Different Types Of Red Wine To Try For National Red Wine Day
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Updated August 2026 Red wine lovers: August 28th is National Red Wine Day. There are many different types of red wine made around the world. With more than a thousand varieties of wine grapes grown, that’s no surprise. Today, we’ll highlight all of the red wines widely available in the U.S. and give you some “food homework”: Try a varietal you’ve never had before. Varietal refers to the type of grape used in making wine. Examples of familiar red varietals include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel. In much of the world, wines are sold by their varietal names. In France and some other countries, the wines are known by their place names. Thus: Ready, set, go! Below: > Popular red wines by origin. > Food pairings with sweet red wines. > The year’s 45+ red wine holidays. Elsewhere on The Nibble: > The year’s 40+ white wine holidays. > A brief history of wine. We start with some well-known red wine varietals that you’ll find in stores labeled with their varietal names. These grapes are grown worldwide, but we’ve included the county of origin. A quick note on wine variety vs. wine varietal: In addition to purchasing varietal wines, you can purchase wines made with those same grapes that are labeled by their place of origin. These places are regions or smaller communes that have strict regulations as to what grapes can be used, the growing locales of those grapes, and how the wine is made. Examples include: |
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 [8] Sweet red wines like Port pair with desserts and dark chocolate, but also with savories like blue cheese and pâte (photo © The Nibble). 3. SWEET RED WINES Also try a sweet red wine, if you don’t already drink them. They can be made from any grapes, and are delicious with cheese, as dessert wines or after-dinner wines. These three are fortified wines, meaning that the wine has a distilled spirit, usually, brandy, added to it. The purpose of adding the spirit is to increase its alcohol content and preserve its longevity.
________________ *Varietal wines: The federal standard requires at least 75% of the wine to be made from the named varietal. Oregon generally requires 90% of the named variety, although the state makes an exception for a group of traditionally blended grapes—including Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah, Zinfandel, Malbec, and others—which may be labeled at the federal 75% level. For American native grape varieties such as Concord or Catawba, the federal minimum is 51% rather than 75%. However, the grape-variety rule is different from the geographic-origin rule. A wine labeled “California Cabernet Sauvignon” needs at least 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and at least 75% of its grapes from California. A wine labeled with an AVA, such as “Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon,” must have at least 85% of its grapes from Napa Valley, while the named-grape threshold remains 75%. (AVA stands for American Viticultural Area, which is an official, federally approved wine grape-growing region in the U.S. **There are three rosé holidays. National Rosé Day, the second Saturday in June holiday was founded in 2014 by Bodvár House of Rosés, a Swedish brand, as a U.S.-focused promotional holiday. The fourth Friday in June, International Rosé Day, was established in 2018 by the Provence wine region in France, which is essentially the global home of rosé. February 5th is celebrated as New Zealand (and Australia) National Rosé Day. Most rosé wines are made from red grapes, because the color comes from brief contact with the grape skins, which contain the pigments. The longer the skin contact, the deeper the color. White grapes alone generally cannot produce a pink wine; they lack the red pigments found in red-grape skins. The grape varieties comomnly used for rosé include Cinsault, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Syrah, and Tempranillo. Rosé can also be produced by blending red and white wine, a method permitted for some wines, notably rosé Champagnes; and by pressing red and white grapes together, which is done to make German Rotling. †Super Tuscans and Chiantis are both types of red wine made in Tuscany. The difference between a Super Tuscan wine and Chianti is D.O.C. status. For a wine to be labeled as Chianti D.O.C., it must be made from at least 80% Sangiovese grapes that are grown in one of the approved Chianti areas that lay between the cities of Florence, Sienna, and Arezzo. Super Tuscans don’t follow the strict rules of the Chianti appellation. They can be made entirely from Sangiovese or can include or be made entirely from French grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Syrah. Super Tuscans are labeled I.G.T. (Indicazione Geografica Tipica), a designation that was created in 2013 that indicates a lower quality level. This does not mean, however, that Super Tuscans are cheaper than Chiantis. Quite the opposite is true: even the best Chiantis do not usually reach the high prices commanded by the top Super Tuscans. Toscana I.G.T. simply refers to wines not covered by the various D.O.C., D.O.C.G., or other designations in the region of Tuscany. Here’s more about them. ††Maratheftiko is a rare and prestigious indigenous red wine grape from Cyprus, also known locally as Aloupostafylo, Mavrosportiko, Pampakia, Vamvakada, and Vamvakina. Known for a deep red color and a full body, it typically features aromas of wild berries, cherries, blackberries, and florals like violets and roses, balanced by crisp acidity and rich tannins. Unlike other grapes, it cannot self-pollinate and must be planted alongside other grape varieties for pollination. This process often results in millerandage, where grape bunches contain berries of mixed sizes and ripeness. †††Prokupac is a red Serbian wine grape that produced high quality red wine, modern rosé types and less frequently, a traditional darkly colored rosé. ††††Mavrud is a red wine grape indigenous to the Balkans. It’s used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. †††††Xinomavro is a Greek grape and red wine made from it. Xinomavro from the Naousa region of Central Macedonia has become one of Greece’s most important and well regarded wines (it’s now planted in China and elsewhere). The Naousa Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) was established in 1971. ‡Vranec is a red grape variety that originated in Montenegro. It is the most planted grape variety in Montenegro, a small country in the Balkans. The country between Bosnia and Herzegovina on the North, Albania on the South, Serbia on the East, and the Adriatic Sea on the West. The grape is also grown in Dalmatia (in Croatia), Herzegovina, tge Republic of of Kosovo, the Republic Of North Macedonia, and south Serbia. Here’s more about it. ‡‡Buckfast is a fortified red wine that is mixed with pure caffeine and other tonic ingredients, giving it a reddish-brown color and a high alcohol content of 15% ABV. It is a sweet, syrupy tonic wine created by Benedictine monks in the 19th century at the Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England. It was originally sold in as a medicine. Today, its unique taste and reputation as a tonic has an international following. Here’s more about it. ‡‡‡Sweet vermouth can be sipped straight, but it’s often too sweet for most people. It’s mostly used for cocktails, pairing well with Bourbon, Dark Rum, Rye, and Scotch. Classic cocktails that use sweet vermouth include the Manhattan, Negroni, and Rob Roy. CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM. |
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