- How many grapes do you consider important in the world of wine? (define important as you see fit)
- 1-5
- 6-10
- 11-20
- 21-50
- 51-80+
- 80+
0
voters
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If we all liked the same wine, there would be one red wine, one white wine, and you would pour a drop of the red wine into the white wine if you wanted rose wine.
A spoonful of sugar would take care of those with a sweet tooth and a seltzer injector would take care of those who like bubbles in their wine.
The correct answer is probably 800+. And no, I canāt name them all.
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Would you pose the same question about foods?
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I find the question a bit less ridiculous than @Dan_Kravitz and @John_Morris. Traditionally there were six noble grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc. While āimportantā /= ānobleā, Iād start there.
Others Iād add: Cabernet Franc, Nebbiolo, and Syrah. I wouldnāt quibble with others being added, but I think youād quickly find a pretty big drop-off in āimportanceā.
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With respect, Iām not clear as to the value of an aggregate survey where people use their own definitions of important. In particular there will be definitions based on a persons view of importance to the industry / average consumer / wine geeks / that individual; and then split between commercial importance (volume) and influence.
Yet another complication - blends. Do they count for each component? Is red LB Bordeaux āmeritageā or five grapes.
I do think there may be some interesting comments (sorry, I donāt think I have anything original to say but Iām sure others will).
For me the answer is probably of the order of 25 maybe more, ranging from somewhat important (Petit Verdot or Semillon say) to very important (Pinot Noir or Chardonnay , say). Iām using a criterion of would I care if wines using that grape did not exist in their current form. So Petit Verdot sneaks in as component of some Red Bordeaux rather than as single variety. I havenāt done a rigorous count, would not be shocked if a search across my cellar gave a higher count.
If I were to reframe it as what grapes do I care about as varietals itās probably nearer to 15.
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I donāt know. I love good Soave (Garganega), Sherry (Palomino), Bierzo (Mencia), Blaufrankisch, and Arneis. I could probably go awhile on this, especially since the noble grapes donāt include many refreshing white wines.
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As the question is phrased, I also find it hard to think or talk about noble grapes. Why? To even get to there being any ānobleā grapes, the parent grapes must have been important. Say that each has two parents, and so on. If those before was not important than the ānobleā would never have been there in the first place.
If we discuss the best varieties then itās a very different conversations.
Excellent point. Add an another 10 or so to my numbers, i wasnāt really thinking of Sherry, Madeira, Port, Cognac, Vermouth.
A little pushback here, but I am curious if these are things you have considered.
If we assume that the āNobleā grapes make wines of objectively higher quality, my question is what percentage of the quality difference is actually attributed to the genetic particulars? And what percentage would be attributed to the number of iterations? To the number of biotypes and/ or clones? To the financial resources (including winemakers and consultants)?
We can of course argue that they have more of each of those things because they were better, but thatās not falsifiable, and I think we can all agree that more goes into what grapes thrive and what grapes donāt. In the Italian world of wine, lots of grapes became less prominent because of their difficulty working with American rootstock after Phylloxera, and others because they didnāt yield is much during periods where quantity was the main goal (and still is in some cases).
Iām genuinely not having a go, but are these grapes āimportantā? To me important /= likable, refreshing, etc. And while I readily concede that my own experience /= important, Iāve been to dozens of wine dinners over the years and donāt believe that Iāve ever seen any of those grapes pulled out at a wine dinner, save a single bottle of Sherry that @Jay_Miller brought to Peking Duck House.
I was expecting someone to argue for the inclusion of Tempranillo, Grenache or perhaps Sangiovese.
Interesting question. Not sure I could though. I view food much less recreationally most of the time, and I eat too fast to meditate on it the way I do with wine.
And to add to that, grapes that can make truly profound wines that are hyper regionally specific.
Can someone make a Verdicchio as good as La Staffa from other places in the world? Possibly. Does it really need to be done to prove how wonderful the wines of La Staffa are? Nope
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The ātraditionalā view basically reflected the focus of the British wine trade and British wine critics (who were mostly in the trade). It took Robert Parker to put syrah and grenache on the public radar, and it took another decade or more before nebbiolo was recognized.
Mourvedre yields some profound wines in Bandol, and is a major factor in the unique profile of Beaucastel. If youāve ever had a Valentini or Emidio Pepe wine, youād have to consider Montepulciano. But none of those are recognized in grape ācommon knowledge.ā
So I donāt put much stock in the ātraditionalā view.
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I consider all the grapes for a bottle of wine are essential! I would never buy a bottle of wine with 70% grapes, 30% ??? 
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Five of the six on your list are among the Top Ten for acreage (sorry Riesling).
The other five on the Top Ten list range from Syrah (you mentioned), Grenache and Tempranillo, all of which blatantly can make great wine, to Trebbiano (I donāt think most wine lovers would call it a fount of great wine), to Airen (somebody please give me a recommendation!).
All of them. To someone.
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Well of course the problem is the word āimportantā needs to be defined in context. If someone wants to award participation trophies to every grape (not having a go, but consider @Scott_G_r_u_n_e_rās comment āAll of them. To someone.ā) thatās fine. But things Iād consider in determining āimportanceā would include (this is not an exhaustive list):
- history of the grape
- ability of the grape to produce high quality wines
- popularity of the grape
- whether the grape is successful in multiple regions
- whether the grape stands on its own or is a blending grape, etc.
I readily concede that I made quick judgments and determined that, in my opinion, most grapes are not terribly important, which is quite different than asking whether or not they are delicious. For example, I love Muscadet, but I donāt think Melon de Bourgogne is important.
I searched for āAirenā and found four mentions, one in this thread. That by itself doesnāt mean itās not important, but I found it interesting that the very first mention that I found was by @Dan_Kravitz, who commented here. This is what he wrote:
Riesling is a better grape than Airen.
Cabernet is a better grape than Alicante.
Better /= important, but I think ābetterā does play a role. Ultimately I subscribe to the maxim āde gustibus non est disputandumā, so take my list with a giant YMMV.
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āAll āvarietalsā matter.ā
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Then we must add zinfandel/primitivo/crljenak kaŔtelanski/tribidrag/kratoŔija.
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Todd should award a prize for the first serious thread on an airen tasting.