On Food and Cooking

people essentially isolated from each other
and living in different environments. So there
developed a large number of distinctive grape
varieties, each selected by particular people
for characteristics they found desirable.
Today it’s estimated that there are around
15,000 different varieties of the Eurasian
grape, Vitis vinifera. A single variety — Pinot
Noir, for example, or Cabernet Sauvignon —
may exist in the form of several hundred
different clones, each a somewhat different
version of that variety. Some varieties have
very distinctive aromas; others are more
subtle or even anonymous and therefore allow
the aromas of the fermentation and aging
more prominence. The term noble is applied
to varieties that produce wines with the
potential for developing great complexity
over many years in the bottle; these include
the French Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir,
and Chardonnay, the Italian Nebbiolo and
Sangiovese, and the German Riesling.