Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to be a diminutive of merle, the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color of the grape. Its softness and "fleshiness," combined with its earlier ripening, make Merlot a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin.
Carignan is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Mediterranean and around the globe. Along with Aramon, it was considered one of the main grapes responsible for France's wine lake and was a substantial producer in jug wine production in California's Central Valley but in recent years, it has been reborn as a flagship wine for many cellars in the south of France as well as in Catalonia.
Nebbiolo is an Italian red wine grape variety predominantly associated with its native Piedmont region, where it makes the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wines of Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero, Gattinara, Carema and Ghemme. Nebbiolo is thought to derive its name from the Italian nebbia or Piedmontese nebia, meaning "fog". During harvest, which generally takes place late in October, a deep, intense fog sets into the Langhe region where many Nebbiolo vineyards are located. Alternative explanations refers to the fog-like glaucous veil that forms over the berries as they reach maturity, or that perhaps the name is derived instead from the Italian word nobile, meaning noble. Nebbiolo produces lightly-colored red wines which can be highly tannic in youth with scents of tar and roses. As they age, the wines take on a characteristic brick-orange hue at the rim of the glass and mature to reveal other aromas and flavors such as violets, tar, wild herbs, cherries, raspberries, truffles, tobacco, and prunes. Nebbiolo wines can require years of aging to balance the tannins with other characteristics.
Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy. It produces good yields and is known for deep color, full body, low tannins and high levels of acidity.
Valpolicella is a viticultural zone of the province of Verona, Italy, east of Lake Garda. The hilly agricultural and marble-quarrying region of small holdings north of the Adige is famous for wine production. Valpolicella ranks just after Chianti in total Italian Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) wine production.
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.
Rondinella is an Italian wine grape variety. Almost all of the total global growing area of 2,481 hectares is in the Veneto region of northern Italy, and the grapes are used in wines from the Valpolicella and Bardolino wine regions. Rondinella always appears in these wines blended with Corvina, as a secondary constituent along with Corvinone and Molinara. The grape has rather neutral flavors but is favored by growers due to its prolific yields. The vine is very resistant to grape disease and produces grapes that, while they do not necessarily have high sugar levels, do dry out well for use in the production of Valpolicella straw wine styles such as Recioto and Amarone.
Aligoté is a white grape used to make dry white wines, especially in the Burgundy region of France where it was first recorded in the 18th century. Since it is tolerant to cold, this variety is also cultivated in Eastern European countries. In 2004, it was the 22nd most planted vine variety in the world at 45,000 hectares.
Italian wine is produced in every region of Italy. Italy is the world's largest producer of wine, with an area of 702,000 hectares under vineyard cultivation, and contributing a 2013–2017 annual average of 48.3 million hl of wine. In 2018 Italy accounted for 19 per cent of global production, ahead of France and Spain. Italian wine is both exported around the world and popular domestically among Italians, who consume an average of 42 litres per capita, ranking fifth in world wine consumption.
Abouriou is a red French wine grape variety grown primarily in Southwest France and, in small quantities, California. It is a blending grape that, along with Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Fer, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot, is used to make the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) wine of Côtes du Marmandais. Abouriou can also be made into a varietal, as it is used in some vin de pays wines. The grape is known for its low acidity and high tannin content.
Marzemino is a red Italian wine grape variety that is primarily grown around Isera, south of Trentino. The wine is most noted for its mention in the opera Don Giovanni of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The vine ripens late and is susceptible to many grape diseases including oidium. Wine produced from the grape has a characteristic dark tint and light plummy taste.
Venetian wine is produced in Veneto, a highly productive wine region in north-eastern Italy.
Molinara is a red Italian wine grape which accounted for 595 hectares of planting land in Italy as of 2010, almost exclusively in the Veneto region. It adds acidity to the wines of the Valpolicella and Bardolino regions, which are made with blends of Corvina, Corvinone, Molinara and Rondinella. The wine's high propensity for oxidation, coupled with its low color extract, has caused a decline in favor and plantings among Venetian vineyards, declining in ten years by more than half from an area of 1,301 hectares in 2000. There has been debate about whether the grape is purple or blue. This grape is occasionally blended with Merlot to produce soft elegant rosés, and Molinara also accounts for 122 hectares of planting land in Spain.
Bardolino and Bardolino Superiore are Italian red wines produced along the chain of morainic hills in the province of Verona to the east of Lake Garda. Bardolino takes its name from the town Bardolino on the shores of Lake Garda and was awarded Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) status in 1968. The Superiore is a stronger aged wine, and was promoted to Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG) status in 2001. The blend of grapes used to produce the wine primarily includes Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara. Up to 15% of the blend is allowed to include Rossignola, Barbera, Sangiovese, or Garganega, in any combination.
Nosiola is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Trentino region north of Lake Garda in the Valle dei Laghi. Here it is used in varietal Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) wines and as a blending component in wines such as Sorni Bianco from Trento. It is also used to produce a dessert wine in the Vin Santo style from grapes that have been allowed to dry out prior to fermentation.
Negrara is a red Italian wine grape variety grown in north east Italy including the Veneto region where it is a permitted variety in the Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) wine Amarone. While the grape was once more widely planted in the region its numbers have been steadily declining for most of the late 20th and early 21st century.
Rossignola is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Veneto wine region of northeast Italy. The variety was first mentioned growing in the province of Verona in the early 19th century and today is a permitted blending variety in several Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) wines of the Veneto including Bardolino and Valpolicella.
Douce noir is a red Savoyard wine grape variety that has historically been grown in the Savoy region, but today is more widely planted in Argentina.
Corvinone is a red Italian wine grape variety native to the Veneto region of northern Italy. In 2010 a total grape growing area of 930 hectares was planted worldwide, with all of it in Italy save for 1 hectare in Argentina. Seldom found in wine alone, Corvinone is blended, along with Rondinella, Molinara and other autochthonous varieties, in Corvina-dominant red wines of the Valpolicella and Bardolino regions of Veneto. Corvinone is similar enough to the more widespread Corvina variety that it has historically often been mistaken as a clone; indeed its name in Italian suggests a meaning of "large corvina". More recent ampelographical work and DNA profiling has shown it to be a separate variety, however.
Oseleta is a rare, autochthonous red wine grape variety from the Valpolicella area in the Veneto region of Italy. It was almost extinct after the phylloxera blight of the 19th and early 20th centuries, but was rediscovered and replanted in small areas by the wine producer Masi in the early 1980s. The variety is now permitted in the Valpolicella DOC and Amarone DOCG rules, and a small number of wine producers, including Masi, make a varietal wine with it.
