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By Root 647 0

terms of sales, the Big Six grapes are so dominant in this country that you’d assume the rest of the wine grape landscape is practically off-limits to most buyers. On the contrary, it’s a buyer’s paradise. As soon as you branch out of the Big Six mainstays of Chardonnay, Cabernet, and Merlot, you have a huge price advantage. The staple grapes in the Big Six are bastions of comfort for most wine drinkers, which means wineries can comfortably charge a premium for them. But a wine made from a no-name grape, or a blend of grapes, has to go to extra lengths to convince the wary buyer. I think that’s one of the main reasons Syrah/Shiraz has come on so strong: the Aussie Shirazes in particular offered incredible prices for the quality in the 1980s and 1990s to get buyers’ attention; it worked! Some of the other value-for-money options in this wine category are similarly rewarding.

But that is just one of the virtues of the spicy family of wines. Another is that they are some of the best wines in the world with food. It all makes sense, really. Aside from amour and amore, food is what the French and Italians do better than anyone else. If you have traveled there or have European friends, you know that these cultures treat even the simplest of repasts as an art form. And while it is true that some of the world’s greatest and most expensive wines come from Europe, what most people in France and Italy drink daily is wines from spicy, no-name grapes. Considering how well they eat and drink, I think this strategy deserves some attention.

The fact is that many of the so-called no-name grapes are some of the world’s greatest in terms of the wine quality they produce. But they are not necessarily on the tip of every buyer’s tongue. First, often they are not as widely grown throughout the world as the Big Six. Second, they are often blended with other grapes and listed not under varietal names, but under regional names (which may themselves be famous). Some examples include:

Sangiovese: You might not know this red grape name, but you have probably heard of Italian Chianti, for which it is the main ingredient.

Tempranillo: As a varietal wine, this red grape is an up-and-comer, but in the Spanish regional wines Rioja and Ribera del Duero, it is world famous.

In this tasting, I will show you two of my favorite spicy wine styles, one white and one red, so you can experience the excitement first hand.

White

The Gewürztraminer (guh-VURTS-truh-mee-nuhr) Grape

For German-language speakers, this grape sends its message loud and clear. Gewürz translates to spicy, traminer means grape. And it is aptly named, as you will taste for yourself. Choose either an American or French one from the list below.

Given the grape name, you may be asking, Why no German Gewürztraminer? The surprising fact is that very little Gewürztraminer is grown in Germany. Alsace in France is the most famous region for this grape, and the United States, though a small player, makes some high-quality versions.

Red

Syrah, aka Shiraz (Suh-RAH and Shuh-RAHZ, respectively)

For me, this grape was love-at-first-taste. It has everything—luscious texture, rich flavor, full body, and of course that irresistible spice. Syrah’s traditional home is France’s Rhône Valley, between Lyon and the Mediterranean, where the vines alternately bask in the sunshine and struggle against the brutal wind called the Mistral.

Beyond France, a lot of winemakers tell me Syrah will be “the next big thing” from Washington, and it’s a definitely grown in importance in California over the last decade. Finally, under the Aussie moniker Shiraz, it is without a doubt the biggest thing Down Under, and has been for a very long time. In fact, some of the most famous Australian Shiraz wines are made from vineyards that are older than the folks who drink them—in some cases a lot older (read on for more about “old vines”). For this tasting, I will suggest selections from all three areas. It would be fun and delicious to try one wine from each place.

WATCH WASHINGTON

Syrah is hot stuff on the Washington