Red red wine, the beverage of kings, queens and knaves

But there are other factors contributing to red wine’s overall popularity. For one, it tends to be more alcoholic, and no amount of sniffing and swirling can get around the fact that people enjoy intoxication (in moderation, of course). Its flavors are also bolder on the whole, and its mouthfeel tends to be more satisfying. All it all red wine is more like a food, and less like a beverage, making it more like the conclusion of a tasting experience than a half-way point.

There are more varieties to choose from among the reds than the whites, from barbera to zinfandel, and each has its story, its adherents, and its signature characteristics.

Bordeaux varietals

Cabernet Sauvignon is, on the other hand, easy to grow and easy to love, as its range of flavors and styles makes it the king of red wines. Wine professionals exercise their vocabulary in tasting cabs: cassis, cigar box, eucalyptus, cedar, celery, nutmeg, chocolate, and many other non-grape flavors have been attributed to cabernet, some of which seem distinctly off-putting. At its best it is a deliriously flavorful tasting experience; at its worst it can give you a three-day headache.

As powerful as cabernet can be, it often if not usually reaches its best expression in a blend, most often with one or more of the other so-called Bordeaux grapes (“Meritage” in the US). The five common Bordeaux grapes are merlot, malbec, cabernet franc, petit verdot and cabernet sauvignon. Though only merlot and cabernet sauvignon are widely bottled as a varietal (in the US that means at least 75% of the wine has to be of that variety), all have their place, both in concert and as soloists.

Merlot vies with cabernet sauvignon as the most widely grown red wine grape in the world. It is always a solid wine, perhaps a bit less expressive and wide-ranging than cabs in flavor, but almost as age-worthy and reliable. Its plumy, softer flavors make it the best blending partner with cab, and it’s slightly less tannic, which helps offset the stemmy quality of its Bordeaux cousin.

Malbec, another Bordeaux variety, has come into its own recently in Argentina, of all places. This dark inky or violet wine can possess a savory quality not unlike cardamom, and its relatively modest tannins means it can be enjoyed young. In France it’s the prime grape in the wines of Cahors, but you can usually get a terrific Argentinian malbec for under $20 (you can find them for about half that, but my own experience is that it’s half the wine). Only a few local wineries produce a bottled malbec, usually as a limited release.

Cabernet Franc is a Bordeaux that is only infrequently bottled separately, as its distinctive bell pepper character can become overpowering. Still, with the right soil and professional attention its less obtrusive flavors—violets, cherry, cola—can come to the fore, and a smooth table wine results. Expect to see more cab francs in the coming years, as winemakers continue to look for distinguishing advantage in a competitive market.

Petit Verdot is the fifth Bordeaux, and again it’s usually best used in the blending process to give color and an initial burst of spice to a Meritage. When you can find it on its own, expect a very dark color, a strong violet character, and virtually no finish. It’s most prevalent in wines of Medoc, but even there 15% PV is a lot.

Though not technically a Bordeaux,the similarly named Petite Sirah is another little-known varietal, and it’s not without its enthusiasts. In California it’s been a reliable producer, bottled as a varietal at least as far back as 1961. Deep in color (second only to the bear-black Alicante Bouschet, which you can almost never find) and peppery in quality, it is sometimes blended with Zinfandel to lend complexity.

Other key varietals

Pinot Noir tends to be lighter on the palate, and usually in color, than the Bordeaux. Its appeal is more subtle and, yes, sometimes difficult—as Miles says (in “Sideways”), it’s thin-skinned and temperamental. Often its aromas are its sexiest characteristic, more like a perfume than a berry patch, with a hint of musk. There can also be strong mushroom, earthy or even “barnyard” aromas, which some love and some most assuredly do not. Sour or black cherry flavors are common, sometimes strawberry, sometimes rhubarb. Good food matches include ham and other pork dishes, but it can also pair nicely with salmon as well as steak, where its natural acidity helps cleanse the palate.

Syrah takes us toward the Rhone region to the east. The grape is also known as Shiraz, particularly in Australia, because of its reputed association with the garden city of the same name in southern Iran. Syrah is the predominant red grape variety in the Rhone VOC, which includes Hermitage, the first aged red wine to be highly prized in Europe. Characteristics include green olive and smoky bacon flavors, which sound more like a tapenade than a wine, but they give syrah a depth and complexity only matched by cabernet sauvignon.

California syrahs, following the lead of Australian shiraz, tend more toward the fruit-forward characteristics of the grape, with blueberries, black pepper, and even espresso notes. Leathery qualities may appear, and some syrahs end up tasting rather like a cowboy’s saddle—in a good way, of course.

Sangiovese is a black sheep among California wines, which never really caught despite having all the cards stacked in its favor. The backbone of Chianti and Brunello, it was widely planted throughout Sonoma and Mendocino counties with the first generation of Italian wine-growers. It produces fairly good quantities, it’s a good blending wine (softening the harsher Cabernets in what’s now called “Super-Tuscan”) and it can be drunk young or put down for a couple years. Despite all that, the fact that it’s a relative rarity on California wine lists borders on the mysterious. Look for Sangiovese to increase in visibility in the coming years.

Zinfandel and beyond

Zinfandel is widely known as California’s wine, a varietal virtually unknown in the Old World until it rocketed to success in the Golden State. The chronicle of tracking down Zinfandel’s roots is a story all its own, but the style and popularity of zin is California all the way—a fresh, sassy, fruit bomb that’s like a party on your palate.

Zinfandel was a popular table grape as well as wine grape in the early years of the 1900s, and as a result a large number of “old vines” remain, despite their loss to more popular varietals and Prohibition in the intervening century. As with any wine grape, stress produces a more densely flavored if smaller grape; age is one stress factor, and old vine zins are port-like in their jamminess and intensity.

Younger zins however can also boast blackberry and fig or prune flavors, with a peppery spiciness that boosts their appeal. You can try it at a barbecue, or with lamb, but truth to tell, zin is often poured alone, enjoyed for its hedonistic bursts of flavors.

A few other grapes get their names on the label, with varying degrees of success. Lou Preston up in Dry Creek likes to explore the fringes of the genus, and comes out with annual Barbera, Roussane, and Cinsault bottlings. Until 1993, a lot of South American wines were sold as Merlot, but genetic studies showed that these were actually Carmenere vines, an old French variety that had gone largely extinct in France due to phylloxera.

Mourvedre is another Rhone varietal, like Syrah, that can provide a medium bodied spiced cherry wine, not overly complex but occasional just right. And the Spanish varietal Tempranillo has a few die-hard fans in the wine country, who extol its tea and tobacco qualities.

So there’s no shortage of flavors to savor in your red, red wine, just as in your white wines. Next time we’ll consider what’s left – the sparkling wines and the rosés, for those special times.