Most wines generally are fall into one of two styles: red or white. There are over ten thousand types of grapes in the world, only about three hundred of them are used in the making of commercial wines. It is interesting to note that out of those three hundred varieties – only twenty to thirty types of grapes are used for the most popular styles of wine. This guide shows you the most popular wines in the world, how to pronounce them, and where the best wine is produced. An asterisk * indicates it is a very popular choice with all wine drinkers.
To find out more about wines, the following simplified list will be helpful: In order of popularity, these are the wines chosen by the majority of people – so you can’t really go wrong with any of these: The most popular red wines are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Shiraz/Syrah, Zinfandel. The most popular white wines are: Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Reisling. Never limit yourself to just a few types of wine. You should always be expanding your wine horizons and enjoyment by trying new wines. My Best Advice – always drink a wine because you love it not because someone else does!
The most widely avaliable red wines are: Amarone (am-AH-roh-nee or ah-Ma-ROW-Nay – both are acceptable) Best from Italy Barbera (Bar-bear-a) Best from Italy and California Barolo (ba-ROHL-oh or bar-ROW-lo) Best from Italy Beaujolais Nouveau (Boo-jo-LAY BO-joh-lay Noo-voh) Best from France Bordeaux (bor-DOE ) Best from France Burgandy (BURR-gun-dee) Best from France Cabernet Franc (kab-er-NAY FRAHN) Best from California Cabernet Sauvignon* (kab-er-NAY SO-vin-yon) Best from California, Australia, Chile Chianti (kee-AHN-tee) Best from Italy Gamay (ga-MAY) Best from France Malbec (MALL-beck) Best from Argentina Merlot* (mer-LOW or MARE-low) Best from Italy, California, Washington, Chile, Australia Petite Sirah (Peh-TEET See-RAH) Best from California Pinotage (PIN-no-tahj) Best from South Africa Pinot Noir* (PEA-no NWAHR) Best from Austria, California, Oregon and New Zealand Primativo (pree-mih-TEE-voe) Best from Italy Rioja (Ree-OhK-ha) Best from Spain Sangiovese ( San-gee-oh-ve-zee)) Best from Italy, California Shiraz* / Syrah* (shur-AZZ see-RAH also SHEER-oz/Sih-RAH ) The same grape but it is called Syrah in the US, Canada and Europe. Shiraz in Australia Best from Australia and California and France Tempranillo (Temp-rah-NEE-yoh) Best from Spain Valpolicella (vahl-pole-Eh-CHEL-lah) Best from Italy Zinfandel* (ZIN-fan-dell also zin-fan-DELL) Best from California
The most widely avaliable white wines are: Chardonnay* (shar-duh-NAY) Best from Burgandy France and California Chenin Blanc (SHAY-Non-Blon) Best from France, South Africa, California Gewrztraminer (geh-VERTS-trah-mean-er) Best from France, Germany, US West Coast, New York State. Piesporter (pees-PORT-ehr) Best from Germany Pinot Blanc (peE-no BLAHN) Best from France Pinot Gris*/Pinot Grigio* (peE-no GREE and PEE-no-GREEZ-gee-oh) Pinot Gris Best from France, Germany California, Oregon, Washington. Pinot Grigio best from Italy. Riesling* (REEZ-ling) Best from Germany, Eastern US. Sauvignon Blanc* (SO-vin-yon Blahn) Best from France, and New Zealand Smillon (say-me-YOHN) Best from France, Chile, Argentina, Australia, California. Viognier (vee-oh-NYAY) Best from France, California
Remember, when you practice pronouncing these words the emphasis is on the capitalized part of the word and some of the words are from foreign languages so they may have a different sound at the end than the spelling would suggest. There is some variety in pronunciation guides so I have tried to simplify the pronunciation to make it easy to understand and to help develop your confidence by pronouncing the wine name correctly.
When you can say, Valpolicella (vahl-pole-Eh-CHEL-lah) without getting tongue-tied – you’ll feel like the king or queen of the wine world – especially when you can ask for the Tempranillo (Temp-rah-NEE-yoh) at a restaurant and flawlessly order a bottle! Visit www.centralportugalwave.com for information on some of the best wines in portugal
To seek out resources on the best white wine worldwide check out www.whole-wide-world.com. And If you want to be on Googles page #1 have a look at: www. internet-marketing-tools-best.org for info on Social Bookmaking Tools.