Making sense of the myriad new grape varieties

They’re certainly creating plenty of buzz in bars and beyond, but Philip White ponders how curious winefolk can face the mess of new varieties that end in O, among others. South Australia has about 9000ha of Chardonnay. Next come Riesling and Sauvignon blanc, at about 2500ha each. These figures are from Wine Australia’s 2016 Winegrape Crush Survey.
Shiraz leads the reds at 26,500ha, followed by Cabernet sauvignon at 17,000ha and Merlot at 4000ha.
Grenache, the current hotgoss sizzler, is fourth, at a meagre 1700 ha. I’m being parochial here, keeping this discussion local. Even this a bit too general.