Cabernet Sauvignon
This thick-skinned, late ripening grape is cultivated all over the world and takes on similar expressions of cassis, dark fruits, black cherry, and with maturation flavors such as tobacco, chocolate, and mocha.
Merlot
This early ripening, thin-skinned grape has less tannin than Cabernet Sauvignon, and is often marked by characteristics of plum and blue fruit in youth. It is often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux.
Syrah
Called Shiraz in Australia, this grape gives way to a fruit-driven wine with flavors of violet, blackberries, and with age, a certain animal quality. In the Southern Rhone, it makes up one of the 3 typical GSM blending grapes, the others being Grenache and Mouvedre.