The term varietal is commonly used in the wine industry to describe the grape used in winemaking. It has also become popular for crops such as coffee and chocolate. In the US, varietal naming gained popularity in the 1950s, offering a simpler alternative to generic appellation.
The term varietal is often used in the context of wine, as a description of the grape used in winemaking. It can also be used by connoisseurs for crops such as coffee and chocolate, and as region-specific varieties of these crops are becoming more traditional, the term varietal is also being used more widely.
Historically, the most popular way of labeling wine has been by the region it comes from. The French are the strongest promoters of this labeling method, with the world-renowned regions of Burgundy, Champagne and Beaujolais, to name a few. This appellation style relies heavily on the concept of terroir – which argues that the regional qualities in which the grapes are grown, such as soil type, climate and vineyard history, are more important to the final taste of the wine than the ‘exact variety or blend of varietals used.
As wine began to see a surge in popularity in the postwar United States, new vineyards began to fill that demand that was to determine how best to promote their wines. Since there were few if any established wine regions in the United States, labeling wines based on the concept of terroir seemed somewhat pointless. Generic labeling has found its way into many places, usually taking the form of the state where the grapes were grown, followed by the French appellation the most emulated wines. This gave rise to wines with names like California Chablis and California Burgundy, for example, which were later replaced by the varietal names Chardonnay and Merlot respectively.
In the 1950s, the concept of varietal naming – which enjoyed some popularity in other regions of the world, such as the Alsace region of France – was promoted by a number of major importers and distributors in the United States. Consumers immediately latched onto varietal appellation, which offered a much simpler alternative to generic appellation for roughly determining what a wine would taste like. Instead of having to remember thousands of appellations, sub-regions and castles, buyers could remember a handful of varietal names. Initially, in the United States, a wine had to be made from at least 51% of a grape variety to be labeled as such a grape variety, a number that was raised to 75% in 1973. The list of grape varieties is extensive, but some of the most popular are Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Gris, Chenin Blanc, Gamay, Gewürztraminer, Petit Sirah, Sangiovesse, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and Vigonier.
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