There
are more than 600 types of grape, but only a small portion of those are
suitable for wine production.
Even fewer of the grape
varieties used for making wine are considered a high enough quality to
be used in the production of fine wines. These fine wine grapes are
referred to as "noble grape varieties" and must be grown in the right
climate, using the best winemaking techniques if they are to come to
their full potential.
There are two major varieties of grapes used in wine production, red
grapes and white grapes. As you can guess the grape used would either
produce a dark wine or a white wine depending on the grape. Wine is
typically made from one or more varieties of the European specias called
Vitis vinifera. Wine can also be made from Vitis labrusca which is a
native North American grape usually used for eating or grape juice but
can sometimes be used for wine.
There
are more than 600 types of grape, but only a small portion of those are
suitable for wine production.