Roughly 75% of adults drink wine, with the top four reasons being because they enjoy the taste, it relieves stress, pairs well with food, and makes them happy. So comes the question, what is the most popular wine?
The Most Popular Wines in the World
There are several varieties of wine that are consumed more than others. This can be because their taste appeals to more people, they are sold at an affordable price, or maybe they are easy to acquire. We break down the most popular wines served around the world by what’s produced the most. If they weren’t consumed so much, there wouldn’t be so many acres dedicated to producing each wine, making it the best way to rank them at the moment.
#8. Sauvignon Blanc
Did you know that Sauvignon means “savage” or “wild?” Well, it’s a good name for this wine because Sauvignon Blanc makes for a bottle of savage and wild tasting wine, with vines planted all around Bordeaux and the Loire Valley of France. This white wine is produced across 275,643 acres and has only grown in popularity for being the parent grape to Cabernet Sauvignon.
#7. Garnacha
This red wine is a lighter color than most, possibly because it lacks the amount of tannin other red wines have. It’s almost considered a rosé. This means that it has color from grape skins, but is not quite enough to qualify as red wine. This one, with its zingy acidity and elevated alcohol, just qualifies. The fact that it mixes so well with Syrah and Monastrell blends, helped it rise enough in popularity to warrant 448,459 acres.
#6. Syrah
This red wine is the most popular in Australia by far, although they call it Shiraz. It might seem a little strange that this French wine is so popular in Australia, but it actually makes sense because its dry, warm summers and chilly, wet winters, resemble the climates where the Syrah grape grows across its 456,734 acres.
#5. Chardonnay
One of the most well-known and varied white wines in the world, it’s produced across 493,301 acres of vineyards. The grape that Chardonnay comes from originates from Burgundy, France. In Burgundy, they commonly age their wine by storing it in oak barrels. If you wanted to know why Chardonnay tastes as it does, the way they age this wine has a lot to do with it.
#4. Tempranillo
This red wine is from Spain. Despite how common it is, growing across 574,628 acres, it’s considered a highly-prized variety. Who said that the best has to be exclusive? This wine is usually a red wine, but it can also be a rosé. In many ways, it is a red wine-lite and the most popular one in the world.
#3. Airén
This white wine may be produced across 623,604 acres, but it isn’t as easy to grow as some of the others on this list. The grape that Airen comes from is a lesser-known wine grape that grows in the Castilla-La Mancha region of Spain, where vines are spread far apart to survive in the environment of the region. It’s not crazy to think that if this wine were produced across different environments, its popularity could increase as well.
#2. Merlot
Another red wine, Merlot is produced on 660,302 acres. Like #1, it is a Bordeaux wine known for its tannin texture, variety of tastes across bottles, and its fruity cherry flavors. Merlot is usually made dry, but it can be made sweet. This variety has certainly played a role in the wine’s continued popularity.
#1. Cabernet Sauvignon
This red wine is produced across 713,592 acres of vineyards and comes from a grape that originates in France. It’s one of the most famous wines around, popular not only in the United States and Europe but across the Middle East and Asia as well. If you ever visit Lebanon or China, you can expect to find Cabernet Sauvignon on the wine list of the restaurants you visit.
Come to Cork Dining to Taste Popular Wines
You can find these popular wines at most restaurants, but you can only find them perfectly paired with the right food at Cork Dining. Don’t wait until the last minute to make a reservation, make yours today.