1.   Although the oversupply of California wine grapes last fall primarily affected the Central Valley, he said coastal counties were not immune.

2.   Although zinfandel was once considered the only American fine wine grape, its European origins are undeniable.

3.   As for white wine grapes, fiano and Greco del Tufo are two of the more familiar names.

4.   As in Rioja, the principal red wine grape in Ribera is the tempranillo, although in Ribera it usually goes by the name tinto.

5.   At first, Petite Sirah was thought to be Durif, an obscure Rhone red wine grape.

6.   Beaujolais grapes, like most wine grapes, are picked and fermented in early fall.

7.   Because it ripens earlier than cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc has a much better chance of beating autumn rain, one of the greatest enemies of wine grapes.

8.   Both start by boiling down the must of trebbiano or lambrusco wine grapes.

9.   Aligote is a white wine grape and the only one other than chardonnay permitted in Burgundy.

10.   But the sturdier Chenin Blanc, and a handful of other wine grapes, mature nicely with balanced acids and sugars in cooler parts of the hot Central Valley.