Even some of the most famous varieties such as chardonnay have a few other monikers (aubaine, beaunois, gamay blanc), but it’s the really niche ones that seem to have the most pseudonyms, some more than a female novelist in the 18th century. This abundance of stage names can make some very worthy grapes hard to track down, not to mention understand and appreciate. There’s a reason people reach for sauvignon and cab on the supermarket shelf, yes they’re noble but they’re also knowable… and the consumer takes comfort in this.
Let’s get uncomfortable, let’s dive into the unknown: be assured that while mysterious – the journey is also guaranteed to be delicious.
Blaufränkisch: a bolt from the blue
Being touted as Austria’s finest red, you’ll be forgiven if you’ve never heard of it. Or maybe you have? In Germany it’s called Lemberger, in Hungary it goes by Kékfrankos; and as it is sewn and grown across eastern Europe, its name changes with its address. It’s also fast making, an ahem, name for itself in Slovenia. The grape, with its distinct blue hue, produces full-bodied wines, dense with rich black fruit and an enlivening peppery spice, a fairly high, lively acidity and supple tannins. When treated with care the wines can be age-worthy too.
Try: Gönc Winery Blaufränkisch, 2018, Rabelčja vas, Ptuj, Slovenia
Born to be wild. Gönc Winery believes good tunes make good wines, winemaker/proprietor Peter Gönc is a classic rock fan and whenever you visit the winery there will be air guitar happening during pumpovers. In fact it’s been said “his ultimate smash-hit is the Blaufränkisch, with mouthfuls that feel like shredding a killer solo in front of 80,000 screaming fans.”
Hiding in plain sight: Spätburgunder
It’s the heartbreak grape… Spätburgunder is the German name for pinot noir ‘late ripening (spät) Burgundian’. Cistercian monks were said to have brought the black grape over from Clos de Vougeot to their convent in the Rheingau, it is surmised the grape has been cultivated since as far back as the 4th century, but its first recoded crop was in the 14th. Germany is in fact the world’s third largest producer of pinot, and spätburgunder is a category that is fast gaining traction with an exponential rise in quality. Contemporary producers are focusing on freshness for ‘a kind of red Riesling’, with the cool climate being expressed as paramount rather than masked by too much new wood. Juiciness with power and age-worthiness is the aim of modern spätburgunder.
Try: Von Winning Dr. Deinhard Spätburgunder
Dr Deinhard (not a Bruce Willis film) is the sister winery of Von Winning. It’s said that Deinhard established in 1849 in Deidesheim while Von Winning's is more experimental. This Spätburgunder plays in the realm of the new and improved style with its delicate yet ripe aromas of red blackcurrants and cherries, supported by judicious, soft oaking.
Unveiled: Palomino
Most wine-lovers will recognise the name of the grape that is the building block of sherry production, chosen for its low acid and fairly neutral flavour profile. In New World wine producing regions such as South Africa, it was grown back in the day as a volume component for the Cape’s brandy production, records showing it arrived at the tip of Africa in the 1920s. Now something happened between the way these vines reacted to the sun planted on a southern latitude as well as the fact that the surviving vines are almost 100-years-old. There are just are just 81,7 hectares of old vine palomino left in the Cape, but luckily they’ve been discovered by a handful of passionate producers who are on a mission to preserve them and are doing so by making single varietal bottlings.
Try: Blackwater Pleasure Garden Palomino, 2017, Robertson, South Africa
Winemaker of his own-label project Francois Haasbroek makes a 100 per cent palomino from 90-year-old vines in Robertson, a block he stumbled on by chance. The wine is layered and fresh with a crunchy acidity and pure, crystalline fruit. Fittingly there’s a hidden meaning in the name, Francois named it for Alfred Hitchcock’s directorial debut, The Pleasure Garden. It was released in 1927, the year the vineyard was planted. Says Francois: “And what is a vineyard, but a garden?”
Shoots rather than sees red: Rotgipfler
A very unique aromatic white wine grape that is grown almost exclusively in the Gumpoldskirchen district of Thermenregion in Austria. What’s in this name? Rotgipfler refers to the red colour of its shoots when it is in the early stages of growth. The rare cultivar is a natural crossing of traminer and roter veltliner, it was first discovered in Styria, and then later brought to Thermenregion in the 1830s. Traditionally used in blends with its aromatic sister, zierfandler and sold as Gumpoldskirchener; hence the grape’s lack of identity, now though it’s rising in stature as a single varietal as the wines can be quite weighty, mouth-filling with concentrated fruit (reaching up to 14% alcohol).
Try: Winzer Familie Gregor Schup Rotgipfler, 2012, Thermenregion, Austria White Wine
Smoky on the nose with an intense bouquet, reminiscent of boiled rhubarb, oranges, honey, gooseberry and sugar peas; very vigorous on the palate, full-bodied with a firm spine, displays fine fruit, very convincing length and has revealed its full potential during bottle storage . Deep in the heart of the Austrian Wienerwald, in the little town of Guntramsdorf, lies Winzer Familie Gregor Schup. For over 300 years they’ve lived here, where Eastern-European climate meets the warm and damp Atlantic air, cultivating vines close to the Eichkogel Mountain (367m above sea level).
Soave’s suave secret: Garganega
Garganega has been grown in Soave for around 1000 years, making it one of Italy’s oldest varieties. In the 6th century Cassiodorus, a statesman to King Theoderic the Great, is reported to have described the wines of the region as being ‘white and pure as a lily’. To make up Soave DOC a minimum of 70 per cent must be garganega, with up to 30 per cent of trebbiano di soave (a synonym for verdicchio) or chardonnay. The grape’s name is not included in the label; and this is one of the reasons how an ancient variety of one of the world’s most famous blends is virtually unheard of. This is slowly changing with a rise in single varietals as well as quality producers focusing their attention on it. It can be equally successful as a dry white, producing elegant, perfumed wines, as well as sweet wines made from dried, late-harvest grapes, under the name recioto, which will blow your hair back with their honeyed tropical fruit and spiced flavour profiles..
Try: Cantina Ronca Garganega, 2017, Veneto, Italy
Rich creaminess and gorgeous tropical fruit flavours. This wine comes from an eco-friendly young winery to the west of Verona and although it is made from the same grape used in Soave, it is a much more sophisticated beast. It has a rich creaminess from ageing on the lees and a gorgeous apple, pear and pineapple flavour. The sweet and gently rolling hills of Sommacampagna form the backdrop for the Ronca winery, whose vineyards are gently caressed by the mild breezes coming from the nearby Garda Lake and characterised by the strong minerality of the Morenic hills. The Ronca family cultivates their estate grown grapes for the production of DOC wines typical for the Garda territory.
