Willamette Valley Wines and Grape Varieties
*Predominant Varieties
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Albarino - the Galician name for grape, used to make dry white wine, suggests apricot and peach with scents of almonds
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Arneis - native to Italy's Piedmont region, a light to medium bodied wine, suggests apples, pears, and almond aromas and flavor
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Auxerrios - names after the city of Auxerre in Burgandy, makes a dry white wine with a muxky aroma and suggests citrus, a descendant of a Pinot noir and Gouais blanc cross
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Baco noir - a medium body, deep tinted red wine, a cross of Vitis vinifera and Vitis riparia, rustic and smoky
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Barbera - variety from Monferrato in Piedmonte, Italy, medium to heavy bodied red wine, suggests flavors of berry
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*Cabernet Franc - red wine grape, suggests raspberry, plum, cherry, vanilla with a peppery perfume, bright paile red in color
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*Cabernet Sauvignon - red grape, suggests leather,violets, spice, cedar, and chocolate
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Carmene're - grape grown to produce deep red wines, deep and smoky
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Chenin blanc - grapes that make a crisp and dry white wine that smell like black currants, suggests bell pepper, green olive, and ginger
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*Chardonnay - a green grape that is a cross between Pinot and Croatian Gouais blanc varieties, is the major component in Champagne, suggests apples, peaches and lemons
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Dolcetto - grape that means "little sweet one", the wine is a fruity and robust bright reddish purple, suggsts blackberry and blueberry
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Ehrenfelser - white wine grape that is a cross of reisling and sylvaner, makes a dry wine with fruity flavors
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Gamay noir - a black grape that makes a bluish purple wine with fruity flavors and aromas of bananas, wines are typically light bodied
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*Gewurztraminer - aromatic white wine grape known for spicy characteristics, suggests lychees-nut, mango flavor, wines are light to dark golden yellow, excellent with fruit and cheeses
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Grenache - most widely planted red wine grape, characteristics are rustic, sweet, that suggests black currant and blackberry
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Gruner Veltliner - white wine variety known as the source for dry Reislings, suggests citrus and peach with tabacco
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Lemberger - fruity and acidic red wine
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Malbec - black grape variety, blended with Merlot and Carbernet Sauvignon in the making of Bordeax wine, can be very deep colored with a plum flavor
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Madeleine Angevine - hybrid grape used in producing light white wines, floral citus characteristics
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Mare'chal Foch - red wine grape variety, deep purple wine, light-medium structure, characteristis of dark berry
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Melon - white grape variety that was mistaken for Pinot blanc, acidic wine with citus fruit characteristics, best known in the wine Muscadet
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*Merlot - red wine grape that makes a wine that suggests currant, black cherry, berry and plum, caramel and green olive
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*Muller-Thurgau - white wine grape by Dr. Muller from the Swis Canton of Thurgau, he crossed Reisling and Sylvaner grapes, wine from the grape is usually dry and has a slight aroma
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Muscat - family of grapes that range in color, the wine is the basis of some brandy and liqueur
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Nebbiolo - large, dark, grape that is considered a great wine sought after by collectors, it is one of the most important grapes vaieties of Italy's Piedmont region, means "fog", used to make Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, and Ghemme, wine is light red with scents of roses and tar
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Petite Sirah - important blending grape chosed to blend with zinfandel, the grape istelf has characteristics of black pepper, and blackberry
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Petit Verdot - red wine grape blended in Bordeaux, aromas of banana with tones of violet and leather, deep purple color, primarily used in small amounts in other blends
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Pinot Auxerrois - another copy of Pinot noir, a white grape not to be confused with Auxirrios noir, a dry wine with a musky aroma, characteristics of citrus and floral
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*Pinot blanc - a white wine grape, a clone of pinot gris, the grape is very light and nearly neutral, flavors found are almond and apple, can be either dry or sweet, often confused with Chardonnay
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*Pinot gris - grapes are bluish grey to light pinkish brown, very sweet and is used to blend with Pinot Noir to add richness and to lighten, flavors are lemon, apple with some floral aromas, can be tangy and light, rich, or bull bodied, dry white wine
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Pinot Meunier - a black wine grape, a mutation of Pinot Noir, blended to give fruitiness and brightness to Champaigne, flavors are cherry and apple, aromas of brown spice, truffle, cinnamon, and currant
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*Pinot noir - a red wine grape, also a wine with a light to medium body, aroma of currant and black cherry, often blended in Champagne and other sparkling wines, oldest of the grapes used for wine
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*Riesling - a white grape, floral and apple-peach aroma, a crisp refreshing and versatile wine
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Rotberger - a red wine grape, blended to produce a rose' and sparkling wines
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Sangiovese - a red wine grape, medium bodied, characteristics of strawberry, blueberry, orange, and plum with thyme and cinnamon, used to make red wine such as Chianti
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*Sauvignon blanc - a wine grape with green skin originated for the Bordeaux region of France, means "wild white", characteristics of grass, grapefruit, and bell-pepper, tangy, tart, and zesty
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Semillon - berry is a rich yellow with aromas and flavors of lemon, fig, pear, saffron, and bell pepper, makes up of up to 80% of the blend in famous desert wines, used to make dry and sweet white wines
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Seyval blanc - a hybrid cross of Seibel 5656 and Seibel 4986grown to make a crisp white wines, a good alternative to Chardonnay and Sauvignon, flavors and aromas of citrus fruits
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Siegerrebe - white wine grape that is a hybrid of Madeleine d'Angevine and Gewurztraminer, used for blending purposes in small percentages, has a smooth body, flavor, and finish
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Sylvaner - white wine grape that can produce elegant wine, it is quite sweet and blended often with Riesling or Elbling
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*Syrah - the berry is almost black and thick-skinned, offspring of Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche, only grape used to make Rhone wines of Cote Rotie and Hermitage, wines are deep violet, chewey texture, more spice than fruity
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*Tempranillo - variety of Vitis vinifera, a red grape, meads "early" in Spanish, because it ripens several weeks earlier that most red varieties, thick-skinned black grape used to make full-bodied red wines, aromas and flavors are berryish fruit, hervaceousness, and earthy-leather
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Tocai Friulano - a dry white wine, pale straw-yellow color, suggests pears and wildflowers, flavors are herbs and citrus
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Vidal blanc - most versatile varietals in North American viticulture, the grapes produce lage clusters of thick-skinned berries with wines with fruity floral characteristics, produces luscious Icewines, flavors are mango, pineapple and ripe melon
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*Viognier - white wine grape, only grape permitted for French wine Condrieu, sometimes used to add fragrance and to soften and lighten the syrah in Cote Rotie, rich complex aroma like overripe apricots mixed with orange blossoms or acacia, anise, mint, and tobacco, fruit flavors and a creamy mouthfeel, can be as full-bodied as an oaky Cardonnay with less fruit characteristics
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*Zinfindel - red-skinned wine grape known for intense fruitiness, lush texture and high alcohol content, a clone of Croatian variety Crljenak, nearly as vesatile as Chardonnay, the red wine can be make light and fruity, or lively, complex and age worthy like Cabernet, it is the component of most California "jug" wines, flavors and aromas are raspberry, blackberry, black cherry, licorice, nettle, briar, cinnamon, and black pepper
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Zweigelt - a berryish red wine grape, it is a hybrid of Blaufrankisch and St. Laurent, wine is full-bodied and can be age worthy