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Often called White Riesling, it produces aromatic wines with high acid. It has small clusters and small berries and can be left on the vine to produce late harvest wine with noble rot. The vines are very cold hardy and are grown the coolest regions of Germany, France, Austria, and Canada. It is popular on the East Coast as well.
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More popular as Petite Sirah in the U.S., this variety produces inky, black, full bodied wines. It is often used as a blender with Zinfandel. But, it is also blended in small amounts with other varieties to add color, and structure. The berries are small (petite) and the clusters are tightly packed making it highly susceptible to bunch rot. It is not considered a cold tolerant variety.
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One of the six main Bordeaux varieties, Malbec, or Cot as it is called in France, is a great stand-alone variety but normally used as a blender. It is fairly productive and provides deep color. It is grown throughout the world including France, the U.S., Argentina and Chile. However, it is not very winter hardy, so it is not recommended for regions dipping below 20 degrees F.
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The most popular white Rhone variety, Viognier is often compared with Chardonnay despite its more aromatic, perfume qualities and smaller production. The clusters are much smaller than Chardonnay, but are just as susceptible to mildews and rot. It is a cold tolerant variety, but requires a full growing season to achieve optimum ripeness. It is sometimes co-fermented with Syrah.
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Although Primitivo is considered to be the same as Zinfandel (they have the same DNA), we list Primitivo differently because this selection is a looser cluster than Zinfandel and is less susceptible to rot and other diseases. It can be used to make red and white (rose) wine. Primitivo is not as winter cold hardy as other varieties but can be planted where temperatures stay above 15 degrees F. It is a high producing variety that makes fruity wines that can be consumed at a young age.
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This is the latest ripening variety of the Bordeaux family of grapes. It produces rich colored wines with high tannins. The clusters and berries are small. It is grown throughout the world in small quantities. But, it is not considered a winter hearty variety.
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Montepulciano is notable grape variety in Italy. It is a productive, late ripening variety that likes a hot, dry growing season. It is susceptible to Winter temperatures below 20 degrees F so is not recommended in cold climates. Typically, it is used in high quality wines of Central and Southern Italy. The wines produced have a deep ruby color with moderate acidity.
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Diamond Muscat is an early season, seedless variety that can be used for eating fresh or dried to make raisins. It has a muscat flavor.
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Autumn Royal is a purple/black seedless table grape. Grown naturally, it has one of the largest berries of any seedless black variety.
