So you are going to a friend’s house for dinner and wonder what wine to take.

You suspect that they may serve chicken, turkey, salmon or tuna.

Someone whispers valdiguie to you and explains that it was originally from the south of France but now predominantly in California, with some limited production in the Languedoc and Provence areas. For many years in California it was known as Napa gamay and was thought to be the gamay noir of the Beaujolais region of France. DNA studies have identified it as different from gamay noir and, since 1997, the names Napa gamay and gamay beaujolais have been banned from wine labels in the US.

We happen to have J Lohr Wildflower Valdiguie 2015 that is vibrant and red-purple in colour with bright aromas of boysenberry, Bing cherry, raspberry and pomegranate. The fruit complexion on the palate is equally bright, dominated by pomegranate and raspberry. I suggest that you serve this red wine slightly chilled as you would a beaujolais.

When you next visit our stores you will see that we have recently stocked quite a range of wines from Jerry Lohr and ones with familiar names such as pinot noir, merlot, cabernet sauvignons, riesling and chardonnay. The Wildflower Valdiguie will cost you $17.75.

Let us stay in California and think of a wine to go with curried pork, barbecued beef ribs, beef chilli and other flavourful dishes. Fortunately we have a wide selection of wines made from crljenak kastelanski grapes, but if you are not buying any in its native Croatia I suggest in Bermuda that you ask for zinfandel. Or, in the case of the Wild Hogge wines from Paso Robles, you could ask for MoonGate Primitivo 2010. Why would Huw and Dale Morris, who lived here for many years, call their blend (75 per cent primitivo, 12.5 per cent cabernet franc and 12.5 per cent syrah) primitivo? Well it so happens that this Italian grape has been proved, by DNA tests, to also be a clone of the totally unpronounceable Croatian grape and therefore zinfandel. Primitivo contributes a unique taste of rich ripe fruit. The cab franc adds a little black pepper, and the syrah balances out the richness of the primitivo. Matured in American oak for two years and in the bottle for another two years, the wine exhibits a powerful aroma of earthiness and dark berry fruit. The palate has a rich texture and notes of blackberry jam. Will go well with any lamb dish or rich Italian meal. There were 168 cases produced just for Bermuda and all with the lovely watercolour by Winslow Homer as the label. The picture is of wild hogs on our South Shore. $47.15.

You more than likely have seen inexpensive bottles of the Italian white made from the trebbiano, but Tenuta Bellafonte has taken it to a new level with the clone called spoletino. We have from this winery in Umbria their Tenuta Bellafonte Trebbiano Spoletino Arneto. Evidence of its cultivation dates to the 1st century BC and it produces very aromatic wines with strong character as well as having a balanced acidity and great longevity. It is fermented in oak barrels using only the natural yeasts from the vineyard and it is bright gold in appearance with intense hues of citrus, yellow peach and pineapple. $31.35.

Masi Winery 2015 Masianco can technically be called pinot grigio but by adding the ancient verduzzo grape I think it fair to mention it here. Masi has such a history as their original vineyard goes back to the son of Dante and the early 1300s.

They were the first to develop a system of drying grapes on bamboo mats for a few months before pressing and this gave them the intense red wine that we call amarone. The drying method is called “appassimento” and, for masianco, they partially dry the verduzzo, which will end up accounting for about 25 per cent of the overall grapes used. Decanter Magazine rates it 90/100 and says: “This fruity little number is full of personality. It’s mainly pinot grigio, which gives freshness with a fruit profile of peach, pineapple and apple, while the local grape verduzzo, picked slightly overripe, adds texture, complexity and body.” $20.90.

So hopefully this will familiarise you with just a few of the over 10,000 wine grape varieties that you may not have heard of.

•This column is an advertorial for Burrows Lightbourn Ltd. E-mail mrobinson@bll.bm or 295-0176. Burrows Lightbourn has stores in Hamilton (Front Street East, 295-1554), Paget (Harbour Road, 236-0355) and St George’s (York Street, 297-0409). Visit www.wineonline.bm.