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Sagrantino is an Italian grape variety indigenous to the region of Umbria. It is vigorous yet low-yielding vine. It flowers early, but requires a long hot season to ripen.
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Like Sangiovese and Montepulciano, Barbera is one of the more popular grape varieties of Italy. It is very productive with tight clusters and large berries. It also benefits from a long, hot, dry growing season. It is not suitable to cold winter temperatures. The wines are a deep, ruby red with higher acidity. This makes it a good wine to pair with food.
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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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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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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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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.
