Wine · Grape Guide
Seventeen of the grapes you'll meet most often in your WSET studies — how each one tastes, where it's grown, and what to know going into the exam.
Red grapes
Red grape
Bordeaux's backbone grape — thick skins, firm tannin, and a structure built to age.
Red grape
Bordeaux's softer right-bank partner — plush, plummy, and approachable.
Red grape
Thin-skinned, site-sensitive, and the grape behind red Burgundy's cult status.
Red grape
The Rhône's peppery powerhouse — called Syrah in France, Shiraz in Australia.
Red grape
Tuscany's signature red — high acid, firm tannin, and a core of tart cherry.
Red grape
Piedmont's prized grape — pale colour, high tannin and acid, and a scent of roses and tar.
Red grape
Spain's noble red — leather and spice built up through long oak ageing.
Red grape
Deep, dark and plush in Mendoza — leaner and more rustic back home in Cahors.
Red grape
A warm-climate workhorse — pale, juicy and high in alcohol, built for blending.
Red grape
California's own — jammy, high in alcohol, and genetically identical to Italy's Primitivo.
White grapes
White grape
The world's most planted white grape — a blank canvas shaped by climate and oak.
White grape
Punchy, green, and unmistakably aromatic — the Loire's and Marlborough's signature grape.
White grape
One grape, two styles — crisp Italian Pinot Grigio and richer Alsatian Pinot Gris.
White grape
Germany's noble grape — searingly aromatic, high in acid, and capable of any sweetness level.
White grape
Intensely perfumed and low in acid — lychee, rose petal and spice in the glass.
White grape
The Loire's most versatile white — sparkling, dry, sweet or anything in between.
White grape
Perfumed and full-bodied — the grape behind the Northern Rhône's Condrieu.