By Tim Morgan, Senior Sommelier & Contributing Editor
Here is a number that should disturb you: of the estimated 10,000 grape varieties that exist in the world, just six account for approximately 50% of all vineyard plantings globally.
Cabernet Sauvignon. Merlot. Chardonnay. Sauvignon Blanc. Pinot Noir. Syrah.
Six grapes. Half the world’s vineyards. In a world of extraordinary biodiversity, the wine industry — driven by market demand, critical acclaim, and the globalised desire for familiar flavours — has converged on a handful of varieties that taste broadly similar regardless of where they are grown.
Walk into a wine shop in London, New York, Tokyo, or São Paulo, and the shelves tell the same story: Cabernet from Chile, Cabernet from Australia, Cabernet from China. Chardonnay from Burgundy, Chardonnay from California, Chardonnay from South Africa. The labels change. The flavours, increasingly, do not.
This is the wine monoculture. And it is beginning to crack.
The Revolution
Across the wine world — in the coolest sommelier-driven restaurants, in the most progressive wine shops, in the most forward-thinking vineyards — a counter-movement is gaining unstoppable momentum:
The rediscovery of indigenous, forgotten, and ancient grape varieties.
Grapes that were nearly extinct. Grapes that survived in a single vineyard, tended by a single elderly farmer. Grapes that offer flavours, textures, and experiences that no international variety can replicate — because they evolved over centuries in specific places, shaped by specific climates, specific soils, and specific cultures.
These grapes are not obscure for the sake of obscurity. They are not sommelier fetish objects or hipster talking points. They are the genetic heritage of wine — the accumulated biodiversity of thousands of years of human cultivation — and they are urgently, critically important. For flavour. For culture. For climate resilience. For the soul of wine itself.
20 Forgotten Grapes You Need to Know
WHITE
🥂 Assyrtiko
Origin: Santorini, Greece
Why it matters: If there is a single grape that will define the future of white wine, Assyrtiko may be it. Grown on the volcanic soils of Santorini — one of the most extreme viticultural environments on earth — Assyrtiko produces wines of searing acidity, intense minerality, and bone-dry precision, even in scorching heat. No other white grape retains its acid structure so completely in warm climates. As the world warms, Assyrtiko is the answer to a question every wine region will eventually ask: how do we make fresh, vibrant white wine when the temperature won’t stop rising?
Taste: Citrus, saline, volcanic mineral, flinty, intense. Think Chablis reimagined by the Aegean.
Producers to try: Sigalas, Hatzidakis, Gaia Thalassitis, Argyros.
🥂 Furmint
Origin: Tokaj, Hungary
Why it matters: Most people know Furmint as the grape behind Tokaji Aszú — Hungary’s legendary sweet wine. But dry Furmint is the great undiscovered white wine of Europe. With its combination of razor-sharp acidity, smoky minerality, and complex stone-fruit character, dry Furmint offers a flavour profile that sits somewhere between Riesling and Chenin Blanc — and rivals both.
Taste: Green apple, smoke, flint, quince, lime, volcanic mineral. Thrilling acidity.
Producers to try: István Szepsy, Royal Tokaji, Disznókő (dry cuvées), Barta.
🥂 Godello
Origin: Galicia / Bierzo, Spain
Why it matters: Nearly extinct by the 1970s — reduced to a few scattered vines in Valdeorras — Godello was rescued by a handful of passionate producers and has since become one of Spain’s most exciting white grapes. It produces wines of real complexity and texture — fuller-bodied than Albariño, with a waxy, almost Burgundian richness balanced by bright acidity and stone-fruit aromatics.
Taste: White peach, pear, beeswax, herbs, mineral. Think white Burgundy with a Spanish accent.
Producers to try: Rafael Palacios (As Sortes), Guímaro, Godeval, Telmo Rodríguez.
🥂 Savagnin
Origin: Jura, France
Why it matters: The grape behind Vin Jaune — the extraordinary, oxidative, curry-scented wine of the Jura that ages under a film of yeast (voile) for a minimum of six years. But Savagnin also makes stunning non-oxidative whites — fresh, mineral, with a distinctive herbal and waxy character that is like nothing else. The Jura is arguably the most exciting wine region in France right now, and Savagnin is its beating heart.
Taste: Curry leaf, walnut, apple, beeswax, herbs (oxidative style). Green apple, citrus, mineral, herbs (fresh style).
Producers to try: Overnoy, Ganevat, Tissot, Macle.
🥂 Rkatsiteli
Origin: Georgia
Why it matters: One of the oldest grape varieties in continuous cultivation — possibly 5,000+ years. The backbone of Georgian amber/orange wine, traditionally fermented in qvevri (clay vessels). Rkatsiteli produces wines of remarkable versatility — from fresh, appley whites to deep, tannic, amber-coloured skin-contact wines with flavours of tea, dried apricot, and honey. As orange wine grows globally, Rkatsiteli is becoming its ambassador grape.
