How Many Varieties are Verdant?
A disambiguation page for wine geeks
The word Verd and variants means green in many romance languages. The word also gives its name to many grape varieties. Here is a baker’s dozen to ponder
Verdelho is from the Portuguese island of Madeira where it makes a famous sweet fortified wine. In Australia it usually makes dry whites.
A Note about Vino Verde
Vinho Verde is not a grape variety, it is a DOC for the production of wine. The DOC area covers the northern area of Portugal.
The name literally means green wine, but a more realistic translation is young wine. As well as the more typical white, Vinho Verde also comes in rose and red styles. The wines are released three to six months after the grapes are harvested.
Prime Names and Synonyms
Most wine varieties, especially older ones and those that are widely grown, have a range of synonyms. This gives rise to the question “Which one is correct?”
A widely accepted authority on names is the tome Wine Grapes by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and Jose Voullamoz. The rule used in Wine Grapes to define the prime name as the one used in the area where the variety is grown. This rule works well in most cases, but it does lead to a couple of rather grating results. For example Malbec originated in Cahors SW France where it is called Cot. The variety known as Zinfandel or Primitivo has the prime name of Tribidrag, reflecting its origin in Croatia.
A list of Verde Wines
Verdea - from Lombardy
Verdeca - from Puglia
Verdejo - from Spain’s Rueda region
Vedejo Serrano - from the Salamanca region of Spain
Verdelho - from Madiera
Vedello from Umbria, central Italy
Verdesse (aka Verdasse) - from the Savoy region of France
Verdiccio Bianco from Marche on Italy’s Adriatic coast
Verdil - from Valencia, Spain. Rare
Verdiso from Venezia
Verdoncho A rare variety from Central Spain
Verduzzo Friulano from the Friuli region of Italy
Verduzzo Trevigiano poor cousin of the other Verduzzo above.
Varieties with a synonym Verd…
In the book Wine Grapes you will find about sixty varieties that have a name beginning Verd… Surprisingly quite a few of them are actually red.
Here are just a few examples
Verdal, Verdalejo and Verdalla are all synonyms for the red variety Forcallat Tinta, grown in eastern Spain.
Verde Matza is a synonym for the red variety Hondarribi Beltza grown in the Basque area of Spain.
Verdejilla Tinto is one of the many synonyms for Cabernet Franc
Verdejo Negro and Verdejo Tinto are among the many synonyms for Trousseau
Information from this article gleaned from Wine Grapes by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and Jose Vouillamoz, available in hard back and Kindle.
From Our Online Wine Supplier
There are always plenty of wine offers from our online wine supplier. But the good ones get hidden beneath the large list of ordinary stuff. But if you have read this far you are not just interested in Barossa Shiraz or someone else’s Chardy. So have a look here and scroll down. You will find some real gems hidden under the names of New Aussie styles and Alternative reds.
Next Vinodiversity Taste and Talk
This will be held on Thursday 15 Feb. I will send a reminder in the morning with the login details.
An interesting addition to the wine knowledge base.