Alternative wine grape varieties in Australia

Just a few of the hundreds of varieties you'l find on the vinodiversity websiteJust a few of the hundreds of varieties you'l find on this website

You need to know about these exciting wine grape varieties

The vast volume of wine made in Australia is made from just a handful of varieties. Here is a description of some of the more interesting wines made from other varieties. How many have you tried?

Aglianico | Albarino | Alicante Bouchet | Aligote | Alvarelhao | Ancellotta | Aleatico | Arenal | Arinto | Arneis | Assyrtico | Aucerot | Baco noir | Bogazkere | Barbera | Baroque | Bastardo | Biancone | Bianco d'Alessano | Blaufrankisch | Bonvedro | Bourboulenc | Brachetto | Cabernet Franc | Cabernet Sanzey | Canaiolo Nero | Caracosa | Carignan | Caverdella | Carmenere | Carnelian | Chambourcin | Chasselas | Chenin blanc | Cienna | Cinsaut | Clairette | Colombard | Colorino | Cornifesto | Cortese | Corvina | Counoise | Crouchen | Cygne blanc | Dolcetto | Doradillo | Dornfelder | Durif | Fer | Fiano | Flora | Fragola | Freisa | Friulano | Furmint | Gamay | Garganega | Gewurztraminer | Gouais blanc | Graciano | Grecanico | Greco | Grenache | Grenache Blanc | Grenache gris | Grillo | Gruner Veltliner | Harslevelu | Jacquez | Kerner | Kyoto | Lagrein | Lambrusco Maestri | Lemberger | Madeline Angevine | Malbec | Malian | Malvasia | Mammolo | Marsanne | Marzemino | Mataro | Mavrodaphne | Melon de Bourgogne | Mencia | (Pinot) Meunier | Monbadon | Mondeuse | Montepulciano | Moscata paradiso | Moscato | | Mourvedre | Muller Thurgau | Muscadelle | Mystique | Nebbiolo | Negramoll | Negroamaro | Nero d'Avola | Norton | Orange muscat | Palomino | Pecorino | Pedro Ximenez | Petit manseng | Petit Meslier | Petit verdot | Picolit | Picpoul | Pignoletto | Pinot blanc | Pinot grigio/gris | Pinotage | Prieto Picudo | Primitivo | Prosecco | Red Semillon | Refosco | Rondinella | Rossola Nera | Roter Veltliner | Roussanne | Rubienne | Ruby Cabernet | Rubired | Sagrantino | Saint Laurent | Saint Macaire | Sangiovese | Saperavi | Sauvignon gris | Savagnin | Scheurebe | Schioppettino | Schonburger | Shalistin | Siegerrebe | Souzao | Sylvaner | Taminga | Tannat | Tarrango | Tempranillo | Teroldego | Tinto Cao | Tinta Negra Molle | Torrontes | Touriga | Trincadeira | Trebbiano | Tribidrag | Trollinger | Tyrian | Verdejo | Verdelho | Verdicchio | Verduzzo | Vermentino | Vespolina | Villard blanc | Viognier | Zinfandel | Zweigelt |

The Vinodiversity site is about alternative grape varieties used commercially in Australia.

This site is based on information in a database that I have developed which contains information from about 1100 Australian wineries who have stepped out of the comfort zone of classic varieties .

I have excluded the common varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Grenache, Merlot, Pinot noir, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Shiraz from discussion Vinodiversity. If you want information about wines made from these then you'll have to look elsewhere. Covering the 160+ listed is more than enough for me ... and think of all the tasting I have to do.

The decision about which varieties to include, and which to exclude is necessarily subjective. It reflects the bias and experience of the selector, but I have included a few varieties, such as Tempranillo and Sangiovese which are rapidly becoming mainstream in Australia.

My aim is to stimulate your interest in new varieties, rather than provide a complete encyclopaedia. 

More about Wine Grape varieties

Here are two articles which will help you understand more about wine varieties:

And here are two more resources you might like to check out.  I found these most useful when building this site.

You might like these

This book contains a wealth of material and is the best authority to settle disagreements about the correct name and origin of grapes.

Details at Amazon

Wine Grapes: A Complete Guide to 1,368 Vine Varieties, Including Their Origins and Flavours

Get De Long's Wine Grape Variety Table

Details Here

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