Taste: Apple, quince, tea, honey, dried apricot, herbs (skin-contact). Crisp, clean, citric (conventional).
Producers to try: Pheasant’s Tears, Iago, Lagvinari, Chelti.
🥂 Grillo
Origin: Sicily, Italy
Why it matters: Once used exclusively for Marsala production, Grillo has been reborn as one of Sicily’s most exciting dry white varieties. At its best, it combines citrus freshness with a nutty, almost savoury complexity — recalling its Marsala heritage — with a Mediterranean warmth and generosity that makes it irresistibly food-friendly.
Taste: Lemon, almond, pear, jasmine, saline, herbs.
Producers to try: Marco de Bartoli, Ferrandes, Guiliana, Cataratto (related variety).
RED
🍷 Xinomavro
Origin: Naoussa, Macedonia, Greece
Why it matters: Often called “the Nebbiolo of Greece” — and the comparison is apt. Xinomavro produces deeply coloured, powerfully tannic wines with flavours of dark cherry, tomato, olive, dried herbs, and leather. Like Barolo, the best Xinomavro is structured, austere in youth, and capable of extraordinary ageing — 20, 30, even 40 years. It is arguably the most undervalued age-worthy red grape in the world.
Taste: Dark cherry, sundried tomato, olive, leather, dried herbs, spice. Firm tannins. High acidity.
Producers to try: Kir-Yianni, Thymiopoulos, Boutari, Dalamara.
🍷 Nerello Mascalese
Origin: Mount Etna, Sicily
Why it matters: Etna is the hottest (metaphorically) wine region in Italy right now, and Nerello Mascalese is the reason. Grown on the volcanic slopes of Europe’s tallest active volcano, on ancient terraces of black lava soil, Nerello Mascalese produces reds of ethereal elegance — pale in colour, perfumed, mineral, with a silky texture and a savoury complexity that recalls Burgundy or Barolo rather than anything typically Sicilian.
Taste: Wild strawberry, blood orange, dried herbs, volcanic mineral, smoke, rose hip. Elegant, ethereal.
Producers to try: Passopisciaro (Franchetti), Benanti, Girolamo Russo, Graci, Frank Cornelissen.
🍷 Trousseau
Origin: Jura, France
Why it matters: A rare, thin-skinned red grape from the Jura that produces some of the most hauntingly beautiful light reds in France — or anywhere. Perfumed, delicate, with a wild, almost feral quality that is completely unique. Trousseau makes Pinot Noir look muscular. It is wine at its most transparent and fragile — and for those who connect with it, profoundly moving.
Taste: Wild strawberry, cranberry, rose hip, earth, smoke, pepper, forest floor.
Producers to try: Overnoy, Ganevat, Tissot, Labet.
🍷 Mencía
Origin: Bierzo / Ribeira Sacra, Spain
Why it matters: Nearly forgotten until the 1990s, Mencía has been spectacularly revived and is now producing some of Spain’s most exciting reds. At its best — from the steep slate terraces of Ribeira Sacra or the granitic slopes of Bierzo — it combines the floral elegance of Pinot Noir with a mineral depth and herbal complexity all its own. It is the grape that proved northwest Spain is world-class red wine territory.
Taste: Dark cherry, violet, mineral, herbs, graphite, pepper. Medium-bodied, elegant, age-worthy.
Producers to try: Raúl Pérez, Descendientes de J. Palacios, Guímaro, Envínate.
🍷 Blaufränkisch
Origin: Austria / Burgenland
Why it matters: Austria’s answer to the question: can Central Europe produce serious, age-worthy red wine? Yes, it can. Blaufränkisch (known as Kékfrankos in Hungary, Lemberger in Germany) produces deeply coloured, firmly structured reds with flavours of dark cherry, blackberry, pepper, and iron — with a distinctly cool-climate freshness that makes it supremely food-friendly. The best examples from Mittelburgenland and Eisenberg rival fine Syrah.
Taste: Dark cherry, blackberry, iron, pepper, herbs, earth. Firm tannins, bright acidity.
Producers to try: Moric, Krutzler, Gesellmann, Heinrich.
🍷 Plavac Mali
Origin: Dalmatia, Croatia
Why it matters: Genetically related to Zinfandel (it is actually a cross of Zinfandel’s parent grapes), Plavac Mali produces intensely concentrated, deeply coloured reds from the sun-baked slopes of the Dalmatian coast and islands. Powerful, tannic, and darkly fruity, the best Plavac Mali is unlike anything else — Mediterranean heat with a Slavic sternness.
Taste: Blackberry, fig, dried plum, dark chocolate, herbs, licorice. Powerful.
