5 UNDERRATED Red Wine Grape Varieties (You MUST Try!)

Hi everybody, this is Agnes from No Sediment and today we're going to talk about five underrated red grape varieties that deserve way more attention from us wine lovers. Grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Pinot Noir have almost like this big brand status. If we don't necessarily drink these wines, we most certainly have heard about them. And most importantly, they are very easy to find in almost every retail store and restaurant wine list. But there are so many other great red grape varieties that are just as fine, complex and age-worthy as the previously mentioned ones. Yet they are rarely praised and some of them are very hard to find. So today I wanted to highlight some of these grapes and introduce some diversity. So here are five underrated red grape varieties. Grenache or Garnacha is a beautiful red grape variety that is relatively widely planted, yet it rarely appears on the wine labels. Therefore we might actually be appreciating it way more than we think without even realizing it. Cote d'Uron, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Priorat and even Rioja red wines can have great percentage of Garnacha grape in their blends, yet we often forget to praise it. Garnacha is an old grape variety believed to be originated in the territory of present-day Spain. It is heat and drought resistant, therefore more found in warm and hot winemaking regions. It tends to develop high sugar levels, which translates into wines with elevated alcohol. But good and great examples will never be out of balance. Garnacha is also very sensitive to oxygen, therefore even when young it can have garnet to brownish color. I love it because despite the fact that it is not a grape of high acidity, it can produce age-worthy wines. This grape variety has capacity to make dense, rich, powerful and full-bodied red wines, but it can also make ethereal, pinot noir like wines with juicy structure and slightly spicy character. When we really think of it, Garnacha is a chameleon because it is also responsible for some of the world's best-known rosé wines such as Provence Rosé and Tavel in France. Gamay might be the most loved and hated red grape variety at the same time, and it's all because of Beaujolais noir. Yet Gamay can be so much more than just fruit-driven red wine that we drink once a year in November. If approached seriously and vinified as the best-neighboring pinot noir wines of Burgundy or even aged in oak, it shows mightiness of a great red wine. Interestingly, most serious Beaujolais wines will not have Beaujolais on their labels, but rather one of the 10 crews such as Florie, Morgon or Molina Van. These wines that are made from Gamay are marked by fresh yet ripe red fruits, juicy acidity and well-structured yet silky tannins. And most importantly, some critics argue that they can age as gracefully as expected from pinot noir. Ask any sommelier and most likely they will argue that Beaujolais Cru are some of the most underrated red wines. Cabernet Franc is the father of the famous and highly praised Cabernet Sauvignon, yet it seems to me it has never been able to achieve the same heights. And it puzzles me because Cabernet Franc on its own can make fragrant, lively and very elegant wines in Loire-Wally or New World and add aroma and flavor complexity and liveliness to Bordeaux blends. Indeed, in Loire-Wally it can be found under such names as Chinon, Bourguel and Samour. These wines tend to be quite aromatic with notes of fresh red berries, herbs and pencil shavings, with moderate body, well-structured yet lively mouthfeel. In Bordeaux, this grape mostly will play a role of a blending partner to the better-known Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Cabernet Franc is in fact a very important grape for the famous Chateau Cheval Blanc in Saint-Emilion, France and that alone says a lot about its aging potential. Toriga Nacional is another perfumed red grape variety that deserves way more attention. It is a Portuguese grape and plays a very important part in one of the most famous fortified wines in the world, Porte. Yet lately it is also made into still red wines. Toriga Nacional variety is responsible for deeply colored wines with elevated levels of tannins and exciting dark fruit flavors, but it also almost always shows pleasant floral character such as lilac, bergamot and violets. Because of its lively acidity, it also shows good capacity to age. Easiest to find it will be in Douro and Douro wine regions in Portugal, but it is also grown in Alentejo and Lisboa. There are even some found in Spain, Australia and United States. Trousseau I believe will be least known of the grapes I mentioned here today. Yet it is grape variety that is responsible for intense and complex red wines with good aging potential. While Trousseau is mostly associated with Jura winemaking region in France, the DNA tests show that it is known and grown in Spain under the name of Bastardo. Similarly as with Garnacha, it tends to develop high sugar levels and enjoys long hang time, therefore it is often the last grape to be harvested. It is not the most deeply colored grape, yet on the nose and palate shows power and structure with inviting aromas of ripe wild strawberries, blueberries and elegant touch of spices. I really hope we see more of Trousseau in the future. In this video I talk a lot about wine's potential to age, so you might also be interested in my other video on five things to consider when choosing wine to age.