Grown and vinified just right and Marsanne turns out wines with rich, melon-y flavors, with hints of peaches and citrus.

Gewurztraminer’s nickname should be “Sui Generis.”

We’ve all sipped some Chenin Blanc in our day— fine Chenin Blanc such as dry Vouvray, if we were smart, or all that California “chablis” that we may have swilled in the ‘70s and ‘80s, if we weren’t.

Cabernet franc is generally “lighter, paler, crisper, softer, more aromatic and silkier” than cabernet sauvignon, Jancis Robinson writes.

Flavors and aromas of good red Garnacha or Grenache may include ripe strawberries, blackcurrants, raspberries, blackberries, dark cherries, black pepper, spices, coffee, fresh gingerbread, even tar or leather. Wow.

Well-made Argentine Malbec—and more examples are made each harvest—is about as delicious a red wine as there can be.

The red wine grape Nebbiolo means “little fog.” Really.

Sangiovese means “the blood of Jove.” Wow.

The red wine grape Syrah is also known around the world as Shiraz.

Barnera makes one of the finer red wines for a wide range of food.

Tempranillo sports more nicknames than a professional wrestler.

Zinfandel remains one of California’s (but, also, the world’s?) favorite wine grapes.

Italy is home to hundreds of native-born wine grapes, some nearly extinct.

Sweet wines are sweet because, in various ways, some of the sugar in the ripe grapes remains unfermented.

To be red, a red wine must be made from red (also called “black”) grapes, for it is from the skins of the grapes that the wine gets its color.

The word rosé [roe-zay] is French for “pink,” right in there between white and red.

Sparkling wine is wine that’s smiling.

Did you know that the juice of either red or white grapes can make white wine?

It’s easy to appreciate a taste of wine if you just attend to your senses—because of all things that we drink, wine is the most sensual.

Wine is the fermented juice of grapes. As such, it's good to think of it as a food, which basically it is.