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Over 100 alternative grape varieties explained

Emerging Varietal Wines of Australia - Darby Higgs

Robyn Lewis

Grapes from some of the best vineyards in Australia [©Winepros/VisitVineyards.com]

Think you know your grapes? Subtitled "a guide for the adventurous winelover", Emerging Varietal Wines of Australia describes over 100 lesser-known wine grape varieties that have found their way to Australian shores - and of which you may never have heard or drunk.

There are several thousand named varieties globally, beyond the Top 10 (or 12) commercial varieties that are marketed and which we all recognise.

Many vines arrived as cuttings in ships with immigrants from Europe, some as early as the 1790s, beginning the first big vineyard planting wave in the 1820s. More followed in the 1900s, and not suprisingly a large proportion of them are of Italian origin.

Even more recently they have been followed by obscure vines from Spain, France, Eastern Europe and elsewhere around the Meditteranean, now passing through strict quarantine control.

The author, Darby Higgs, claims these 'new' varieties are set to transform the Australian wine industry, in no small part due to global warming. So, what are they, and why should we drink them?

First he tackles the question - what is an alternative variety? The Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show excludes the following whites: Chardonnay, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Traminer and Colombard; and the reds Pinot Noir, Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache. Higgs disagrees, claiming at least four are not sufficently known or planted across Australia to qualify as mainstream (Chenin Blanc, Colombard, Traminer/Gewurtztraminer, and Grenache).

To further complicate matters (we're still on page two), of the 100 or more that follow, five may now be considered to be planted so widely that they are no longer alternative: Pinot Gris/Grigio, Sangiovese, Verdelho, Viognier and Grenache (which must be growing on the fence).

The next 70 pages describe varieties from Albarino to Zinfandel, and even one obscure specimen named after its year of introduction - 1893, with a list of regions and wineries using each variety. By Higg's admission the book is a 'data dump' - the remaining sections give the same information, by winery and then by region. This is interesting if you like lists, but it doesn't go much further.

Like all lists, it is better placed on the internet (and indeed VisitVineyards.com contains much of this information, independently collated by us, which can be found via the advanced search - simply search wines by variety). However, we don't claim to have them all; this book is home for the more obscure and his updates are kept at Vinodiversity.com.

His site is somewhat easier to use than the book, as you can see all the varieties at a glance, but if it lists varieties by region then I can't find where (it does by vineyards within regions, but this creates a lot of repetition). However, it's searchable, has lists of the extemely rare, recipes for ten dishes to serve with Sangiovese, and various winemaker's takes, largely on the Durif variety (perhaps this wine encourages volubility).

As much as I enjoy drinking Sangiovese, I have yet to sample an Australian example that matches even a medium quality Chianti and to date I also remain underwhelmed by Durif. To me, the question of how these varieties might change the face of Australian viticulture remains unanswered (and undebated).

Yes, our climate is certainly drier, and getting warmer, but show me a shiraz vine that cannot endure climatic extremes - after all, shiraz (syrah) evolved in south west Iran, where the annual rainfall is between 14-18 inches (350-450 mm), falling over 24 rain days per year, almost all of which are in winter. (Just slightly wetter than Tasmania, where I live, which grows magnificent Pinot Noir - often without irrigation).

However, variety is certainly the spice of life, and one's table would be poorer indeed if all we have to eat were say four meats and six vegs, and twelve wines to drink - for a whole year. I love to experiment and I look forward to the day when some of these varieties find their true climatic homes in Antipodean soils, and produce wines of quality that speak of not only their new terrior, but of themselves and their history.

One thing is for sure - they were brought to our shores because they were someone's treasures, and perhaps their hopes and dreams, and it is our viticulturalists' responsibility to conserve them - which they will only do if we consumers drink them. So enjoy finding and trying a new variety soon!

Emerging Varietal Wines of Australia is self-published by the author Darby Higgs (2005) and is printed on demand. Copies can be obtained from orders@booksurge.com. RRP is A$22 including postage within Australia.

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