In a recent post, I suggested that one “dance with the grape less traveled.” Most wine drinkers are familiar with the noble grapes — those varieties, which feature prominently as or in the world’s greatest wines such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Some of these grapes are grown internationally, while others have more delimited areas where they do well. But, there are hundreds of grape varieties, which are not household names and may even be quite obscure.

On one hand, these grapes have not achieved world-wide acclaim because the wines they produce are not among the top. However, they can often be quite good and, may be less familiar simply due to a lack of distribution and/or availability. And, a lack of marketing. If you stick to the big grape names you may be missing out on some really great wines.

The Wine Century Club (see their newly relaunched website) actively promotes the drinking of these lesser-known grapes by challenging would be members to drink a minimum of 100 different grape varieties. These grapes are then documented on the application form and submitted for your review.

I am pleased to announce that my application was accepted and I am now a Distinguished Member of this esteemed club. Not to be outdone, my husband took up the challenge as well, and, although he started more than a few grapes behind, quickly caught up and also achieved membership. With the goal achieved, we are a little less obsessed with finding obscure wines. However, we do still love to find and try new varieties. It is the spice of life!