Red and White Varietals

A description of various red and white wine varietals and what food accompaniments best complement them.

Varieties of Red Wine

Barbera: A heavy-bodied wine, robust and vigorous, Italian in type, resembling the wines of Piedmont. Produced in the Napa and Sonoma valleys and in certain vineyards of South­ern California. Serve with game or beef.

Cabernet Sauvignon: (Sometimes labeled simply "Caber­net") A rich, fruity wine of soft fragrance and carmine color. All of the fine Clarets of France are made of this species. It is possibly the finest of all California wines. Produced in Napa, Sonoma, Santa Cruz, San Benito, Santa Clara, and Alameda counties. Serve with roasts, cheese, turkey, and wild fowl.

Carignane: An average-quality wine of infrequent produc­tion. Stable wine of sturdy qualities and less refinement. Produced in Napa, Alameda, and San Bernardino counties. Serve with meats, pastes, and cheese.

Charbono: A robust and full-flavored wine highly reminis­cent of the vigorous Barbera wine from the Italian Piedmont. Produced in the Napa and Sonoma regions. Serve with pastes and cheese.

Gamay: Resembles the lesser Burgundies of France, but a thoroughly pleasant wine of full body, deep color, and frag­rant bouquet. Sometimes used in making rose or pink wine. Produced in the same areas as Cabernet. Serve with beef, lamb, and cheese.

Grenache: To be found more often as a pink wine than red. Both are fruity, fragrant wines of good quality. Produced in most of the northern counties which produce Cabernet. Serve with lamb, roast, chicken, squab, turkey, and cheese.

Grignolino: Another Italian wine type resembling those of Piedmont. Though less robust than the Barbera, it has fine qualities in bouquet, light body, tart taste quality. Produced principally in Southern California. Serve with red meats and pastes.

Mourestel: A wine of medium body and pleasant, fruity bouquet. Sometimes thin in body, it might best be termed an ordinary table wine. Produced in Livermore. Serve with steaks, chops, and small roasts.

Pinot Noir: The finest species of wine grape and one of the most difficult to obtain, owing to present small plantings. From this grape France gained its reputation for fine Burgundies: Chambertin, Clos Vougeot, and Romanee Conti. Grown in Napa, Sonoma, Santa Cruz, Alameda, and Santa Clara counties. Serve with beef, lamb, and wild fowl.

Zinfandel: Produced in most California wine districts with varying degrees of excellence. Especially fine in northern counties. A tart, aromatic wine of full, fresh fragrance. For all uses where red wine is desired.

Varieties of White Wine

 
Folle Blanche: The principal grape used in making French Cognac. In California it produces a thin, delicate wine of slight acidity and a flinty taste not unlike a good French Chablis. Produced in Napa, Sonoma, and Santa Clara counties. Serve with fish and other seafood.
 
Golden Chasselas: A full-bodied wine of dominating charac­ter. Highly perfumed bouquet. Serve with shellfish. Produced in Napa and Sonoma counties. Sometimes called Gutedel.
 
Grey Riesling: A pale gold wine with a slight greenish cast. Very light in body, sprightly in character. Resembles the bet­ter wines of Alsace. Serve with poultry and fish.
 
Johannisberg Riesling: The aristocrat of all Riesling grapes, taking its name from the vineyard on the Rhine. When well made it stands alone as the finest white wine of California, sprightly, brilliant, fruity, and fragrant. Best produced in the northern counties of Napa, Sonoma, and Santa Clara. Serve with all kinds of seafood, cheese, and chicken.
 
Pinot Blanc: A fragrant white wine resembling some of the white French Burgundies, but higher in acidity than the French wines and consequently livelier in taste. Produced in Napa, Sonoma, Alameda, Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara counties. Serve with seafood and shellfish.
 
Pinot Chardonnay: A distinguished wine of pale color and fruity bouquet rivaling the Johannisburg Riesling. Produced in the same areas as the Riesling. Similar to white French Bur­gundies.

 

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