The world's most popular wine grapes

Over time, winemakers have mastered the art of managing vineyards, going from general planting to carefully matching fruits to different types of soil and weather. The result is some of the world's best known grapes.

Every type of grape has its own flavor and properties, which shape all the important traits found in wine.

Although grapes were traditionally planted in any type of soil, today most vineyards match their grapes to the best suited soils and weather. This understanding allows winemakers to make the best tasting wines possible from their vineyards due to reaching desired levels of phenolic ripeness.

In California, there are more than 60 different grape varieties planted for winemaking, including cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and petit verdot.

Cabernet sauvignon

Making up much of the world’s most expensive wine, cabernet sauvignon can be planted all over the world in many climates. As of 2010, it is the world's most popular wine making grape for red wines. The grape is characterized by its thick skin, and was born when French winemakers crossed cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc to make a grape with special flavors.

Merlot

As the world's second most popular grape, merlot is known for its soft textures and exceptionally rich flavors in wine. It's thought that merlot is a crossbreed between cabernet franc and the lesser known Magdeleine Noire des Charentes grape.

Cabernet franc

More often than not, cabernet franc is used as a blending grape rather than a stand-alone wine, but some wineries in America have found success with it. It still ranks in the top 20 of the world's most popular grapes.

Petit verdot

With its very specific ripening conditions, petit verdot is a storied and difficult wine to make. It gained most of its fame as a blending grape for Bordeaux wine. An ancient grape, it is thought that petit verdot was one of the original wine grapes planted by the Romans.