So Many Grapes

A friend of mine called me last night with a request that I suggest a Cabernet or Merlot for him to purchase for his lady friend who is coming in from out of town. Since I'm really not a fan of Merlot and (only in my opinion) believe the Merlot grape is really only useful as a blending grape for a Bordeaux or Meritage; I suggested a few Cab's for him to choose from at various price points. After speaking to my friend I began thinking about the narrowness of my own understanding of grape varietals. A basic wine class will tell you that there is a Chardonnay, Pinot Gris (or Grigio), Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Shiraz (Syrah), and maybe a Cabernet Franc...and in reality for most American wine lists that's all you really have to know to get by. However there are so many other grapes both new and old world to choose from, and many have similar characteristics to those that I've listed above. An example of this is the Nero D'Avola from Sicily. I often go to Zero Otto Nove in Little Italy the Bronx, and when I sit at the bar and order a glass of wine I generally ask for the Sicilian Syrah. On the label it states Nero D'Avola and also Syrah. Looking for familiarity and the ability to easily identify my mind simply went to the word Syrah.

Last week I went to the Cookery restaurant in Dobbs Ferry, it's a really cute (albeit extremely loud) restaurant with very well executed food. It also has a very nice, easy to navigate, and heavily Italian wine list with really good price points. In my wine exploration I always find it intriguing to find out more about wines that are indigenous to a particular country or region so when I saw that there was an 2007 Nero d’Avola, Santa Anastasi, Sicily on the menu I asked the server "is that a Syrah"? I thought (mistakenly) that like in France (where the type of grape is determined by region, for example if you want a white Burgundy you know you are getting a Chardonnay grape); the Nero d'Avola was a region in Sicily where the Syrah grape is produced so ordering a Nero d'Avola meant ordering a Syrah grape. I was wrong. The Nero d'Avola is a grape that is indigenous to Sicily, and it's characteristics are like that of a Syrah, so for the American's who don't know any better they label the wine as "Syrah" so we have an idea of the style of wine we are getting. I've noticed this about some French wines as well, a white Burgundy sometimes has the word "Chardonnay" below it, but the difference is that a white Burgundy is really a Chardonnay. A Nero d'Avola isn't a Syrah, it's a Nero d'Avola; it might have properties akin to a Syrah but it isn't a Syrah. While I appreciate the "ease" factor in the bottling companies putting familiar grape varietals on the label, it also takes away from us really learning the nuances of different grapes. I urge us all to be adventurous when looking at a wine list or going into a wine shop. Don't necessarily reach for that Cabernet Sauvignon...ask questions; don't be afraid to state that you want to try a grape from a region that you aren't familiar with but you like a "Cabernet Sauvignon" style of wine. You might open up your palate to an entirely new wine region and maybe if my friend does this he will really impress his lady friend!