Grape by any other name tastes same

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What's in a name? When it comes to grapes, it depends on who you ask

Date published: 8/24/2005

HAVE YOU EVER been confused by a wine label? Do the varietals send you into a tailspin?

It's hardly surprising. Let's face it: If the whole world could decide on one name for each grape, life would be so much easier.

Esperanto for the wine world. I say we take a vote.

Without a doubt, Shiraz/Syrah is the best known example of oenological pseudonyms. The Syrah grape so famous in the Rhone is known as Shiraz in Australia. Ours is not to reason why, but it is useful to know these things when reading the blurb on the bottle.

One of my favorite grapes, Petite Sirah, a heady, peppery, powerful grape, is known in Australia as Durif. But just to add to the confusion, Petite Sirah is no longer thought to be any relation to France's Syrah.

It's not enough to change the name, though. To further cloud the issue, many grapes take on the names of other wine terms in different regions. Italy's Trebbiano grape is known elsewhere as Ugni Blanc. But in the Cognac region of France, the same grape is called St. Emilion (not to be confused with the rather fine appellation in Bordeaux).

Originally an oak-aged version of sauvignon blanc, we have Robert Mondavi to thank for the name Fume Blanc. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea in the '70s. Then again, disco music and platform shoes seemed like a good idea in the '70s.

Chenin Blanc, the beautiful, adaptable, kaleidoscopic grape of Vouvray, is also known as Pineau de la Loire. But in South Africa it becomes the rather harsh-sounding Steen.

Pinot blanc, a principal grape in the Alsace, is pinot bianco in Italy. In Germany, it becomes Weissburgunder. Auxerrois in Cahors becomes Malbec in Argentina.

Cabernet Franc, traditionally a blending grape in Bordeaux but now being increasingly made as a single varietal, is known in the Medoc (a Bordeaux appellation) as Carmenet. That's not to be confused with Carmenere, an old Bordeaux blending grape now grown principally in Chile.

The cosmopolitan grape known as Mourvedre is also known widely as Mataro. But the Spanish wine growers call it Monastrell. It's all the same grape!

Date published: 8/24/2005