One of the funnest parts of learning wine is learning the spectrum of your favorite variety. How different processes related to wine making can make a Zinfandel more acidic and fruit forward, versus a bomb tannic Zinfandel that should be called dark matter on an oak shadowed lane. Some wines are so ripe, strong and full of oak notes, they can be harder to stomach as well. Or it can be light and fruitful on the other end of the spectrum. Zinfandel can be lighter and more fruitful like an Italian Barbera from Asti. This is an example of the spectrum, in a nutshell.
The best scores in wine come from those tertiary bombs that really extract the most fruit aromas, and tannic contents from the wine. On top of that, you get tertiary flavors. Tertiary flavors develop in the aging process in the bottle. Things like smoke, tar, honeycomb, and bread pudding notes, or perhaps forest floor. The wine even can change from sip to sip, this is the art of the highly developed wine, that gets those high awards, and point scores deep into the 90’s.
However the best thing if you like a particular variety, and my favorites are Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache in no particular order, is to try their spectrum. Try lots of different ones. Meaning a light version of the variety and a rich, opulent version of that variety. That last kind could be expensive to really see what’s possible. These highly processed wines are what drives up prices.
For me the grape with the widest and most complex spectrum, with lots of choices in the Sierra Nevada, is Zinfandel. I like my Zinfandel spicy and complex with berry magic delivering clove, mediterranean spices, pomegranate with a whole bunch of sweet Italian cherries. Almost all red wines have some notes of cherry. Zinfandel can be very complex and still be a bit rich in the finish, but with almost no oak to infuse it, it can be really something unique. Also a bit less tannic is often better for the stomach as well. It is hard to find this, but I have had several expressions of this kind of amazing Zinfandel and loved every minute of it. The El Dorado AVA often has this higher mountain wine that is a bit lighter and full of lots of grape forward notes and a bit lighter in style.
Another varietal that has a very interesting and diverse spectrum is Merlot. Merlot is really something special, I like it more that Cabernet Sauvignon. If you forced me to choose, I choose Merlot over Cabernet, because Merlot can be really amazing with the its skin tannin, and it can have these complex minty or bay leaf flavors that exist that really shine on the palate, especially with a nice meal.
If you love large, deep, rich and ripe wines and have not had the lighter varietals of that grape, you can try to go to a wine shop and ask for wines that are lighter versions of Syrah (think Crozes-Hermitage) and others come from other parts of France as well (think further north). As far as Merlot , all over Bordeaux you can find Merlot of all capacities across the full spectrum. Pinot Noir is also this kind of grape, it is often oppressed by heavy oak but a lot of vintners realize Pinot is so special as it is, so I find plenty of Pinot Noir that is lightly touched and very Provincial.
In the foothills the easiest grapes are the ones I already mentioned. Zinfandel, Syrah (although most Syrahs are opulent and rich), and Grenache. Any grape variety has a spectrum of lighter to richer and fuller, these are just example varieties that might be more accessible.
So my 4 varieties for spectrum deep diving are:
Zinfandel
Merlot
Barbera
Syrah
You might wonder why Grenache is not on this list, it could be, but very heavy Grenache is not my favorite, so I pass on Grenache here with this theme. California Grenache really does poorly with too much oak. If I wanted to see lots of oak attached to a variety it would be my list above. I give an honorable mention to Pinot Noir since it is so accessible to people, especially here on the US West Coast.
Go out there and learn the spectrum on your favorite variety, since any grape, for example Sangiovese or Tempranillo, and so on, have these characteristics, where the spectrum exists, of elegant to rich. Wine is a human product, it can get highly manipulated, and grape forward wines can still be very complex. The easiest grape to show off a spectrum may be Barbera. In California, these tend to be very opulent and powerful wines, and in Barbera d’Asti they are elegant, cherry filled and so straight forwardly delicious. That is the easiest comparison of how the spectrum works. And if you live in New York City, the easiest to compare, since a store will probably stock both types.
The white varieties that have an amazing spectrum are Marsanne and Roussanne. The artists of the Northern Rhone do amazing work with Marsanne and Roussanne, so this will require a trip to south eastern France of course. Because the heavily opulent whites are not too prevalent or easy to find, especially in the USA. You will need to spend like $80 a or more for the really amazing rich and opulent white wines that are the best expression of what the Rhone valley whites can deliver. These whites are amazing!
Learn it, and love it, with your favorite variety. Go Provincial, then go New World. Or for a US resident or wine lover this order will be reversed. As it was for me.
Some further reading on wine flavor spectrums can be found in this article at Wine Folly.