Rule 1
Know Your Grapes
Californian wines show grape varieties on labels, which crystallizes a wine’s flavour into one, single, tell-tale name. You don’t get this kind of help everywhere. This matters—huge—because about 90% of a wine’s flavour comes from its berry type. In short, if you know your grapes, you basically know your Californian wines. And you can match the flavour to your mood and taste before you buy. To get things rolling, here’s a crash course in the eight most common varietals from California:
Unoaked Chardonnay: Mixed citrus and apple
Oaked Chardonnay: Citrus with hints of vanilla, toast, or butterscotch
Pinot Grigio: Neutral aroma with slight lemon, floral flavour
Sauvignon Blanc (also called Fumé Blanc): Lime, asparagus, and gooseberries
White Zinfandel (pink wine from red Zinfandel grapes): Peach and strawberry
Cabernet Sauvignon: Black currant, cassis, and cedar
Merlot: Cherry and dark chocolate
Pinot Noir: Ripe raspberry and canned strawberries when young. Capable of changing dramatically when aged, taking on flavours of caramelised meat drippings, farm yard, and truffle
Shiraz (also called Syrah): Blackberry, black pepper, dark chocolate and smoke
Zinfandel (also called Primivito): Blackberry, blueberry, and peppercorn
Thanks for the very helpful tip Alex and Bev.
