Grapes Index: Forward to Chardonnay – Forward to Merlot
Back to Winemaking – Back to Countries
Image source: thespruceeats.com
| Globally there are around 80 species of the Vitus genus with two sub-genera – Muscadinia and Euvitis. Most of today’s grapevines are of the Euvitus sub-genera, which itself has three groups – north American (20 species), East Asian (55 species) and Eurasian (one species). |
Grapes Index:
In total there are 10,000 different varieties of grape that have been identified:
- wine expert Jancis Robinson reviewed 1,368 of these in her 2012 Wine Grapes book
- www.wine-searcher.com lists 1,034 grapes and grape-blends
- Wikipedia lists 831 grape varieties – 429 red, 396 white and 6 rosé
- University of California Davis lists 575 grapes, (237 black, 5 grey, 4 rosé, 30 red, 199 white, 100 not showb) and identifying 361 of these as wine grapes.
- we chose to look instead at the wine-growing areas and vineyards and then logged the presence within them as featuring 590 wine grape varieties – 276 reds/rosés and 314 whites
Image source: www.winery-sage.com/
Our research placed thirteen wine grapes as the most widespread, by their presence in growing-areas around the world.
The OIV, International Organisation of Vine and Wine, states that the top thirteen grape varieties are responsible for one-third of all of today’s grapevines, and that the top thirty-three grapes are responsible for 50% of all wine production.
Our detected top thirteen:
| Type | Grape | Total Areas | Total countries |
| W | Chardonnay | 178 | 35 |
| R | Cabernet Sauvignon | 156 | 31 |
| R | Merlot | 135 | 33 |
| R | Pinot noir | 122 | 35 |
| W | Sauvignon blanc | 119 | 30 |
| R | Syrah/Shiraz | 103 | 25 |
| W | Pinot gris/Grigio | 89 | 26 |
| W | Muscat | 88 | 36 |
| R | Cabernet Franc | 79 | 28 |
| W | Riesling | 75 | 27 |
| W | Pinot blanc | 68 | 30 |
| R | Malbec | 50 | 16 |
| W | Gewürztraminer | 43 | 19 |
Click on the grape name to see more…
Showing the range of wine colours:
Image source: winefolly.com
Our next twenty-five most-present grapes:
Our research found that the next twenty-five most-frequently-planted grapes were:
| Type | Grape | Total Areas | Total countries |
| W | Malvasia | 43 | 8 |
| R | Tempranillo | 39 | 12 |
| R | Grenache/Garnacha | 36 | 14 |
| W | Viognier | 31 | 14 |
| W | Chenin Blanc | 29 | 10 |
| R | Sangiovese | 28 | 9 |
| R | Touriga Nacional | 28 | 8 |
| R | Petit Verdot | 25 | 13 |
| R | Tannat | 25 | 11 |
| W | Sémillon | 24 | 10 |
| W | Müller-Thurgau | 23 | 11 |
| W | Welschriesling | 23 | 7 |
| W | Traminer | 22 | 9 |
| R | Zweigelt | 21 | 9 |
| R | Mourvèdre/Monastrell | 21 | 8 |
| W | Muscat Ottonel | 21 | 7 |
| R | Barbera | 20 | 10 |
| W | Aligoté | 19 | 9 |
| R | Gamay | 19 | 9 |
| W | Tămâioasă Românească | 19 | 5 |
| W | Arinto/Pedernã | 19 | 3 |
| W | Albariño/Alvarinho | 18 | 11 |
| R | Carignan/Cariñena | 18 | 8 |
| W | Ugni Blanc | 16 | 8 |
| And, a special case | |||
| W | Cava |
Vine leaves; Image source: uk.pinterest.com
Grapes Index: Forward to Chardonnay – Forward to Merlot
Back to Winemaking – Back to Countries
