Weldra is a white South African wine grape variety that is a crossing of Chenin blanc and Trebbiano. According to wine expert Jancis Robinson, Weldra can maintain good acidity levels through ripening but tends to produce rather neutral tasting wines. [1]
Chenin blanc is a White wine grape variety from the Loire Valley of France. Its high acidity means it can be used to make everything from sparkling wines to well-balanced dessert wines, although it can produce very bland, neutral wines if the vine's natural vigor is not controlled. Outside the Loire it is found in most of the New World wine regions; it is the most widely planted variety in South Africa, where it was historically also known as Steen. The grape may have been one of the first to be grown in South Africa by Jan van Riebeeck in 1655, or it may have come to that country with Huguenots fleeing France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Chenin blanc was often misidentified in Australia as well, so tracing its early history in the country is not easy. It may have been introduced in James Busby's collection of 1832, but C. Waterhouse was growing Steen at Highercombe in Houghton, South Australia, by 1862.
Garganega is a variety of white Italian wine grape widely grown in the Veneto region of North East Italy, particularly in the provinces of Verona and Vicenza. It is Italy's 6th most widely planted white grape. It forms the basis of Venetian white wine Soave and is also a major portion of the blend used to make Gambellara.
Baco blanc or Baco 22A is a French-American hybrid grape variety. It is a cross of Folle blanche and the Noah grape, created in 1898 by the grape breeder François Baco. Folle blanche is its Vitis vinifera parent. Noah, its other parent, is itself a cross of Vitis labrusca and Vitis riparia.
Trebbiano is an Italian wine grape, one of the most widely planted grape varieties in the world. It gives good yields, but tends to yield undistinguished wine. It can be fresh and fruity, but does not keep long. Also known as ugni blanc, it has many other names reflecting a family of local subtypes, particularly in Italy and France. Its high acidity makes it important in Cognac and Armagnac productions.
Verdicchio is a white Italian wine grape variety grown primarily in the Marche region of central Italy. The name Verdicchio derives from verde and refers to the slight green/yellow hue that wines made from the grape can have.
Arbois or Arbois Blanc is a white French wine grape variety planted primarily in the Loire regions. Despite being a minor grape, in the late 20th century it was the third most widely planted grape variety in the Loir-et-Cher département which includes the winemaking areas of Cheverny, Cour-Cheverny, Montrichard, Oisly, Saint-Romain-sur-Cher, Valençay as well as vineyards that make wines under the Touraine AOC, Cremant de Loire AOC and Vin de Pays du Loir et Cher. By 2004 acreage had steadily declined to around 750 acres. It is still a permitted grape variety in the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) regions of Cheverny AOC, Valençay AOC and Vouvray AOC.
South African wine has a history dating back to 1659, with the first bottle produced in Cape Town by its founder Jan van Riebeeck. Access to international markets led to new investment in the South African wine market. Production is concentrated around Cape Town, with major vineyard and production centres at Constantia, Paarl, Stellenbosch and Worcester. There are about 60 appellations within the Wine of Origin (WO) system, which was implemented in 1973 with a hierarchy of designated production regions, districts and wards. WO wines must only contain grapes from the specific area of origin. "Single vineyard" wines must come from a defined area of less than 5 hectares. An "Estate Wine" can come from adjacent farms if they are farmed together and wine is produced on site. A ward is an area with a distinctive soil type or climate and is roughly equivalent to a European appellation.
Fiano is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown primarily in the Campania region of southern Italy and on the island of Sicily. In Campania, this fairly strong flavored white wine grape is particularly noted around Avellino where the Denominazione di origine controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wine of Fiano di Avellino is produced. The grape has a long history in the Campanian region and is believed to have been the grape behind the ancient Roman wine Apianum. Even today, the name Apianum is permitted to appear on wine labels of the DOCG wine Fiano di Avellino.
Bombino bianco is a white Italian wine grape variety planted primarily along Italy's Adriatic coast line, most notably in Apulia. The vine is prone to high yields and often produces neutral flavor wines. The grape is known under many synonyms throughout Italy including Debit and Pagadebit, names which came from the grape's reputation for being a high yielding and reliable crop for vineyard owners to grow that would assure them that on each vintage they could pay off their debts.
