The Periodic Table of Wine

Sicily's lightest, most perfumed red. Violet, wild strawberry, rose. Blended with Nero d'Avola in Cerasuolo di Vittoria. Often called the "Sicilian Pinot Noir."

The heartbreak grape. Silky, ethereal, red fruits and damp earth. Burgundy's crown jewel. Base for Champagne. Notoriously site-sensitive — the most terroir-transparent red.

Dry despite the "dolce" name. Bitter-almond finish, licorice, deep ruby. Piedmontese bistro wine — drunk young and happily while Barolo and Barbaresco age for a decade.

Light, silky, raspberry and floral. Provence rosé backbone. Parent of Pinotage (crossed with Pinot Noir). Low tannin, elegant in the right hands. Thrives in the Midi.

Mission grape brought by Spanish missionaries. Chile's oldest vine variety. Light, earthy, sour cherry. Old-vine revival underway. Listán Negro in the Canary Islands.

Jura's more structured light red. Cranberry, blood orange, savoury earth. Bastardo in Portugal. Grown on rare gravel plots around Arbois. Alpine finesse with a wild edge.

Nerello Mascalese's softer partner on Etna. Deeper in colour, lower in acid, rounder and fleshier. Usually a minority blending grape in Etna Rosso. Rarely bottled alone, and worth finding when it is.

Pyrazine and graphite. Leafy, violet, cool raspberry. Loire's Chinon and Bourgueil. Essential blending grape in Bordeaux. Increasingly bottled solo as a varietal worldwide.

Soft, juicy plum and blackberry. Abruzzo specialty — not to be confused with the Tuscan town. Great food-friendly acidity, moderate tannin, and consistent great value.

NW Spain's most aromatic red. Floral, minerally, fresh. Bierzo and Ribeira Sacra granite soils. Often compared to Pinot Noir. Gaining rapid global critical traction.

Valpolicella base: cherry, almond, light body. But dried for Amarone it becomes inky, chocolatey, magnificent. One grape, two completely different wine identities.

Aromatic Douro Port blending variety. Rose petal, violet, bright red fruit. Small plots. Increasing attention as a single-variety Douro table wine. Fragrant and charming.

Austria's most planted red. Blaufränkisch × St. Laurent cross from 1922. Juicy sour cherry, soft tannin, peppery lift. Best served slightly chilled. Endlessly gluggable.

Sun-loving, high-alcohol red. Raspberry, garrigue, kirsch. Core of Châteauneuf-du-Pape blends. Garnacha in Spain. Old-vine expressions deliver extraordinary complexity.

Valpolicella and Amarone secondary grape. Dark cherry, almond, dried herbs. Accepts drying (appassimento) well. Adds colour and structure to Valpolicella blends.

Alpine powerhouse. Bitter chocolate, blueberry, smoky. Grown only around Bolzano. Rare and rewarding. Lagrein Rosato (rosé) is equally prized by those in the know.

Intense, dark, bitter cherry and blackberry. Campo Rotaliano plain. Called Rebo when crossed with Merlot. Parent of Lagrein and Marzemino. Deeply local, increasingly noticed.

Rare Rioja blender. High acid, deep colour, floral, licorice. Now bottled solo by adventurous producers. Exciting single-varietal potential. Preserves freshness in warm vintages.

Central Europe's great red. Blackberry, white pepper, slate minerality, brisk acidity. Kékfrankos in Hungary, Lemberger in Germany. Increasingly rated among Europe's finest.

Spain's third most planted red, long dismissed as bulk fodder. Old bush vines at altitude give inky colour, blackberry, high acid and real freshness. A serious quality revival is underway.

California icon. Genetically identical to Primitivo. Jammy blackberry, pepper, high alcohol. Also makes sweet White Zinfandel rosé. Old vine Dry Creek Zinfandel is magnificent.

Lost Bordeaux variety rediscovered in Chile. Bell pepper, dark plum, smoked paprika. Chile's own identity grape since DNA confirmation in 1994. Colchagua Valley at its best.

Sicily's flagship red. Rich chocolate, licorice, warm spice. Thrives in extreme Sicilian heat. Sometimes blended with Frappato for Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOC.

Genetically identical to Zinfandel. Jammy, rustic, warm spices. Puglia powerhouse. Primitivo di Manduria DOCG makes rich, age-worthy expressions of real character.

Portugal's noblest grape. Floral, dark fruit, structured depth. The heart of Vintage Port and great Douro table wines. Deep violet, black olive, extraordinary longevity.

Croatia's flagship red — offspring of Zinfandel (Tribidrag/Crljenak). Dried fig, carob, Mediterranean herbs, high alcohol. Dingač's vertiginous coastal slopes are legendary.

Named for the donkey that once carried its enormous early yields. Almost extinct by 1990. Deep purple, black cherry, savoury herbs, surprising freshness for the Puglian heat.

Late-ripening Bordeaux blender. Inky violet, pepper, leather, violets. Rarely bottled solo in Europe but thrives as a varietal in New World heat. Adds deep colour to blends.

Old-vine Languedoc and Priorat staple. Acidic, tannic, black fruit, dark spice. Needs warmth to shine. Increasingly prized at low yields. A natural wine darling in the Midi.

SA's own: Pinot Noir × Cinsault cross. Smoky, earthy, unique. Unique to South Africa. Loves the braai culture. Controversial but deeply cherished. Cape Blend cornerstone.

"Black and bitter" in Greek-Latin hybrid. Dark, earthy, Mediterranean herbs and tobacco. Salento's red heart. Aleatico Rosso is a cousin. Sunset in a glass from hot Puglia.

Etna's great red. Silky texture, smoky volcanic minerality. Red fruit, incense, high acid. Basket-trained vines on lava soil up to 1000m. Sicily's answer to Barolo.

Durif in France — a Syrah × Peloursin cross. Opaque, blueberry, black pepper, gripping tannin. California old-vine plantings are treasured. Stains the glass and the teeth.

"The Barolo of the South." Taurasi DOCG on volcanic Campanian soils. Tar, dark fruits, fierce tannins. Needs years to reveal its profound, underrated beauty.

Scientifically the world's most phenolically tannic grape. Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG. Black fruit, leather, tobacco. A decade minimum in bottle. Also sweet passito style.

Portugal's most acidic and tannic red. Sour cherry, tobacco, savage structure. Bairrada's backbone. Long-lived beyond most expectations. Luís Pato its most celebrated champion.

Tannic, bitter cherry, plum, earthy rusticity. Friuli-Venezia Giulia specialty. Ancient northeastern Italian variety. Dense and age-worthy with real rustic charm.

Fierce Venetian red. Sky-high acidity, savage tannins, sour cherry. Treviso province rarity. Needs years in bottle. One of Italy's most demanding and characterful grapes.

"Acid-black" — Greece's answer to Nebbiolo. Tomato leaf, dried rose, olive, ferocious tannin and acidity. Naoussa and Amyndeon. Pale in colour, immense in structure. Ages decades.

"Black stallion" in Slavic. Opaque, dense, blackberry and bitter chocolate with muscular tannin. The Balkans' flagship red, grown across Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.