Within this narrow scope, different vintages of wine from this grape or different wines produced from the vintage (such as barrel-aged and bottle-aged) may still be blended. But largely the concept is that only one kind of grape was straightforwardly harvested and made into wine using one method during one year.

Not every kind of wine grape makes a good varietal. To do so, a grape has to have enough character and constitution to produce an interesting flavor all its own. It must be capable of fermenting well, and to have enough versatility to produce different results from different methods, such as being affected by which terroir produced it. Most importantly of all, a varietal wine must have balance.

If a wine is varietal, it will display the name of the grape used on the label. Examples of varietal wines include Cabernet Sauvignon , Pinot Noir , Riesling , and Sauvignon Blanc . Varietal labeling has mainly been a trope of New World wines, with Australia and the United States labeling wines this way, while Old World wines from France, Spain, and Italy usually label by the region or type, even if the wine is in fact varietal. this is changing now, as even France is starting to change to a varietal labeling system.

Be aware that just because the label says 'Pinot Noir ' doesn't mean that it's going to taste like the last Pinot Noir you've had. So many other factors go into what makes the wine, including terroir, harvesting, extracting, fermenting, storage, and a host of other variables, that sometimes what grape was used is almost of negligible consideration.

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