800 Grapes and Kraft Dinner

Written by Peter Rockwell | 08 September 2010

I'm starting to see a lot more wines at my local liquor store made with grapes I've never heard of before. How many grapes are there in the big wide wine world?

It depends on who's counting. The Mistress of Wine, Jancis Robinson, wrote a book about our favourite piece of fruit and, though I didn't actually count them (or read much of it for that matter) she apparently documents around 800. Some who consider themselves experts on that Internet thingy would have you include every hybrid and cross — along with anything round and purple — which would take the count well over 1000. That means you'd better get used to seeing more than just the classic six "noble" grapes (Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir) on hip-and-happening wine labels. Start slow. Try Syrah, Grenache or maybe Viognier, then you can work your way up to Tempranillo and maybe even (cue exaggerated gasp of disbelief) Touriga Nacional.

You can start keeping track of all the fruit you drink by surfing over to The Wine Century Club and downloading one of their applications. It’s really only a spreadsheet checklist, but it includes just about every major grape going. All you have to do is swear on your corkscrew that your lips have met a particular berry and when you get to 100 you can send it back to receive a nifty certificate and a lifelong membership into the club. You get an upgrade if you can claim to have tasted 200. Started by Steve De Long — the creator of the so nerdy it's cool De Long Wine Grape Varietal Table (just Google it) — the club's a home for those that love to fill their glasses with the excitement of something different. And as my father never said: You can't call yourself a wine fan if you aren't willing to experiment grape by grape.