Is it a grape? Is it a place? Part 2: Europe

From Rioja to Riesling

Jul 25, 2024

First of all, a quick thanks to all the people who have subscribed to Truffles & Tannins in the past week. It’s been exciting to see this little project growing, and getting some nice feedback along the way! (Albeit most of the feedback is from my friends, who are nice to me by definition.)

One of the things I think might be a challenge with this new medium is pitching the right level for my audience – without necessarily knowing who my audience is. Last week, I started by breaking down what some of the most famous French wines actually are – in most cases, they’re the name of a vine-growing region that generally produces a specific grape variety (e.g. Chablis = Chardonnay from northern Burgundy). This week, I’m going to finish what I started by doing the same exercise for some other famous European wines that don’t come from France. So far, pretty straightforward.

However, I’ve got some other ideas for articles that might assume a little more base knowledge. And others that are less educational, more “what to drink this weekend”. In fact, that last one was a request from a reader, which I love. If you have requests for wine wisdom you’d like to see over here, please drop me a comment!

Rioja

The word Rioja on a wine list conjures up hearty reds that you might order with a steak. But what actually is it? La Rioja is region in northern Spain squeezed between a couple of mountain ranges, although technically Rioja wines can be made from nearby Navarre and Álava as well. The predominant grape in Rioja is Tempranillo, which crops up in lots of other regions in Spain and Portugal. But Rioja isn’t a single varietal wine – there are often small quantities of other red grapes in the blend as well.

There’s also such a thing as “white Rioja” (which is funny because we never talk about “red Rioja”. It’s a bit like “women’s football” versus men’s football, which is always just called “football” for some reason. But excuse the feminist digression.) Obviously, white Rioja is made from completely different (white) grapes and is also delicious, but far less commonly seen in shops and on wine lists – so we’ll leave that one for another time. (The parallels with women’s football continue!)

Chianti

Whenever I hear the word Chianti, my brain immediately starts singing a song by a 90s Britpop band called Sleeper:

“And then we both settled down to our favourite meal,
D'you fancy veal parmesan and a case of warm Chianti?”

The sugar daddy in the song (Nice Guy Eddy) sounds particularly unappealing, and it’s perhaps for that reason I never really got into Chianti when I was younger (don’t worry, I’m into pretty much everything now). Once again, Chianti is a region – this time around and between the cities of Florence and Siena in Tuscany – and the predominant grape in its red wines is called Sangiovese. Chianti itself is sub-divided into the traditional centre of the region – known as Chianti Classico – and the rest of Chianti.

Italian wine fact: whenever you see the word “Classico” on a wine label, it’s referring to the original, historical heart of a wine region that generally has stricter production rules and makes higher quality wines.

Valpolicella

In fact, the same is true of Valpolicella, which is also a wine region in Italy – and you’ll also see “Valpolicella Classico” as opposed to regular Valpolicella. The region’s red wines (I’ve just realised we’re leaning heavily towards reds this week) are principally made from a grape called Corvina in an area just north of Verona. Valpolicella wines are generally lighter and fruitier than Chianti wines – which is in part to do with the differing qualities of Corvina grapes as opposed to Sangiovese grapes. Are you still following?

Riesling

Let’s leave Italy now (I was going to include Barolo but I’m starting to get confused myself) and look at a white wine, just for a change. By now, you might be thinking I’m about to tell you Riesling is a region because every other wine in this list has been. Beware: it’s a trap! Riesling is indeed a grape, but it’s become so synonymous with Germany that sometimes the two feel interchangeable.

That’s probably because Riesling originated in Germany (around the Rhine, I believe), but nowadays you’ll find it in similar climates the world over, from Alsace and Austria to Australia and New Zealand. Riesling can be used to make many different styles of wine – from light-bodied, aromatic, bone-dry whites to rich, honied, sweet wines. Some are designed to drink young; others can age for decades. In short, it’s a grape that wine people go nuts over because it’s so versatile and expressive.

Useful links for buying wines online

Based on feedback from my last article, I’ve included links to buy these wines within the body of the text above (they’re all from one website, so if you order a few of them you’ll get free delivery if you reach €75). However, I do realise that my readers aren’t all based in one country – so if you’re not in the Netherlands, these links might not be much help.

I’ve therefore included several reliable wine websites where I’ve bought wine in the past in the Benelux, the UK and the US. Note that some of these are affiliate links, which means I make a small commission if you buy from them. This in no way affects the wines I recommend, but it does help me to keep up an increasingly expensive tasting habit!