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| Grape
| | Varieties and Alternative Names
| | Notes
| | Example Wines
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| Riesling | | Johannisberg Riesling; Weisser Riesling, White Riesling, Rhine Riesling, Rhein Riesling, Riesling Renano, Rizling Rajinski |  | More correctly referred to as Rhine Riesling, this white grape variety is the great vine variety of Germany. | | Riesling is cultivated with particular success in Ontario, where it is used to produce ice wine. |
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| Sangiovese | | Brunello |  | This red grape is Italy's most planted variety, and is the principal vine variety for the great wines of Tuscany. | | Sangiovese is the sole grape variety permitted for Brunello di Montalcino and is the base for the blend for Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. |
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| Sauvignon Blanc | | Fume Blanc | | A classic grape variety planted widely in Bordeaux, the Loire Valley and the New World. It must be planted on poorer soils and is prone to rot. It tends to have a distinctive herbaceous, green, vegetal taste. | | Sauvignon Blanc is the principal grape in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume, and is an important constituent of Sauterne. |
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| Semillon | | Green Grape | | This white grape variety often shows at its best when blended with other varieties. Susceptible to botrytis, it is responsible for some of the great sweet wines. | | Blended with its traditional partner, Sauvignon Blanc, this golden-berries vine variety is the key ingredient in Sauternes. |
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| Silvaner | | Sylvaner; Franken Riesling; Gruner Silvaner; Johannisberg; Rhin; Gross Rhin | | Once Germany's most planted variety, the popularity of Silvaner is now declining. It is widely planted still in Alsace and the South Tirol, where it is capable of big yields but is susceptible to frost damage. | | Franken is renowned for its Frankisch Trocken bottled in traditional flat flagons from a blend of Silvaner and Muller-Thurgau. |
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| Syrah | | Shiraz; Balsamina | | A black grape variety which produces red wines capable of ageing for decades. Responsible for the great reds of the Northern Rhone it produces full, heavy, deeply fruity wines with a blackberry flavor. | | The most famous Syrahs are the Hermitages, others are the wines of Cote-Rotie, Crozes-Hermitage, St Joseph and Cornas. |
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| Tempranillo | | Ull de Liebre; Cencibel; Tinto del Pais; Tinta Roriz; Ojo de Liebre; Tinto Fino | | A grape widely planted throughout northern Spain, and the dominant grape in quality Riojas. It is also planted widely in Portugal and Argentina, and tastes of overripe strawberries. | | Tempranillo is the principal grape variety of the wine; Vega Sicilia and Ferreira's Barca Velha. |
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| Trebbiano | | Ugni Blanc; Trebbiano Toscano; Trebbiano Romagnolo;Trebbiano d'Abruzzo; Trebbiano di Soave. | | Common Italian white grape variety. | | Trebbiano's most common use is as a base wine for Brandy. |
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| Welschriesling | | Welschriesling; Welsch Rizling; Olasz Rizling; Laski Rizling; Riesling Renano; Rizling Vlassky | | A white wine grape that should be distinguished from the great "Rhine" Riesling of Germany. | | The grape produces fine Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) wines from the Neusierdlersee region of Austria. |
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| Zinfandel | | | | California's distinctive grape variety, whose origins are thought to be in Italy's Primitivo grape. Some South African growers and those of Western Australia's Cape Mentelle have also experimented with this vine. | | Zinfandel is capable of wide variety of styles from White Zinfandel to late-picked Californian ports. |
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