often compared to Sauvignon Blanc for its herbal, grassy character.

White wineSpain

Verdicchio is a pale, high-acid white grape from Italy's Marche region, prized for the subtlety of its lemon and faintly bitter-almond flavors. That bright acidity and understated character make it an easy match for a wide range of dishes, especially seafood. Besides still wine, it's also made into sparkling (spumante) and occasional sweet "passito" styles from dried grapes.

White wineAbruzzo

Verduzzo is a white grape from Friuli in northeastern Italy, made in two very different styles from the same vine. Vinified dry it's a lighter, slightly firm white with a chalky edge, but its real fame comes from Ramandolo, a golden dessert wine made by leaving the thick-skinned grapes to concentrate on the vine, giving honeyed richness balanced by a lively streak of acidity.

White wineFriuli-Venezia Giulia

Vermentino is a coastal Mediterranean white grape grown across Sardinia, Liguria, Tuscany, and southern France, prized for its crisp acidity and refreshing citrus and herbal character. It typically makes light, unoaked wine with a subtle saline, almost sea-breeze quality that reflects its seaside vineyards. The same grape is sold under different names depending on the region, including Pigato in Liguria and Favorita in Piedmont.

White wineCorsican wine

Vidal Blanc is a hardy French-American hybrid grape bred to survive brutal winters, and it has become the signature grape of Canadian and northeastern U.S. ice wine. Its thick skin lets it hang on the vine into winter and freeze naturally, concentrating sugars into a lusciously sweet, tropical-fruited dessert wine; the same grape also makes crisp, fuller-bodied dry whites.

White wineFinger Lakes

Viognier is a lush, full-bodied white grape best known from the Condrieu region of France's Rhône Valley, prized for its heady perfume of peach, pear, and violets. Unlike many aromatic whites, it's naturally low in acidity, giving wines a soft, rounded texture closer to a light red than a typical crisp white. It's usually made dry and rarely sees much oak, letting its natural florals take center stage.

White wineRhône

Vranac, whose name evokes a 'strong black stallion,' is the most widely planted red grape in Montenegro, making deep, full-bodied wines with a firm tannic grip. Young Vranac is bright purple and full of red-berry fruit, while aged versions soften into a smoother wine with notes of dark fruit and warm spice.

Xarel·lo is one of the three traditional grapes behind Cava, Spain's sparkling wine, prized for giving the blend body, structure, and aging potential alongside the lighter Macabeo and Parellada. Increasingly it's bottled on its own as a still wine, showing waxy, herbal character and firm acidity.

White winePenedès

Xinomavro — its name literally means 'sour black' in Greek — is the signature red grape of northern Greece, especially the Naoussa region, and is often compared to Italy's Nebbiolo for its combination of high tannin and high acidity. Young wines can be quite firm and savory, with tomato, olive, and red cherry notes, but the best examples soften and develop complexity over many years in the bottle, much like a Barolo. It's frequently blended with the grape Negoska for a fruitier, more approachable style.

Zinfandel is a bold, high-alcohol red grape that found its signature home in California, though it's genetically identical to Italy's Primitivo and Croatia's Tribidrag. Left to ripen fully, it produces jammy wines packed with blackberry, black pepper, and anise flavors and hearty tannin; it's also the grape behind the famously sweet, pink White Zinfandel that introduced many American drinkers to wine in the 1980s. Uneven ripening within a single cluster gives Zinfandel unusual flavor complexity.

Red wineCalifornia

Zweigelt is Austria's most-planted red grape, created in 1922 by crossing Sankt Laurent and Blaufränkisch. It makes juicy, deep-colored wines with soft-to-medium tannins — the gripping sensation on your gums — and bright acidity, making it an easy-drinking, food-friendly red similar in weight to a lighter Pinot Noir. Most bottlings are meant to be enjoyed young rather than cellared for decades.

Red wineAustria