Biancame is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Marche and Emilia-Romagna regions of Italy. Here it is an important component in the Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) wines of Bianchello del Metauro and Colli di Rimini.
The Sadie Family is a South African producer of wine located in the Swartland region. Following the emergence of flagship wines Columella and Palladius, winemaker Eben Sadie has been described as an enfant terrible, South Africa's first certified celebrity winemaker, and by supporters as "one of the greatest and most original winemakers in the southern hemisphere" and he has also branched out to other wine regions such as in Spain.
Incrocio Manzoni or Manzoni grapes is a family of grape varieties named after Professor Luigi Manzoni (1888-1968) of Italy's oldest school of oenology located in Conegliano, in the Veneto region. Manzoni created the new grape varieties by selecting, crossing and grafting vines from various vineyards during the 1920s and 1930s. The family includes both white and red grape varieties. Although most Manzonis are grown in northeastern Italy, they are mainly grown in the Piave area of Province of Treviso and are only now starting to be sold commercially in Europe and the United States.
Chenel is a white South African wine grape variety that was produced by a crossing of Chenin blanc and Trebbiano. The variety was produced in the late 20th century for viticultural purposes and its resistance to various grape rots.
Meslier-Saint-François is a white French wine grape variety that is now grown predominantly in the Loir-et-Cher department of the Loire Valley. Historically, the grape was found more widely throughout the Loire and western France and was even used in the production of Armagnac. However, for most of the 20th century Meslier-Saint-François has been following a similar route to the Loire grape Arbois with plantings rapidly declining.
Olmo grapes are wine and table grape varieties produced by University of California, Davis viticulturist Dr. Harold Olmo. Over the course of his nearly 50-year career, Dr. Olmo bred a wide variety of both grapes by means of both crossing varieties from the same species or creating hybrid grapes from cultivars of different Vitis species.
Ortrugo is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Piacenza hills of the Emilia-Romagna region of north central Italy. Here the grape is often blended with Malvasia in the DOC white wines of the area. According to wine expert Oz Clarke, the grape has moderate acidity with high alcohol potential and often contributes a deep yellow color to the wine. In some regions the grape is used in slightly sparkling frizzante and fully sparkling spumante wines.
Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours is a reference book about varieties of wine grapes. The book covers all grape varieties that were known to produce commercial quantities of wine at the time of writing, which meant 1,368 of the known 10,000 varieties. It is written by British Masters of Wine Jancis Robinson and Julia Harding in collaboration with Swiss grape geneticist Dr. José Vouillamoz.
Balzac blanc is a white French wine grape variety that is grown in the Charente and Charente-Maritime regions of Southwest France where it was once used for Cognac production but now is nearly extinct. The grape was one thought to be a color mutation of Mourvèdre but DNA analysis in 2000 showed that the two grapes were distinct and that Balzac blanc was a crossing of Gouais blanc and Chenin blanc.
Cabernet blanc is a white German and Swiss wine grape variety that is a crossing of the French wine grape Cabernet Sauvignon and an unknown hybrid grape variety. The grape was bred by Swiss grape breeder Valentin Blattner in 1991. Cabernet blanc has strong resistance to most grape disease including botrytis bunch rot, downy and powdery mildew and tends to produce loose clusters of small, thick-skinned grape berries which can hang on the vine late into the harvest season to produce dessert wines. Today the grape is found primarily in the Palatinate wine region of Germany with some experimental plantings in Spain and the Netherlands. In France, in the Languedoc, Domaine La Colombette is heavily investing in PIWI grapes. Amongst others the Cabernet Blanc in their cuvée "Au Creux du Nid", is gaining wide acclaim.
Albanella is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Marche region where it is a primary component in the white Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) wines of Colli Pesaresi. The grape is often confused with the similarly named Sicilian wine grape Albanello and was long thought to be identical to the Tuscan wine grape Trebbiano but has established through DNA analysis to be its own distinct variety.
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