Alicante Bouschet
Alicante Bouschet is a red grape with red flesh, one of what the French call "dyer" varieties because they add a deep colour to red wine.
Spanish Wine Grapes
Bobal
Bobal is Spain’s 3rd most widely grown wine grape, but still not that well known. Traditionally it was used in bulk wines, but these days it’s increasingly being used for single varietal wines.
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is an early budding, medium ripening grape variety with medium to high acidity which adapts well to different soil types. It is one of Spain's less common grapes, but can still be found in places like Castilla la Mancha, Catalunya and Valencia.
Cabernet Sauvignon
A cross between Cabernet Franc and the white grape, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon is perhaps the world’s most famous red grape.
Cariñena, Mazuelo or Samsó
Cariñena is a Spanish grape variety with many names - Carignan, Mazuelo, Samsó. Naming conventions aside, having once been the dominant wine grape in much of Spain only to fall out of favour, this grape is now making a comeback.
Garnacha
Garnacha is one of the most widely grown red grapes in the world and Spain's third most popular red grape. From the famous Priorat to the lesser-known Méntrida, this grape has become a staple of the Spanish wine sector.
Giró
For many people, Giró is synonymous with, or a very old clone of, Garnacha and it’s the name given to the grape in the Levante region
Graciano
Graciano is perhaps best known as "Rioja's third grape" after Tempranillo and Garnacha. It has a very dark-hued skin and gives dark, intense red wines with good acidity and levels of tannin. It tends to give fresh, elegant wines which are quite full in the mouth with a long finish.
Mencía
Mencía is particularly popular in DOs like Bierzo or Ribeira Sacra, Monterrei and Valdeorras in Galicia. In general, Mencía wines are fresh and perfumed, with very appealing fruit that works well with very subtle oak or no oak at all.
