California is the only place in the world planted with just about all the better known wine grapes, producing variable qualities of wines. Elsewhere in the world, wine and grapes are location specific. While some regions have same grapes, no two regions plant identical grapes and make identical styles of wines.
This article is Part I of the three-part article series on the types of red wines in the world. The connection of grapes, wines and the regions would help the understanding of this lovely drink that we call wine.

Barbera: Indigenous to the most prominent wine region of Italy, Piedmonte, Barbera makes two styles of wine: youthful, lively, with sour-cherry flavor, or oak-aged, complex, with darker fruit, toast, spices notes. The latter is meant for aging with the maturity bringing out the best of its characteristics.

Cabernet Sauvignon: Bordeaux and California are the largest planting and production regions for the King of Red Wines. The different approach in these two regions is that in Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon is almost always blended with other regional grapes, while many California producers make varietal Cabernet Sauvignon wines. The advantage of the Californian winemakers is the reliable weather, while the weather in Bordeaux dictates the quality and thus the “vintage” is so much talked about when it comes to Bordeaux reds.

Cabernet Franc: Cabernet Franc’s charms are in its fragrant aromas rich with red berries, blackcurrant leaves, and herbaceous notes, and approachable styles of tannins. With the right terroir – combined elements of the natural environment, for examples, Napa and Sonoma, Cabernet Franc could produce dark fruit, well-structured and complex full-bodied single varietal wine.

Carmenère: Originated in the Bordeaux region of France as a blending grape but never playing a major role, Carmenère has found its stage to shine in Chile as a single varietal wine. Well, there was a little hiccup when it was mistaken to be Merlot in the vineyard and made into wines labeled Merlot, but that confusion has since then be cleared. The Chilean Carmenère offers velvety texture, low acidity and almost-sweet fruit flavors, as long as the grapes are ripen properly, not harvested unripe.