You Should Not Judge a Wine by Its Grape

 

So, you have consumed a fair amount of wine throughout your life…you know what you like, right?  It’s a Pinot Noir, a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Merlot, a Chardonnay, a Sauvignon Blanc or a Riesling.  Well, I’m sure you have, and often do, enjoy wines of a specific wine grape variety.  

But, you unknowingly may be missing out on some exciting and extremely gratifying wine experiences by limiting your wine consumption choices to only the “tried and true.” 

You likely have had several disappointing experiences in the past with wines of a favored wine grape variety you thought you would like but, once you popped the cork, really did not like the wine at all. 

This is because grape variety is an indication of the taste characteristics of wine produced from the grapes, but, due to varying growing conditions, harvest practices and wine production techniques, wine grape variety is unequivocally not a single predictor of how a wine will taste.

In other words, you should not judge a wine by its grape.

Grape variety and taste are loosely correlated

Here's why grape variety is often a poor predictor of how a wine will taste...

• Climatic conditions affecting grape health and ripening vary by growing region
• Soil composition of vineyards influences the taste of wines produced
• Altitude and topography of vineyards are factors affecting wine taste
• Farming techniques, including trellising method, pruning and irrigation, impact the quality of grapes used to produce wine
• Framing practices, such as harvest method and date, determine grape ripeness and, in some cases, quality
• Production techniques, such as fermentation method and oak barrel aging, result in wines from the same grapes having dissimilar taste  

The grape is multi-faceted

Consider the Pinot Noir grape.  Pinot Noir, a French wine grape, historically has been grown and harvested to produce red wines in the Burgundy region of France, known as “red Burgundies.”  Over time, the French wine grapes, including Pinot Noir, have been exported and planted for wine production in many other regions of the world, including for example, California and Oregon in the United States and New Zealand. 

Pinot Noir wines produced in various countries and regions often noticeably differ from one another in their taste characteristics.  Wines produced by individual producers in a given area are seldom exactly the same.  And, the taste characteristics of wines from a single producer will vary from one vintage year to the next. 

Pinot Noir wines from a typically cool climate, such as northern France or New Zealand, tend to be light in body and may be somewhat acidic.  Pinot Noir wines from the Russian River Valley of California are often medium-to-full-bodied and low in acid.  Soil characteristics also influence wine taste – a Pinot Noir wine from the Willamette Valley of Oregon is likely to be earthy (with flavors often described as “wet hay”), whereas a Pinot Noir wine from California is likely to taste predominately of ripe strawberry-like fruit. 

Region of origin is no guarantee of a wine’s taste characteristics, as individual growers can and do make choices that affect a wine’s taste.  These choices, among others, include whether or not to irrigate the crop, “green prune” the vines (i.e., remove a certain percentage of grape clusters so the vine concentrates all of its energy on the remaining clusters) and when to harvest the grapes.

Wine producers seek to differentiate  

Wine producers make a concerted effort to differentiate their wines from other producer competitors.  This may lead to an individual producer electing to produce a Pinot Noir wine that has taste characteristics more similar to a Merlot wine – full-bodied, fruity and perhaps even oaky.  This can be accomplished by using later harvest (i.e., riper) grapes.  Use of riper grapes results in wine that is less acidic, higher in alcohol and able to stand up to oak barrel aging. 

Alternatively, a producer in the same area may choose to manufacture a more Burgundy-like Pinot Noir by using earlier harvest grapes and fermenting the wine solely in steel fermentation tanks. 

With the goal of realizing certain price points for a wine, producers also choose production techniques based on the target consumer of the wine and current cost-based economic factors affecting that particular producer.

Climate and weather dramatically affect the taste of wine

Although certain wine production regions have fairly consistent climates (the Napa Valley region of California being a good example), wine grape growing conditions do vary from year to year in every region of the world. 

Perhaps there is too much rain, too little sun or an untimely hail storm one year…or alternatively, there are the “perfect” growing conditions in another year.  This will influence the taste characteristics of the wine produced.  For Pinot Noir from an individual producer, this may result in a light-bodied, acidic wine one year and a medium-bodied, low acid wine the following year.

Traditional grape-based wine classification is outmoded

Since there are many reasons to not judge a wine by its grape, what is a wine consumer to do?  We all want to buy wine we like, and we do not wish to waste money on disappointing purchases that cannot be returned once opened. 

Calldera is here to help.  By analyzing and categorizing wines according to taste characteristics versus wine grape variety, Calldera can assist even the expert wine consumer with selections matching that consumer’s individual taste preferences.  The Calldera approach means you may be recommended a Pinot Noir, a Merlot, a Bordeaux or a Nero d’ Avola wine you equally will enjoy.

The fruit flavor, independent from grape variety, indicated as “Calldera classification” on the wine’s Detail screen in the Calldera app (e.g., “t – black fruit”, where “t” is the Calldera wine category and “black fruit” is the wine’s fruit flavor) is used by the Calldera recommendation engine when deciding the order of wines it recommends to you.  You may also refer to this description to easily identify wines of a particular fruit flavor you most prefer.

By breaking away from the old, ineffective methods of traditional wine classification approaches such as grape-variety-based categorization, the novel and unique taste-based Calldera classification system enables you to cost-effectively expand your taste experiences and overall enjoyment of wine.

"Due to varying growing conditions, harvest practices and wine production techniques, wine grape variety is unequivocally not a single predictor of how a wine will taste."

 

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