Italian Wine Grapes

Pairing Food and Wine For Dummies

Sometimes you know the name of the grape used to produce the nice Italian wine you're drinking because the name of the grape and the name of the wine are the same. But that's not always the case, so if you want to match the Italian wine to the principal grape (or grapes) used to make it, consult the following table:

Wine Type	Color	Principal Grape(s)	Wine Type	Color	Principal Grape(s)
Amarone	Red	Corvina, others	Lambrusco	Red	Lambrusco
Barbaresco	Red	Nebbiolo	Montepulciano	Red	Montepulciano
Barbera d'Alba	Red	Barbera	Orvieto	White	Grechetto, others
Bardolino	Red	Corvina, Rondinella, others	Soave	White	Garganega, others
Barolo	Red	Nebbiolo	Taurasi	Red	Aglianico
Brunello	Red	Sangiovese	Valpolicella	Red	Corvina, Rondinella, others
Chianti	Red	Sangiovese, others	Verdicchio	White	Verdicchio
Dolcetto d'Alba	Red	Dolcetto	Vernaccia	White	Vernaccia
Gavi	White	Cortese	Vino Nobile	Red	Prugnolo (Sangiovese)

About This Article

About the book author:

Mary Ewing-Mulligan is the first woman in America to become a Master of Wine, and is currently one of 50 MWs in the U.S. and 380 in the world.

Ed McCarthy is a wine writer, Certified Wine Educator, and wine consultant. McCarthy is considered a leading Champagne authority in the U.S. He is the Contributing Editor of Beverage Media.