Wine Varietels
Terms
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- Amarone
- Powerful, hearty red wine from northeastern Italy.
- Banyuls
- Natural French dessert wine from the Pyrenees.
- Vouvray
- Outstanding Loire white, based on Chenin Blanc; table wines may range from dry through slightly sweet, and it also makes spectacular dessert wines.
- Manzanilla
- A dry style of Sherry, similar to Fino, made in a particular seaside village where the environment allegedly adds a saltwater tang to the wine.
- Côtes-du-Ventoux
- Neighbor of Cotes-du-Rhone, sometimes offering exceptional quality-price ratio. Look for La Vieille Ferme, replaced in the mid-'90s by Perrin Reserve.
- Pouilly-Fumé
- Loire white made from Sauvignon Blanc, dry and very lean and tart; like Sancerre , an excellent seafood wine.
- Amontillado
- A dry, rather full-bodied style of Sherry ... made famous by Poe.
- Tokay
- Respected Hungarian dessert wine, reaches its pinnacle in Tokay Aszù ("Ah-zhu"), the sweetest style, affected by botrytis, which see. In my limited experience, Tokay shows a distinctive golden-raisin character that differs from Sauternes and other classic dessert wines.
- Eiswein
- Just as it sounds in English, wine made from late-harvested grapes allowed to freeze on the vine, concentrating the sugars. Originated in Germany, also becoming a star attraction of the Ontario, Canada, wine region.
- Côte Rôtie
- "Exceptionally fine, ageworthy red wine from the Northern Rhone, primarily Syrah-based and named for the ""roasted slopes"" on which the vineyards grow."
- Champagne
- Sparkling wine, specifically the type made in the French region of the same name using a traditional process in which the wine gains its sparkle by a secondary fermentation in the bottle, and made only from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier grapes. Some U.S. wineries still appropriate the name for their sparkling wines, a practice illegal in Europe; but as with Chablis, above, and Burgundy, this practice is dying out.
- Pouilly-Fuissé
- White Burgundy, Chardonnay-based, made in the region of the same name. Especially popular in the U.S., although the legend that we like it because we finally learned to pronounce it is probably a myth ...
- Coteaux du Languedoc
- Increasingly desirable dry red table wine from Southern France, variously using Grenache, Syrah, Cinsaut, etc., individually or in blends.
- Tinto
- Spanish term for red wine.
- Collioure
- Dry red wine from Banyuls in Southwestern France. Dr. Parcé is the most widely sought label.