Producers to try: Stina, Saints Hills, Bura-Mrgudić, Miloš.
🍷 Agiorgitiko
Origin: Nemea, Peloponnese, Greece
Why it matters: Greece’s most planted red grape and one of its most versatile. From soft, fruity, everyday reds to powerful, oak-aged reservas, Agiorgitiko spans the quality spectrum — but at its finest, from old vines at altitude in Nemea, it produces velvety, complex reds with flavours of dark cherry, plum, sweet spice, and herbs. Think of it as Greece’s Merlot — but more interesting.
Taste: Dark cherry, plum, sweet spice, herbs, chocolate. Soft tannins.
Producers to try: Skouras, Gaia (Agiorgitiko), Papaioannou, Semeli.
🍷 Frappato
Origin: Sicily, Italy
Why it matters: If Nerello Mascalese is Etna’s Pinot Noir, Frappato is Sicily’s Gamay — light, aromatic, bursting with cherry and strawberry fruit, with a floral perfume and a refreshing drinkability that makes it one of the most charming red grapes in Italy. It is the red wine you chill in summer and drink with fish — yes, fish. Arianna Occhipinti’s versions have achieved cult status.
Taste: Strawberry, cherry, rose, fresh herbs, pepper. Light, fresh, joyful.
Producers to try: Arianna Occhipinti, COS, Giusto Occhipinti, Valle dell’Acate.
🍷 Poulsard
Origin: Jura, France
Why it matters: Trousseau’s even more delicate sibling. Poulsard (also called Ploussard) produces wines so pale they are almost rosé — but with a complexity, a savoury depth, and an earthy, mushroomy quality that is utterly captivating. It is wine stripped to its essence — barely any colour, barely any tannin, but enormous flavour. A sommelier’s secret weapon.
Taste: Cranberry, rose hip, mushroom, earth, smoke, dried herbs. Barely pink. Endlessly complex.
Producers to try: Overnoy, Ganevat, de la Pinte, Pignier.
Why This Matters
The rediscovery of indigenous varieties is not a trend. It is a correction — a course change away from monoculture and toward the biodiversity that sustained wine for millennia before the modern market homogenised it.
It matters for three reasons:
1. Flavour
Cabernet Sauvignon is a fine grape. But it tastes like Cabernet Sauvignon whether you grow it in Bordeaux, Chile, China, or the moon. Indigenous varieties taste like the place they come from — because they evolved there, adapted there, and express the terroir in ways that transplanted international varieties cannot.
2. Climate Resilience
As the planet warms, the grapes that evolved in hot, dry, extreme environments — Assyrtiko, Monastrell, Xinomavro, Touriga Nacional — will outperform the cool-climate varieties that dominate global plantings. The future of sustainable viticulture lies in these ancient, climate-adapted genes.
3. Cultural Heritage
Every grape variety is a piece of cultural DNA — a record of centuries of human selection, cultivation, and tradition. When a grape goes extinct, a piece of human history dies with it. Preserving indigenous varieties is not just good viticulture. It is cultural preservation.
How to Start
| If You Like… | Try… | You’ll Get… |
|---|---|---|
| Chardonnay | Godello (Spain) | Similar richness, more character |
| Sauvignon Blanc | Assyrtiko (Greece) | Same acidity, more mineral depth |
| Riesling | Furmint (Hungary) | Similar structure, smoky complexity |
| Pinot Grigio | Grillo (Sicily) | More flavour, more interest, same price |
| Pinot Noir | Nerello Mascalese (Etna) | Ethereal elegance, volcanic soul |
| Pinot Noir | Trousseau (Jura) | Even more delicate, haunting |
| Cabernet Sauvignon | Xinomavro (Greece) | Structure, age-worthiness, unique flavour |
| Merlot | Agiorgitiko (Greece) | Velvet texture, more personality |
| Syrah | Blaufränkisch (Austria) | Pepper, dark fruit, cool-climate freshness |
| Gamay | Frappato (Sicily) | Joy, lightness, chill-ability |
| Zinfandel | Plavac Mali (Croatia) | Genetic cousin, Adriatic soul |
| Malbec | Mencía (Spain) | Elegance instead of power |
The Manifesto
The monoculture is over.
The world does not need another Cabernet Sauvignon from a region that never grew Cabernet Sauvignon. It does not need another oaky Chardonnay from a country that has its own brilliant white grapes gathering dust in abandoned vineyards.
What the world needs is diversity. The diversity that makes wine endlessly fascinating, endlessly surprising, endlessly worth exploring. The diversity that comes from trusting the land — from believing that the grape your grandmother grew, the one that barely survives on a forgotten hillside, the one that no critic has ever scored and no Instagram account has ever posted — might be the most extraordinary wine you’ve ever tasted.
Go find it.
Tim Morgan is a London-based sommelier and wine writer.