At The Wee Wine Shop in Oban, we hear the same questions and wine misconceptions almost every day, and honestly, we understand why. Wine can be unnecessarily confusing.
So, we thought we’d tackle some of the most common wine questions we hear in the shop, clear up a few myths and make the world of wine a little easier to navigate & without the jargon.
First up: Region or Grape?
Is Sancerre a grape? Is Rioja? Why does one bottle tell you the grape while another only tells you where it comes from?
Sancerre = a place in France. White Sancerre is overwhelmingly associated with Sauvignon Blanc.
Chablis = a place/appellation. The grape is Chardonnay.
Burgundy/Bourgogne = a region. The principal grapes people encounter are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Rioja = a wine region in Spain. Red Rioja is commonly based on Tempranillo, often with Garnacha, Graciano and/or Mazuelo.
Barolo = a wine/appellation from Piedmont. The grape is Nebbiolo.
Chianti = a Tuscan wine region/appellation. The principal grape is Sangiovese.
Champagne = a region and appellation, not a grape. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier are the main grapes.
Prosecco is the awkward one worth including: it is the name of the wine/appellation; the principal grape is Glera.
Take Sancerre. The important name historically wasn’t simply Sauvignon Blanc — it was wine from Sancerre. The place tells you more than the grape alone: origin, climate, soils and the rules under which the wine was made. This is also why two wines made from exactly the same grape can taste completely different. Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre isn’t automatically going to taste like Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough.