Major Red Wine Varietals
Red wines run the gamut from light and tailor-made for an array of foods to robust and fairly screaming for a hearty steak. Aromas, flavors and hues are equally varied, meaning your journey to get to know popular and not-so-well-known red wines will be deliciously diverse. Let’s get started.
Check out our amazing selection of red wines!
Pinot Noir
Difficult to grow in the vineyard and make in the winery – but increasingly adored worldwide – Pinot Noir is the finicky new darling of the red wine scene. Beguilingly silky tannins, brisk acidity and medium body (read: food-ready) make Pinot Noir a crowd-pleaser; add to these charms complex aromas that evolve in the glass, and you have the makings of a superstar. Native to France’s rustic Burgundy, Pinot Noir is now grown successfully in California, Oregon, New Zealand and beyond.
Color
Pale to medium ruby; depending on age and winemaking technique, some can be tawny-hued.
Aromas & Flavors
Watch for notes of red fruits (cherry, strawberry, red currant, cranberry), rhubarb, and baking spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove); more complex renderings offer nuances of leather, earth, mushroom and barnyard, too. Most versions are oaked, a factor that contributes toast, vanilla and hazelnut aromas and flavors.
Food Pairing
Brisk acidity makes Pinot Noir one of the most food-friendly red wines you’ll find. Top pairings include mushroom-derived dishes, light meats and triple cream cheeses.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Arguably the world’s most expensive red wine (just ask the auctioneers at Sotheby’s), Cabernet Sauvignon is capable of tremendous things with bottle age. Even in its youth, tannic Cabernet is an impressive red wine, offering up complex aromas driven by dark fruits almost always backed by a spine of solid oak influence. Though the variety originally hails from Bordeaux, it’s now grown worldwide thanks to its adaptability to varied climates and undisputed popularity.
Color
Medium to deep ruby; older versions boast brick-hued nuances.
Aromas & Flavors
Depending on its origin and ripeness, Cabernet Sauvignon variously offers notes of red, blue and black fruits (think raspberry, blueberry and black currant, respectively), along with the trademark notes of oak aging: toast, vanilla, spice and hazelnut. Some versions may also offer aromas of lead pencils, espresso, tobacco, eucalyptus.
Food Pairing
Classically matched with lamb dishes, Cab works well with chewy red meats (from BBQ’d to braised preparations), pasta Bolognese, duck and hard cheeses.
Merlot
Famously mellow – though gaining increased stature thanks to conscientious winegrowing and consumer demand for more serious red wines – Merlot has medium tannins and an easy-to-like plum- and chocolate-driven flavor profile. Originally from Bordeaux, the variety was long known mostly as a blending partner to big brother Cabernet, though it’s now gaining respect worldwide on its own as a varietal wine. We definitely recommend giving Merlot another chance!
Color
Medium to deep ruby.
Aromas & Flavors
Merlot boasts attractive plum and blackberry fruit aromas complemented by oak-influenced notes of vanilla, toast and chocolate. Older and more complex versions offer complex nuances of nuts, exotic spices and herbs. In general, Merlot can be described as having a sweet, fruity flavor profile.
Food Pairing
Plummy, often soft Merlot calls for less chewy meats than Cab; look to burgers, Portobello mushroom dishes, pork and medium-soft cheeses for ideal matches.
Zinfandel
Nowhere is Zinfandel more appreciated than in California, where it makes jammy, fruit-forward reds with unapologetically sappy texture. But the variety is actually native to Croatia and widely grown in southern Italy, where it goes by its synonym, Primitivo. No matter: this easy-drinking medium- to full-bodied red wine might as well be tailor-made for pairing with pizza and BBQ, and takes center stage whenever casual fare and events (think ball games) are on the menu.
Color
Medium brick to deep ruby.
Aromas & Flavors
Zinfandel comes in a variety of intensity levels, from lighter red fruit-driven versions up to black fruit-backed offerings built for aging. Ripe, even jammy fruit is a constant, as is high alcohol and low-medium acidity. Look for tar, spice – pepper, herb and brown iterations – and vanilla, cola, mocha and toast from oak.
Food Pairing
Thanks to a jammy, sweet flavor profile backed by spice notes, Zinfandel is an ideal match for pizza, tomato-driven dishes, BBQ and sausages. Game on!
