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Common Wine Varietals

How many of the most commonly used Vitis Vinifera grapes can you name?
Taken from Wine Spectator
Quiz by yankeh
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Last updated: March 25, 2015
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First submittedOctober 10, 2012
Times taken8,831
Average score27.3%
Rating4.00
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Varietal
Barbera
Brunello
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Sauvignon
Carignan
Carmenere
Charbono
Chardonnay
Chenin Blanc
Varietal
Dolcetto
Gamay
Gewürztraminer
Grenache
Grüner Veltliner
Malbec
Marsanne
Merlot
Varietal
Mourvèdre
Muscat
Nebbiolo
Petite Sirah
Pinot Blanc
Pinot Grigio
Pinot Noir
Riesling
Varietal
Sangiovese
Sauvignon Blanc
Sémillon
Syrah
Tempranillo
Trebbiano
Viognier
Zinfandel
+1
Level 70
Oct 10, 2012
Can moscato please be accepted for muscat?
+1
Level 60
Oct 10, 2012
I've added it. Now it's up to the moderators to approve it.
+1
Level 77
May 19, 2014
But Moscato is a special sparkling wine. Moscato d'Asti. Not a grape variety.
+3
Level 37
Aug 8, 2014
moscato is the italian word for muscat, same grape. not unlike syrah/shiraz
+1
Level 50
Jan 9, 2013
Should be able to use Semillion on a regular keyboard since the accent is a bit tricky to add.
+1
Level 60
Jan 11, 2013
The accent is not required. There is no second i in Semillon. If I get any more commenters who spelled it that way I will add it as an acceptable spelling.
+1
Level 92
Jul 23, 2014
I added the extra i after the double Ls, because I remebered it as "that one that always reminds me of the Silmarillion."
+1
Level 66
Mar 28, 2020
And I remember Silmarillion as Similarion haha (no joke)
+1
Level 66
Mar 28, 2020
(None of which should be confused with semolina)
+1
Level 48
Jun 15, 2014
Ugh--apparently I didn't know there are 2 R's in Mourvedre...
+2
Level 37
Aug 8, 2014
Can't believe there's no petite verdot. It's one of the grapes in almost all Bordeaux reds. Also surprised not to see vidal blanc, seyval blanc or chambourcin. The bottom 10 I missed were all Italian. Guess it's time to try some new wine.
+1
Level 75
Jan 16, 2015
Fun quiz, but I was happy to get 8. Only missed three that I'd ever remotely heard of.
+1
Level 83
Jun 7, 2015
What about rioja? Or can you accept rioja as an alternative to tempranillo?
+1
Level 50
Jan 23, 2024
9 years later but rioja is a region in spain rather than a grape variety
+3
Level 83
Jun 8, 2015
24%, my worst quiz performance ever
+2
Level 84
Sep 18, 2017
6/33 - 18%. Pretty lame. Guess I need to stick to beer.
+1
Level 89
Feb 7, 2020
Something better.

Grape juice + vinegar + a splash of vodka = wine

+1
Level 78
Oct 21, 2015
No Valpolicello or Montepulciano or Shiraz? I'm sure I'm slaughtering their spellings...
+1
Level 65
Dec 3, 2018
Valpolicella is a region, Corvina is the primary grape. Some consider Montepulciano its own grape, but it's pretty much just a regionalized Sangiovese clone.
+1
Level 68
Jul 28, 2021
Shiraz is a different name for Syrah, although I do think it should be accepted if it isn't.
+1
Level 95
Oct 2, 2016
Glad to have performed 52%
+2
Level 71
May 15, 2017
Thanks for the quiz. Brunello should be removed - it is not a grape.
+2
Level 62
Jul 1, 2017
I second the fact that you have to remove brunello. Although the sangiovese grape is sometimes called brunello because it is the grape used for it, you can not have both on the list and sangiovese is correct
+1
Level 34
Jun 2, 2018
(Agree Brunello is not a grape). A good idea but rather random selection.

If you have Austrian Gruner Veltliner then you should also have Blaufrankisch.

Equally common varietals could be Durif, Roussillon, Tannat, Sylvaner, Primitivo (alternative for Zinfandel), Petit Verdot, Torrontes, Ugni Blanc, Touriga Nacional, Verdejo, Albarino (Alvarinho), Cinsault, Marsanne

+2
Level 74
Dec 11, 2020
You shouldn't accept "grüner" for "Grüner Veltliner", the word means "green", if anything, you should accept "Veltliner". Also "Traminer" should be accepted for "Gewürztraminer", it's often used to refer to "Gewürztraminer".
+1
Level 69
Jun 2, 2021
Petit Syrah is also known as durif
+1
Level 76
Nov 17, 2022
Please accept Primitivo for Zinfandel, that's how it's known in Italy
+1
Level 56
Dec 12, 2023
I typed in tens of varietals that were not accepted (e.g. short names Fer, Ruche, Bual). IMHO, every grape on Delong's Grape Varietal chart should be accepted, 184 varietals. Go easy on spelling, accept Xynomavro, Xinomavro and Xinomave, Greek grapes deserve some attention :=)