Wednesday Wine 101

Q.

Why are some wines named after the grape and other wines named after the place it was made?

A.

This is a fairly complicated answer, that we fear will just leave you with more questions, but welcome to the wonderful world of wine!

Wines produced in the New World (that is, any country that is not in Europe, so places places like Canada, America or Australia), refer to a wine by the grape – not the place. Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Chardonnay … these are all grapes.

In Europe (or the Old World), wines are often listed by the place: Bordeaux, Burgundy, or Chianti are all places.

But just for fun, some European wineries do list the wine by the grape; for example when buying a Primitivo, that is the grape. It’s produced in Puglia and other wine growing regions of southern Italy. Pinot Grigio is a grape and is produced in northern Italian regions like Trentino-Alto Adige (plus many other regions around the world).

It can be confusing, especially when you are new to wine, to have to get to know the regions as well as the wines made there. However, you can take comfort in knowing that wine laws are quite strict about what can go into a wine that makes a claim on the label. So once you know what you like, and let’s say it’s Burgundy, than you can be confident that whenever you buy a wine named Burgundy, it’s from the eastern region of France, and that it will be either Pinot Noir for red, or Chardonnay for white.