De Long’s Wine Grape Varietal Table Learn about Wine the Visual Way.
You consider yourself fairly open minded about wine. You’re familiar with the big five — Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay — and are getting comfortable with more obscure grape varieties: the occasional Albarino, Petite Sirah, or Viognier. But just when you thought you had the situation under control, your waiter suggests a Lagrein, your local liquor store is pushing Xynomavro, and your friends now swear by Pineau d’Aunis. What to do?
The popular wine reference, De long’s Wine Grape Varietal Table has been improved and expanded. Just as with the first edition, the world of wine grapes is organized in a clear, concise and easy to use reference similar to a periodic table. The table contains 184 red and white grape varieties organized by both body (vertically) and acidity (horizontally). The Wine Indexes, which help to answer the bacchanalian question “what grape are you drinking?”, now include all wine regions worldwide. To fit all the additional information in, the table is now 24 x 36 inches (printed on 110 lb. acid-free archival paper), and the indexes now comprise an 88 page perfect-bound book. The table and index book are packaged in an attractive and sturdy gift box.
It makes a great gift for novice or expert lovers of wine and is the first in the De Long’s Wine Info Series, a concise set of wine information guides.
Customer Review: Great tool
A great tool for learning about wine or consulting when tasting a new varietal. a must for the wine lover! The accompanying book tells you the grapes behind all the world’s wines.
Customer Review: A wonderful resource for wine lovers and a beautiful poster as well.
If you are interested in really exploring the world of fine wine, this beautiful Table will provide an excellent road map. STEVE’S WINE GRAPE VARIETAL TABLE is a high quality fine-art poster, and is accompanied by a very informative pocket-size book. The Table displays nearly 200 wine-grape varieties, sorted by color, body and acidity.
The Table places similar “elements” near each other, ranked with other wine grapes of similar body, acid and color, from Grenache/Garnacha way down in the dark-purple, low-acid, super-heavyweight corner to Savatiano up in the pale-greenish-gold, “flyweight” upper right.
The Table uses boxing terms to generalize about the “body of the wines.” Despite the light hearted approach, there is an enormous amount of information in the Table and in the booklet. The booklet lists thousands of wines (alphabetized by grape and by wine type within category), giving the exact grape composition of each wine.
The Table comes in a sturdy cardboard container, ready for gift-wrapping, and looks lovely framed in a plain black and gold frame, with or without matting.
If you have tasted at least a 100 wine grape varieties, stop by De Long’s Wine Century Club page and download the application form. This is an informal, light-hearted organization that meets once a year; my friend Robin Garr of the WineLovers Page is a member and sometimes a speaker at the yearly “conventions” of this fun loving group.