Colourful Grapes Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Red wine is made from dark-skinned grape cultivars. Calling these 'red' grapes can be misleading as the grapes can range in colour from red through blue to deep purple, or even black to the eye. The wine's colour depends on how much of the anthocyanin pigments in the grape skin are extracted.

Cabernet Franc is a deeply-coloured thin-skinned grape with a history going back to the 18th century. It was originally known as Bouchet. It is mostly used combined with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to produce Bordeaux-style wines. DNA evidence has established that it is a parent of both Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The latter cultivar is a cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. Cabernet Franc is widely planted worldwide.

An ancient variety of grape, Cinsault has many names including Oeillade noire when sold as a table grape, which is confusing since there is a French wine grape with this name as well. Cinsault has a high heat tolerance and productivity which saw it planted in the former French colonies of Algeria, Lebanon and Morocco as well as in the southern France. It is known as Hermitage in South Africa and was crossed with Pinot noir to produce Pinotage, South Africa's signature variety.

Known by a number of names, the Grenache is a widely planted variety of red wine grape. Believed to be from the Aragon region of Spain originally, synonyms include Garnacha (in Spain), Bois Jaune and Tintilla. The vine is productive but needs a lot of sun and a long growing season. The vine can cope with dry, windy conditions. The grape was one of the first varieties to be planted in Australia, brought in by James Busby in 1832, and its high sugar content lent itself to its use for fortified wines in Australia.

Malbec is a thick-skinned French grape, one of six types that are permitted in French wines labelled 'Bordeaux'. In France it is mostly grown in Cahors in south-west France where it may be called Auxerrois or Côte Noir. In fact, there are some 1,000 different synonyms documented for the variety, which used to be grown in widely in France. Argentina has taken over with wines from their high-altitude Malbec vineyards being highly rated.

The Merlot grape is another of the permitted grapes in Bordeaux wine. The earliest documented mention of the grape (using the synonym Merlau) comes from the late 18th century. The name is said to come from the French word for blackbird, namely 'merle' or 'merlau' in Occitan language. An early ripening grape, it is one of the most widely planted around the world.

Pinot noir is one of the mostly commonly used grapes in Champagne-style sparkling white wines as well as being used to make red wines. A key difference between them is down to whether the grape juice is fermented by itself or on its skins to achieve colour extraction. Other names for the grape include Pinot nero and Spätburgunder. It has a long heritage and has a reputation for being a difficult grape to grow. It however makes popular wines.

A change to Italy for the Sangiovese grape. It also has a number of different names, often associated with particular clones of the grape, such as Brunello. It is grown primarily in the Tuscany region of Italy. The name translates as 'blood of Jove' after the Roman god Jupiter. It appears to be a cross between Ciliegiolo and Calabrese Montenuovo varieties with a documented history going back to the 16th century.

Syrah is a grape with a couple of origin stories, one of which suggests that it was introduced to France from the city of Shiraz in ancient Iran as long ago as 600 BC. Shiraz is another name for the grape, used by Australian and South African vineyards. Europe mainly sticks to the name Syrah whilst the US uses both names depending in part on the style of wine made.

Tempranillo (or Ull de Liebre, Cancibel, Tinto Fino or Tinto del Pais) is strongly associated with Spain. Its name, from the Spanish word 'temprano' (meaning 'early'), is a reference to its early ripening compared to most Spanish-grown grapes. Grape growing in Spain dates back to 800 BC when Phoenicians had settlements in Spain, however it is not clear how long Tempranillo has been around.

Zinfandel is Croatian in origin, where it is known as Crljenak Kastelanski or Tribidrag. It came to Italy in the 18th century (where it is known as Primitivo, a reference to early ripening) and to the US in the 19th century. The US use of the name Zinfandel (from around 1830) may have European roots. This is another grape used to make both red and white wines. Historically in the US the White Zinfandel wine, a sweet rosé wine, has outsold by a considerable margin the red wine made with the grape.