Red Wine

Red wine, everyone loves red wine, right? At least that's how we see it, but there's also a lot of boring and indifferent red wine out there, which we help you avoid, so you can keep your passion for wine alive. Red wine is such an incredibly broad term, so your friend's favorite wine isn't necessarily the one you put on the table first. You probably already have an idea of which wines you prefer, but if you don't, read on and get a little sharper on the wines we offer.

From South African to Italian red wines

When you look through our menu here on the site, you'll find not only categories for French wine, Italian wine, South African wine, and so on. You will also find the different grapes, which just as much as their country of origin, define the wine's taste and character. Once you learn a little about the different grapes, you'll become much better at selecting wines that you're likely to enjoy once you get a sense of your taste.

Grape varieties behind most red wines

A grape variety is a type of wine grape, and it has its own color, ripening process, and flavor. Some grapes blend well together, while others are best on their own. Here are our key grapes, which also define how we present our red wines to you:

Cabernet Sauvignon  

Merlot  

Pinotage  

Pinot Noir  

Sangiovese  

Syrah/Shiraz  

Red wine blends  

Other red wines

Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot

Here are two grapes particularly known from French wines. Cabernet Sauvignon often has notes of blackcurrant and strong tannins. In contrast, Merlot is more on the side of plum and blackberry, with less tannin in the taste. That's why they're often found in a blend, aiming to strike a beautiful balance in between. Bordeaux wines are the most famous, but Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon have also earned great recognition in wines from overseas.

Pinotage and Pinot Noir

Pinotage is known as South Africa's national grape, and it's therefore a grape you often find in wines from that region. Pinotage is related to Pinot Noir but has been crossed with the grape Hermitage, or Cinsault as it's now called, which works particularly well in South Africa. Pinotage has a beautiful dark color and an almost smoky taste. The grape also has fruity tones that can seem almost tropical.

Pinot Noir gives light wines with a fine and delicate body and without much intensity from the tannins. It's one of those grapes that divides opinion. Many people love it, while others don't understand how it can be so popular. Nevertheless, some of the world's most expensive wines are made from Pinot Noir in Burgundy. But outside of France, Pinot Noir is also sought after, from cool German, rich Californian to elegant South African regions.

Sangiovese and Syrah/Shiraz

The grape Sangiovese is best known from Italian wines and gives wines with dark and bold berry tones, with a hint of the sun's sweetness. These are powerful wines that beautifully combine sharp tannins with tones of sweet berries. The most famous are probably Chianti and Brunello wines. With its unique combination of richness and sharpness, it pairs excellently with stews, pork/veal, and of course many pasta dishes. At the same time, Sangiovese is one of the few wines that pair well with tomato – give it a try.

A beloved grape has two names when it comes to Syrah, as it's also known as Shiraz. Syrah refers to the grape in France, while Shiraz is used in Australia, South Africa, California, and most of the New World. It's the same grape, though, and it produces rich and powerful wines that, when talking about French wine, are quite the opposite of Pinot Noir. The best-known examples are probably Rhone wines, Barossa in Australia, and Swartland in South Africa. Recently, the distinction between Syrah and Shiraz has been shifting from a geographical reference to Syrah describing softer, rounder wines and Shiraz referring to more robust wines.