Variety is the spice of Steve’s life
Variety, varietal. If there’s one guy who knows the difference, it’s Steve De Long.
Steve and Deborah De Long are on a mission to educate wine consumers about grape varieties beyond Chardonnay and Cab. They compiled the handsome De Long Varietal Table, which graphically sprinkles descriptions of 184 grape varieties on a 24 x 36 ranging from heaviest to lightest. If I owned a wine shop, I’d hang it somewhere the customers could linger and take it all in.
But since I don’t have a shop, I have instead taken an interest in their Wine Century Club. Drink wine from 100 different grape varieties and you’re in! (blends count) Membership in a club has never been so easy. The club is totally on the honor system as the application form states, “should you lie, may the wrath of Bacchus curse your palate!”
There is no physical address of this virtual club, so don’t expect to be able to relax over a glass of Pineau D’Aunis with other members. Once you’re in, though, you get a handsome plaque mailed to you and a sense of satisfaction. Best part is it’s free–and they’re not even trying to sell you a set of ginzu knives.
I handed it out at a recent class of mine and we got up to 21 that day alone. I’ve been tallying things up since then and am at 92 varieties as best I can remember. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find some Scuppernong…
Download the application (in pdf)
tags: wine | wine grapes | grape varieties
On May 2nd, 2006 at 4:50 am ,Accidentalwine wrote:
Howdy! You and I have a lot in common. I hold a PhD in political science and after 10 years in academia found myself a wine professional. I started my blog last month and am linking yours. I’d love to know what you think.
On May 2nd, 2006 at 6:53 pm ,Steve wrote:
Hi Tyler,
Thank you for the great article and hope to see you hanging around the Century Club soon!
Cheers,
Steve
On May 3rd, 2006 at 1:58 am ,huevos wrote:
This was a timely post; I recently tried a Pineau d’Aunis! It was the Thierry Puzelat “la Tesnière†Pineau d’Aunis from Toraine…an excellent wine, incidentally, for about $17/bottle in Seattle.
On May 4th, 2006 at 11:12 am ,Dr. Vino wrote:
hey – I haven’t crossed Pineau d’Aunis off my list yet! Where can I score some? 😉