THERE ARE 1368 WINE GRAPE VARIETIES IN THE WORLD, AND ONLY SOME HAVE EMERGED ON WORLD MARKETS. MANY, LIKE PAIS, TEROLDEGO, NERELLO MASCALESE AND AGIORGITIKO ARE READY TO CONQUER PALATES AROUND THE WORLD

There are 1.368 wine grape varieties in the world, but only a few dozen were able to emerge and conquer palates and markets. This is a sign that marketing matters, and so does biodiversity, since often there is huge potential in diversity. For instance, Prosecco and Glera (but also less known local varieties admitted in production of the Venetian bubbles, like Verdiso, Perera and Bianchetta), that only 10 years ago nobody knew about outside of Italy. That's why protecting, studying and focusing on less known varieties could sooner or later be a winning strategy.
According to the most authoritative vine geneticist in the world, José Vouillamoz, there are ten red grape varieties on the launching pad that he has ranked for "The Drinks Business" (www.thedrinksbusiness.com).
First, Pais, a grape that thanks to the work of many winemakers, is carving out a crucial role in the growth of Chilean wine, where the Spanish "conquistadors" brought it in the early sixteenth century. It’s hard to pronounce another variety, the Öküzgözü that in Turkey, where it originates is one of the most famous, while it has not experienced the same success on the shelves of the rest of the world. The turning point seemed close, due to the exponential growth of Turkish wine production in recent years, but in 2014 the government in Ankara dealt a heavy blow to the entire sector, prohibiting advertising and domestic marketing of any type of alcohol.
Pineau d'Aunis comes from the Loire and is a spicy and fruity variety that has been "crushed" over the years by the popularity of Cabernet Sauvignon, but today is gaining ground on wine lists in the Region.
The wine world instead can thank an Italian woman for having rediscovered the Teroldego grape. Elisabetta Foradori, in Trentino, has demonstrated that the disappearance of this variety (rediscovered in the mid-80s) would have been a huge loss for viticulture in Italy and abroad. Greece also has a long and important history of wine and vines, and recently varieties like Agiorgitiko (and for the whites, Assyrtiko, Savatiano and Xinomavro) are catching up to international ones.
Touriga Nacional is well known, but equally important in Portuguese viticulture, especially in the Douro Valley, is the rediscovery of Touriga Franca, even if no one makes it in purity (Lusitanian wines are almost all blends of different grapes, ed.). The main player of the French region Jura is the variety Trousseau, aka Bastardo, which is now more than a mere novelty of French viticulture. The most influential wine consultants in the world, from Paul Hobbs to Michel Rolland, to Alberto Antonini, have recently rediscovered the cradle of viticulture, Armenia, with its most representative variety, the Areni. Not far away, in the natural gateway between Asia and Europe, is Georgia, the "wine cellar" of Russia, with another variety to say the least symbolic: Saperavi, which is linked to the long tradition of brewing in the buried amphorae "qvevri". Finally, again in Italy, but at the other end of the boot, in Sicily, the Nerello Mascalese variety that is bringing one of emerging terroir of Italy, Etna, to the attention of the whole world, especially thanks to the commitment of one of the most important names on the island, Planeta.