A Curious Drinker's Guide to Unusual Grapes
Updated: Sep 8
You already know Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Gris. Consider this your introduction to Cobble Hill Winery’s grape curiosities: delicious varieties you may never have heard of, ready to surprise everyone from the casual sipper to the wine aficionado.
A few times a week, someone at the tasting room runs a finger down the sheet, stops on a word they've never seen before, and asks the question we love most: what is that?
Fair question. When we planted our new blocks, a little over 5,000 vines since 2023, we skipped the usual suspects. Instead, the rows are full of grapes most people need a minute to pronounce: Kerner, Scheurebe, Bacchus, Verdelho, Rkatsiteli, Grüner Veltliner, Castel, Zweigelt, Siegerrebe, Albariño, and Gewürztraminer to name a few.
There’s intention behind the selection: equal parts resilience and curiosity.
The resilience part is easy to explain. The valley's name comes from the Quw'utsun word for warm land, but warm is relative out here, and every vintage writes its own weather. A late frost. A soggy June. A September that refuses to cool down. Different grapes handle those surprises differently: one buds late and sleeps through the frost, another has thick skins that shrug off damp ocean air, another holds its acidity even when the season runs hot. Plant many, and no single year can ruin you. Think of the vineyard as a test kitchen where the recipes have to survive the weather.
The curiosity part is better explained over a glass. Here's who's who in the young vines.
Kerner
Bred in Germany in 1929 by a researcher named August Herold, who crossed Riesling with Trollinger, a red grape, and named the result for Justinus Kerner, a poet who wrote drinking songs. It tastes the way that parentage sounds: Riesling's lime and electricity, but rounder, with orchard fruit and a little herb garden in the finish. It ripens early and keeps its nerve in cold country, which is exactly what it was built for.
Scheurebe
Say it however you like; it rhymes with nothing in English. Georg Scheu created it in 1916 from Riesling and, as it turns out, Bukettraube. For nearly a century everyone assumed the second parent was Sylvaner; DNA testing settled the argument in 2012. Ripe Scheurebe smells of blackcurrant and grapefruit and can make serious, long-lived sweet wines. Picked too soon, it turns pungent and sullen. It rewards patience, which is another way of saying Dylan watches it like a hawk in September.
Rkatsiteli
Rkah-tsee-TEH-lee. Now you've said it. This is Georgia's most planted white grape, grown there for some 3,000 years, which makes the rest of this list look like newborns. The name means red stem. It's cold-hardy, buds late, and in its homeland it's often fermented on its skins in buried clay vessels called qvevri, which turns the wine amber and gives it a tannic, tea-like grip. What magic Dylan will conjure with this grape is yet to be revealed, but we are giddy with the prospects.
A Bit of Whimsey Winery History
The vines already growing on our hillside when we arrived, planted back in 2006, include Siegerrebe, a crossing of Madeleine Angevine and Gewürztraminer from 1929. Its breeder was the same Georg Scheu who created Scheurebe. One man's fingerprints sit on our oldest planted vines and our newest. We like that kind of continuity on a farm where regenerative agriculture meets serendipity.
Already Making Their Mark
Not every unusual grape at Cobble Hill is waiting for its debut. Siegerrebe and Castel have been growing on the hillside since 2006, while Zweigelt joined them more recently. All three are already showing what less familiar varieties can do in the Cowichan Valley.
Siegerrebe: A white grape with blush-pink skins and a name that translates as victory vine. Among the first into the picking bins every fall, it is unmistakable in the glass: lychee, grapefruit, and honeysuckle.
Castel: A French-American red that ripens where fussier grapes won’t, which is why it was trialed on Vancouver Island decades ago and still thrives on our cobble slope. It makes a dark, full-bodied red with a peppery edge. Our 2025 Castel took double gold at the 2026 All Canadian Wine Championships.
Zweigelt: Created in Austria in 1922 by crossing Blaufränkisch with St. Laurent, Zweigelt is now the country's most widely planted red grape. In 2024, we grafted several rows in our hillside vineyard and are looking forward to this year's harvest. The Zweigelt currently poured in our tasting room is made by Dylan with fruit grown nearby at Cherry Point Vineyard. Bright and juicy, it brings tart cherry, pomegranate, peppercorn, and spice to the glass.
The Unusual Grapes That Found Their Following
Grüner Veltliner: Austria’s most widely planted grape rose to prominence during the 1950s and found its defining home along the Danube. Austria’s great white brings citrus and its signature white-pepper snap.
Albariño: From Spain’s Atlantic coast, where the air is every bit as damp as ours. Its thick skins were practically invented for a maritime vineyard; expect lime, stone fruit, and a saline edge.
Chenin Blanc: Grown in France’s Loire Valley for more than a thousand years, Chenin Blanc is the region’s great shapeshifter: dry or sweet, still or sparkling, with apple and quince when young and honey and lanolin with age.
Verdelho: Once known chiefly as one of Madeira’s noble grapes, it now has a following as a dry table wine, particularly in Australia. It brings melon, pineapple, and honeysuckle while holding its freshness through warmer summers.
Gewürztraminer: Its name traces back to Tramin in northern Italy, though it found its most famous home across the border in Alsace. An aromatic, pink-skinned relative of Traminer, it is unmistakable for its lychee, rose petal, and spice.
Viognier: A native of France’s northern Rhône, Viognier nearly disappeared in the 1960s before finding a new following around the world. Its calling cards are apricot, blossom, and a generous texture.
What to expect in the glass
The youngest of these vines are only now coming into their first real harvests, so most of these grapes are still waiting for their debut. Some will end up in blends. A few, if they earn it, will stand alone on a label. What we can promise is that the tasting sheet will keep changing, and that there will always be something on it to peak your curiosity.
That's the point, really. Our signature white is called Kismet because this whole place began with a chance encounter and an unexpected bottle. The odd grapes are our way of leaving the door open for adventure to find you in the swirl of a glass.
Come taste for yourself. And ask about the weirdest wine on the sheet, it is the fastest way to make our day. :)
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