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MEGA GRAPE LIST

Once I got confident enough to venture away from Merlot and Chardonnay, I began to discover varieties with unknown or confusing names. I wanted to know, since I enjoy Emerald Riesling, whether Johannesburg Riesling and Rhine Riesling tasted the same? And what about Riesling from Germany? I heard Shiraz and Syrah are the same, but what about Petite Sirah? And what on earth is Valdiguie? The single most valuable resource on the web for winelovers is Anthony Hawkins encyclopedic wine grape glossary. This mammoth work uses hypertext to link grape varieties with their synonyms and related varieties. So I quickly found the last three Rieslings were identical, but Emerald Riesling is a different but related variety. Petite Sirah is not related to Syrah, and Valdiguie is called Napa Gamay in California. Anthony regularly updates the list that is carried by several sites. I regularly refer to it--take a look and you'll be hooked too.

Mon, 26 Jun 2000 11:07:34 -0700

Submitted by: Peter May