During my years in the wine industry, I have sampled countless bottles of popular varieties like chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon. Some were outstanding; others were more pedestrian or even undrinkable. But no matter how great such wines might be, I would often find myself longing for a little more variety, a change of pace. Arinto or teroldego, anyone?

   So the recent Festival of Undiscovered Grapes in San Jose, spotlighting underappreciated wines from California, was just the sort of event I’m always looking for. It was a stretch to call some of the grape varieties undiscovered for any but the most entry-level wine drinkers. Albariño? Really? Same for grapes like grenache, cabernet franc and barbera. (Although I did taste a couple of wines made from grapes I’d never heard of. Looking at you, prieto picudo.)

   And it was encouraging to see so many examples of wines like chenin blanc and carignane. Again, not exactly undiscovered – they’ve been around in California for eons – but grapes that have newfound popularity.

   A number of the “undiscovered” grapes are varieties traditionally grown in warm, dry Mediterranean climates, making them promising for a warming California. Grapes like assyrtiko from Greece and nero d’avola from Italy.

   One such white grape is fiano, which is most often associated with the southern Italian region of Campania. Several wineries were pouring it, but a highlight for me was the 2024 Starfield Vineyards Fiano ($38) from El Dorado County in the Sierra Foothills, with its bright white peach flavors and lovely texture and richness.

   Less successful, to my palate, were the examples on display of falanghina, a white that’s also from Campania, which can make a delightfully fresh white. The wineries that were pouring it had opted for a more oxidative style with skin contact, which resulted in a wine with decidedly less charm.

   Teroldego, which hails from Italy’s Trentino region, is producing some appealing wines in California. For example, there’s the 2023 JMC Cellars Teroldego ($37) from Lodi, a medium-weight wine with ample juicy cherry flavors. The 2021 Intercoastal Wine Company Teroldego ($38), from Clarksburg, near Lodi, is more structured, with plush dark berry fruit. Ridge Vineyards also makes a fine example of teroldego from Clarksburg, but it’s not on the winery’s website and will probably be available only to wine club members.

   There were scores of wines I didn’t get to, but here are a few other standouts that I did taste:

   Andis Wines in the Sierra Foothills poured a dynamite 2021 Arinto ($35) that was very racy and fresh, with green apple and peach flavors. Arinto is a grape from Portugal that retains good acidity even when grown in hot climates. And the 2024 Andis Semillon ($35), from old vines in Bill Dillian Vineyard, provoked a “wow” from me: It’s peachy and bright with an amazing texture. I wouldn’t exactly call semillon an “undiscovered” grape – it’s one of the white varieties of Bordeaux – but it does seem to have been largely forgotten in California.

    Even more forgotten is ruby cabernet. California plantings of the once-common grape have dwindled by nearly two-thirds since 2000, and I’m not sure when I last saw a wine in which ruby cabernet accounted for more than a small percentage. But there it was in the 2021 Harney Lane “Patriarch’s Promise” ($48) from Lodi, producing a wine that’s well-structured, with plenty of dark fruit and nice richness. (The winery website is cagey about the grape used in the wine.)  

   Also from Lodi were a pair of wines from Omega Road. The 2024 Omega Road Torrontés ($28) is fresh and floral, with some weight and none of the bitterness that this variety sometimes exhibits. Torrontés is a white grape from Argentina, with the best examples coming from the high-altitude region of Salta. There was also the 2023 Omega Road Mencía ($35), made from a Spanish grape, which offers spicy red fruit and medium weight and tannins.

   The mencía grape appears to do well in Santa Barbara County, too, as evidenced by the 2024 Camins 2 Dreams Mencía ($40), which has a fruit profile that’s similar to zinfandel, but a little lighter-bodied and fresher.

   Finally, I enjoyed the 2022 Comunità Schioppettino ($55) from the Russian River Valley, with its fragrant, pretty berry fruit, supported by medium weight and tannins. Schioppettino is a red grape associated with northeastern Italy.

   Although a few wineries poured wines that are widely available – such as the always-reliable dry chenin blanc from Dry Creek Vineyard – most of the wines are made in tiny quantities and may be sold mostly to mailing list customers. It’s likely you’ll have to contact the wineries directly.