If you drink wine at all, you’re likely familiar with “the big six” grape varieties: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc. It is also likely that you’ve heard of and possibly tried some of the other somewhat common varieties like: Zinfandel, Gewurtztraminer, Syrah, Pinot Grigio, Chenin Blanc, and Sangiovese.
So, let’s say that you are probably familiar with twelve to fifteen wine grape varieties – well, with a little research, you can find literally thousands of documented grape varieties, clones, and hybrids used in making wine.
“So where is all this going?” – you ask;
I’ve read a lot of wine articles in the last year or so and somewhat religiously follow a number of blogs on the subject. This reading has often encouraged me to at least try new wines and new wine grape varieties and I’ve done that. GaryVee over at Wine Library TV is constantly pushing us to try new things. Over the past year I’ve probably had twelve to fifteen wines made from varieties that I’d not previously heard of : Arneis, Albarino, Aglianico, Godello, Malbec, Montepulciano, and Tokaji(Tokay) to name a few.
So, here generally is my new goal – I want to try at least one new wine variety each month for the rest of my (wine drinking) life. By my count, I’m currently at 39 – for some reason I’m a little ashamed of that number – pretty sparse for forty+ years of wine interest. That’s less than one new variety per year, let alone one per month. I need to get on it if I’m going to reach any respectable number before I die.
Ok, so you’re still asking where this is going? I was reading one of my favorite wine blogs this morning — Good Wine Under $20 where DR. Debs posted that she had just tried Roditis, her 100th variety which marked her unofficial qualification for the Wine Century Club .
Hmmmm – I didn’t know there was such a thing either! Well, there you are – my goal is clarified — “QUALIFY FOR THE WINE CENTURY CLUB” before I die.
Well, I’m 70 now and with 61 varieties to go, I think it’s do-able — At any rate, It’s the effort that counts right?
Posted by DRHamp as Wine-Wine-Wine at 11:11 AM GMT-0500