Off-Piste Grapes

At the risk of sounding like a candidate for inclusion in Private Eye’s Pseuds Corner, I’m really bored with the ‘usual suspect’ grapes – the Cabs, Merlots, Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs. Even the mighty Syrah is making me nod off.

My cri de coeur might not elicit much sympathy from right-minded people who see wine for what it is: fermented grape juice that can make the world a better place, but I’m moving on. I’ve ditched Oasis for Miles Davis, actually, make that John Coltrane.

Pretentious? Moi? Maybe, but I’m craving ‘lighter’, more floral, earthier, and quite frankly more interesting grapes that offer…wait for it …a sense of place with names you have to learn to pronounce. So for those whose palate throbs with the same yearning, below are the off-piste reds varieties I think we should all be trying.

First up is the Nerello Mascalese, a proud native of Catania in eastern Sicily, grown on the slopes of Mount Etna, where the finest examples can be found. Nerello is Sicily’s Pinot Noir – that comparison is going to crop up a lot by the way – but which is also reminiscent of a Nebbiolo with a side order of volcanic ash. It is a late harvest grape, grown at altitude, in many cases over 1,000 meters, which is crucial given Sicily’s southerly latitude. High acidity, aromatic, elegant, and mineral, Nerello is more poise than power, which I guess is something to which we all should aspire.

Heading to Turkey, where in the winter of 2024, at a bar in Istanbul, I was blown over by a wine made with Karasakiz, a grape which I now know comes from Bozcaada, an island with a maritime climate touched with gentle sea breezes which suits this thin skinned grape that loves longer ripening and retains excellent acidity. The Karasakiz is grown in other parts of Turkey, but those grown on Bozcaada are fresher and more aromatic. The best examples are unoaked and with lashing of brilliant red fruit and violets. The love child of Gamay and yes, you guessed it, Pinot Noir.

In 2023, I had the supreme privilege of visiting Georgia, a country that is so much more than simply the place where wine was first made but that’s for another column. The country has an abundance of native grapes and the red Saperavi and the white Rkatsiteli and Kissi have all made it onto the smartest wine lists in town. But I love the rarer Tavkveri, a red grape grown primarily in the Kartli regions of the Ateni Valley and Mukhrani, is one that has flown under the radar of all but the most ardent anorak. Fermented both in Qvevri and steel tank, the earthy Tavkveri is surely…cue drum roll …Georgia’s Pinot Noir!

Greece is enjoying a resurgence after ditching its unfair reputation for having nothing to offer other than migraine-inducing Retsina. The fightback was started by the Assyrtiko, especially the saline and volcanic beauties from Santorini, pioneered by the late, great Haridimos Hatzidakis among others. The rest of Greece is arguably the most fascinating on earth (sorry Georgia) and my grape of choice is the Xinomavro, grown in Northern Greece, especially the region of Naoussa where the finest examples can be found, and the higher altitude vineyards of Amyndeon. ‘Xino’ to its mates, is all cherries and plums with a bit of pork sausage, sun dried tomatoes, while older, more evolved wines can give olives, spice and other savoury flavours. Not as light as the previous wines but lighter so we’ll skip the Pinot comparisons for now.

Finally to little old Lebanon and Cinsault, the only non-indigenous grape on the list. A stalwart of the Southern Rhone, it was introduced into the high-altitude Bekaa Valley by the Jesuits in the mid-19th century and since then it has proved the region’s most reliable performer. It’s light-ish colour and notes of red fruit, spice and zaatar-fused garrigue, has made it Lebanon’s signature red grape, with or without oak. It is no coincidence that it is a major component of the iconic Château Musar. A case of poise with a smidgen of power, it is Lebanon’s Pinot Noir.

Michael Karam is a journalist, editor and wine writer. He is the author of Wines of Lebanon: The Journey Continues, which recently won the Andre Simon award. He is also a contributor to Jancis Robinson’s Oxford Companion to Wine and The World Atlas of Wine