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Sangiovese (Red) [san-geeo-VEHS-eh]

Sangiovese is best known for providing the backbone for many superb Italian red wines, including Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino, as well as the so-called SuperTuscan blends. Sangiovese is distinctive for its supple texture and medium-to-full-bodied spice, raspberry, cherry and anise flavors. When blended with a grape such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese gives the resulting wine a smoother texture and more supple tannins.

Sauvignon Blanc (White) [SO-vin-yon BLAHNK]

Sauvignon Blanc is a white varietal with a notable aroma, which is often characterized as "grassy" or "herbal." The pure varietal is found mainly in the Loire, especially in and around Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume. As part of a blend, the grape is all over Bordeaux, in Pessac-Leognan, Graves and the Medoc; it also shows up in Sauternes. New Zealand has had striking success with Sauvignon Blanc in recent years, producing its own perfumed, fruity style that has spread to North America and back to France.

Semillon (White) [SEM-ih-yon]

On its own or in a blend, this white varietal can age. With Sauvignon Blanc, its traditional partner and life long friend, Semillon is the foundation of Sauternes and most of the great dry whites found in Graves and Pessac-Leognan; these are rich, honeyed wines. Semillon is one of the grapes susceptible to Botrytis cinerea. Australia's Hunter Valley uses it solo to make a full-bodied white that used to be known as Hunter Riesling, Chablis or White Burgundy. In South Africa, this grape was once so prevalent that it was just called "wine grape," but production there has declined drastically in recent years.

Semillon can make a wonderful late-harvest wine, and those wineries that focus on it can make well-balanced wines with complex fig, pear, tobacco and honey notes. When blended into Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon adds body, flavor and texture. When Sauvignon Blanc is added to Semillon, the latter gains fresh, grassy herbal notes.

Syrah or Shiraz (Red) [sih-RAH or shih-RAHZ]

Hermitage and Cote-Rotie in France, the great old vines renditions of South Australia-the epitome of Syrah is a majestic red that can age for half a century. The grape seems to grow well in a number of areas and is capable of rendering rich, complex, and distinctive wines, with pronounced pepper, spice, black cherry, tar, leather and roasted nut flavors, as well as a smooth, supple texture and ripe tannins. In the south of France, it finds its way into various blends, as in Chateauneuf-du-Pape and the better wines of the Languedoc-Roussillon. Known as Shiraz in Australia, Syrah was long used there for bread-and-butter blends, but an increasing number of high-quality varietal bottlings are now being made, especially from old vines in the Barossa Valley.