On wine: Offbeat varietals you might want to try

Popular wines mean popular problems. Take pinot grigio. Please.

Whose is better; whose is best? Aren’t they all pretty much the same?

If the pinot grigio craze started out with those Italian wines, then who are all these nonItalians producing it, and are they as good as the originals? And, when the bottom of the bottle flips upside down, what was that huge price for anyway? In many cases it doesn’t seem like much of a wine there, all in all.

Ask many of the same questions of chardonnay or sauvignon blanc. Or cabernet sauvignon, merlot and pinot noir. There are reasons why these are the more popular wine varieties, although inertia has a lot to do with it.

If you want to step out and try some wines that are like the standards, I offer some suggestions. You can always go back to same old, same old.

If you like pinot grigio, you’ll like albarino.

Actually, the Spaniard albarino is more what Italian pinot grigio should taste like anyway, with hints of peach-y and apple-y aromas, a soft texture on the tongue, ending with a clipped finish from solid acidity. But most pinot grigio has been over-cropped so that all those characteristics are washed away and what’s left is a liquid a wee tastier than Evian.

2013 Marques de Caceres Albarino “Deusa Nai” Rias Baixas Spain: As if you had sprinkled a pinch of salt over ripe pineapple and peach, with acidity that “frames” the sip and a finish like blanched almond. $13-$18

Other alternatives: Greek assyrtiko; Basque txakoli; Italian arneis, falanghina or fiano di Avellino.

If you like chardonnay, you’ll like viognier.

Viognier has all the yummies and voluptuous texture that chardonnay has, without chardonnay’s sometimes tedious oak flavors and aromas. It sports gobs of tastes (apricot, white peach, mango, kiwi, ripe pear, to name a few), creaminess, soft acidity and a finish like creme fraiche, at once gentle and a tad tangy. None of it needs oak.

2014 Yalumba Viognier Eden Valley South Australia: Ever sniff an apricot pit? This wine is as aromatic, yes, and as effusively textural and creamy; quick to its minerally finish, with more than the grape’s typical acidity; and is from the best maker of this grape outside France. $13-20

Other alternatives: marsanne/rousanne blends; pinot blanc.

If you like cabernet sauvignon, you’ll like Rioja.

What’s most appealing about cabernet sauvignon isn’t its supposed hefty power, the common contemporary (high-end) rendition. That is, really, just a bottled statement about a winemaker’s tinkering prowess with too-ripe grapes, say, or a lot of wood.

If you want cabernet’s elegance in another red wine, you’ll get it in red Rioja, which guarantees finesse by blending the grape tempranillo and aging the wine for years in both barrel and bottle before release.

2012 Rivarey Tempranillo Rioja Spain: Nothing fancy, just softly rendered fruit with further smoothing from five years’ time cellared from the shelf; dark cherry aromas and tastes; moderate tannin; great price. $8-$11

Other alternatives: many Spanish tempranillos; Chinon reds; cabernet franc.

If you like pinot noir, you’ll like Ciro.

Of course, pinot noir is unique, in its own world. What else could combine its enormous perfume, juicy texture and never-ending finish? Well, Ciro, a red from Calabria, Italy’s “toe,” fashioned from the grape gaglioppo, approaches the trifecta.

2013 Librandi Ciro Calabria Italy: Plenty of red cherry give character to the aroma and taste, with soft tannins and a drying, herb-y finish; nothing serious, but delicious and straightforward. $10-$15

Other alternatives: Austrian blaufrankisch; older nebbiolo from Piedmont.

If you like merlot, you’ll like grenache.

Merlot is the original “in your face” red; all it wants to do is pleasure your palate with ripe red fruit flavors and aromas, plush texture, can’t-see-‘em tannin and a finish that sets up the tongue for more. Grenache (from France) or garnacha (from Spain) - same grape, different names - does the same, coming from most places in those two countries with the kicker of a bit more alcohol for the ride.

Other alternatives: Argentine malbec; Chilean carmenere or syrah; Italian ripasso from Valpolicella.

If you like sauvignon blanc, you’ll like torrontés.

If you like sauvignon blanc, you like head-snapping aroma. Here’s a grape, especially when from Argentina, that stands out in a crowd of “glass of white, please.” Its full-on aromas are a mix of white and yellow fruits (pear, apple, lemon, peach), with underlying flavors of melon and lichee, beguile.

An alternative: Greek moschofilero.

Bill St John has been writing and teaching about wine for more than 40 years. He is based in Denver.