Syrah
Crafted variously in meaty, smoky versions and sweeter, oak-driven interpretations, Syrah is always nearly opaque in hue and high in alcohol. It’s a power wine bar none, and calls for foods and occasions that respond accordingly. Believed to hail from the Middle East, Syrah is nowhere more famous than in France’s Rhône Valley, where it figures in coveted Hermitage and Châteauneuf-du-Pape reds. California is a new, promising home for this red variety.
Color
Deep ruby to purple-black.
Aromas & Flavors
In cooler climates, Syrah offers reduced, plum-driven fruit aromas backed by assertive meat, pepper and smoke notes. In warmer spots, it producers riper, sappier versions with black fruit notes rounded by sweet oak influences including vanilla, toast and mocha. Aussie versions offer trademark blueberry aromas.
Food Pairing
Thanks to healthy tannins and trademark meat, smoke and pepper notes, Syrah pairs beautifully with peppered meats, grilled fare, meaty pizzas and pastas.
Other Red Wines
Sangiovese
The darling red of Italy’s Chianti district, Sangiovese is a medium-bodied red with a structure similar to that of Pinot Noir. Red fruit-driven and medium in body, the variety produces reds of varying depth of character, though they’re almost always charming on the table thanks to bright acidity and a pleasant herbal/spice quality.
Petite Sirah
Genetic offspring of the long-famous Syrah (Petite Sirah roughly translates to small-berried Syrah), this variety is anything but diminutive, gaining massive color and tannin due to a low grape skin-to-fruit ratio. Look for black fruit flavors backed by sweet spice, rock, tar and char notes in this popular California red wine.
Cabernet Franc
Along with Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc is a parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. Structurally, however, it’s smaller, boasting medium food-friendly tannins and brisk acidity, with flavors of blue and black fruits often backed by twiggy, herbal and floral undertones. A star in France’s Loire Valley, it’s cropping up elsewhere.
Nebbiolo
The star in Italian Barolo and Barbaresco reds, Nebbiolo is an aromatically enchanting wine with bold tannins that render it a stellar cellar selection. Versions made in warmer climates such as California are softer renderings, but still aromatically profound; look for notes of rose, tobacco, tar, tea and spice.
Grenache
A Mediterranean variety that’s widely grown in southern France and throughout Spain, Grenache is a hearty, medium-bodied red offering compelling aromas of herbs and spice alongside stewed or reduced plum and bramble fruit notes. Often blended with Syrah, Grenache is a popular variety for rosé production, too.
Barbera
Popularly known as "the people’s grape" in its native Italy, Barbera is a round, medium-bodied variety that marries ripe red cherry and black fruit with soft tannins and bright acidity. Like Pinot Noir, it’s a fantastic red for food pairing, and usually boasts a good dollop of oak influence – hence its vanilla and toast notes.
Malbec
Long a little-known blending grape in Bordeaux and solo star in obscure reds from France’s Cahors, it’s now the main show in reds in Argentina. California, too, is crafting compelling versions of this deeply-hued, intensely flavored red boasting lots of plum, black fruit, dried rose, mocha, tobacco, cola and licorice.
Gamay
The signature grape of France’s Beaujolais region, Gamay is a charming, straightforward red with low tannins, a twiggy rusticity and bright red fruit to spare. The lightest versions are super young Beaujolais nouveau bottlings, though more intense, even cellar-worthy versions are crafted in France and beyond.
Tempranillo
Undoubtedly Spain’s most famous red, Tempranillo is a medium-bodied marked by signature red fruit and tobacco notes. Underpinning its flavor profile is almost always significant oak influence, which brings notes of baking spice, cola, vanilla, licorice and toast to the mix. Well liked, it’s increasingly grown throughout Spain.
Dolcetto
Native to northwestern Italy’s Piedmont, Dolcetto is a pleasant, morello cherry-flavored red that boasts likeable medium acidity and tannins. Versions made outside Italy vary in character and depth of flavor, though red fruits are generally signature, as are mellow spice and tea notes, along with some oak influence.
Courtney Cochran is an entrepreneur and author living in San Francisco. Her book, Hip Tastes: The Fresh Guide to Wine (Viking Studio), was named the Georges Duboeuf Wine Book of the Year. Find her on Twitter (@HipTastesMaven) and at courtneycochran.com.
