The Swap Index

Dark, brooding and ageworthy — depth without raisined sweetness. None of these are dried like Amarone, so expect savory, not sweet.

Saturated black fruit and full body for the sheer richness.

Umbria's heavyweight: inky, tannic and long.

Soft tannin and ripe red fruit — a friendly, food-loving pour.

A peppery, rustic cross of Barbera and Gamay.

Raspberry and graphite, medium-bodied and mineral, with the same juicy acidity.

Red cherry and orange peel with real lift — bright and savory.

A dark, savory, high-acid red built for the table.

Volcanic southern-Italian red: black fruit, leather and tannin that rewards patience.

Firm and savory young, profound with age — Portugal's long-game answer to Nebbiolo.

A leaner, salt-washed Barolo grown on a beach.

Tar and dried roses over fierce tannin and acid — the closest thing to Nebbiolo grown anywhere else.

A light, perfumed red you can chill on a warm evening.

Light on its feet but serious — red cherry, orange peel and ash from Etna's slopes.

A high-acid Mediterranean red, a lighter Mencía or a Cru Beaujolais.

Pale and low-tannin — strawberry and violet, best with a slight chill, just like cru Beaujolais.

Jura's pale, wild-edged red — cranberry and white pepper over featherweight tannin.

Raspberry and graphite with a savory, peppery snap.

Red cherry and orange peel, bright and mineral.

Dried tomato, olive and herb over firm acid — a step up in grip.

Red-fleshed and saturated — dark, full-bodied and savory, for the depth a Left Bank blend gives.

High tannin, high acid and savory — a cellar red at an underdog price.

Dense, floral and tannic, built to age — the noble structure Bordeaux drinkers prize.

Ripe red fruit and gentle spice, medium-bodied and smooth — the approachable side of Franc.

A savory, high-acid, peppery red between Syrah and Cabernet Franc, structured but built for the table.

Raspberry and pomegranate over a graphite, bay-leaf savor — the herbal edge Cabernet Franc lovers chase.

Deep color and dark-berry fruit with low grip — juicier, but the same easy weight.

A teinturier with red flesh, not just red skin — among the darkest, most saturated reds there is.

High tannin, high acid, savory — the Nebbiolo of Portugal, at a fraction of the price of the growths it outlasts.

A cooler, more mineral cousin of Syrah, dark and structured, but with an Alpine tension Cabernet rarely shows.

A dense, deeply tannic Friulian red built for the cellar, the northern-Italian answer to a serious Cabernet.

A darker, more muscular Cabernet Sauvignon.

Portugal's noble grape: dense, floral, tannic and built to age, with a violet lift Cabernet can't match.

North Macedonia's inky, full-bodied red, built on the weight and black fruit Cabernet drinkers come for.

Softer and rounder, ripe red fruit and spice.

Raspberry and graphite with a savory, mineral edge.

Red cherry and lift, bright and food-friendly.

Ripe, soft and gently spiced — the easygoing dark-fruit side.

Graphite, bay leaf and red fruit — the savory, herbal streak Carménère is known for.

More backbone and floral lift, with the same dark-fruited depth.

A textural Spanish white with orchard fruit and a savory, structured core.

A warm, ripe, textural white with weight and grip, the fuller end of the white spectrum, closer to a barrel-touched Chardonnay than a lean coastal one.

A lees-aged Chablis with a Portuguese accent.

An oaked white Burgundy, without the Burgundy price.

An ancient southern-Italian white — honeyed, nutty and full, with real staying power.

Pear, quince and wet stone with a textural weight that stands in for unoaked Chardonnay.

A leaner, saltier white Burgundy with a phenolic bite.

An unoaked white with the weight of white Burgundy and the salt of a coastal Greek white.

A textural Chardonnay or a Mediterranean white.

A full-bodied unoaked white with the weight of Chardonnay and the spice of Grüner Veltliner.

A textural, faintly herbal dry white with more weight than zip.

A white Burgundy with more grip and a saltier finish.

An unoaked white Burgundy with more grip.

A textured, unoaked white Burgundy or a serious Chardonnay.

A weighty, spiced Chardonnay with more nerve and a longer memory.

The same red-cherry core, rounder and gentler — an easy step sideways from a weeknight Chianti.

Red cherry and orange peel with Etna's mineral lift — bright, high-acid and food-friendly.

High acid, dried tomato, olive and herb — Sangiovese's Greek soulmate at the dinner table.

Light on its feet, red cherry and ash.

Strawberry and violet, pale and gentle — chill it.

Cranberry and white pepper over featherweight tannin.

Ripe red fruit and gentle spice, friendly and round.

Pale, gentle and low-tannin — an easy sipper.

Deeper color and berry fruit, still soft.

Honeyed, nutty and full — for the weight of Gewürztraminer when you want body over florals.

An aromatic dry white with the floral lift of Gewürztraminer but real acidity holding it up.

An aromatic white that grew a skin and went bone-dry, Gewurztraminer's perfume with grip instead of sugar.

A fuller-bodied aromatic dry white, floral like Gewurztraminer but with fresher acidity and no residual sweetness.

Rose petal, orange blossom and citrus — the Gewürztraminer perfume, bone-dry and fresh. Easier to say, too.

Kakhuri Mtsvane: Gewürztraminer's perfume with a drier, greener, more savory edge.

The dry Balkan Muscat cousin: all the floral perfume, none of the sweetness.

A dry Gewürztraminer with brighter acidity and a lighter step, all the perfume, none of the weight.

An aromatic white with the perfume of Moscato but a drier, saltier, sun-baked finish.

Ripe strawberry and plum with gentle spice — the warm, generous heart of a Rhône blend.

Grenache with a Sardinian accent: juicy red fruit, dried herbs, and a mineral grip.

Raspberry and graphite with a savory, peppery edge — medium-bodied and mineral.

Deep-colored, dark-berried and low in grip — the easy, fruit-forward pour.

Red-fleshed teinturier — even darker and more saturated than Malbec, faintly savory underneath.

Malbec with the volume turned down and the acidity turned up.

Malbec with a wild, savory edge.

Alpine Italian red: deep color, dark-berry fruit and low grip — the easy one to love.

Dense and floral with real grip — the same dark fruit, more backbone and a violet perfume.

Soft tannin, ripe red fruit, gentle spice — Greece's most-planted red and its friendliest.

Soft, plush, dark-fruited Merlot for less.

A plush Merlot with a savory, herbal edge.

An easygoing, earthy Merlot with a savory Portuguese streak.

Raspberry and graphite, medium-bodied and mineral — plush, but with a savory edge.

Ripe red fruit and gentle spice, soft and generous.

Brambly dark fruit with a woodsmoke edge — a touch more character.

Deep color and dark-berry fruit with low grip — the easy one to love.

Leather, tobacco and firm tannin — volcanic and serious.

Saturated black fruit with a savory, meaty undertow — dark and dense.

Brambly dark fruit with woodsmoke and mocha — rustic and warm.

Dark, volcanic and age-worthy — southern Italy's serious, savory red.

High acid, high tannin, savory — a cellar wine at an underdog price.

Umbria's most tannic grape — even more grip than Nebbiolo, and built to last.

Tar, roses and grip — Nebbiolo's ghost, grown in northern Greece.

Deeper and darker, saturated and savory.

Brambly fruit with a woodsmoke edge.

Dark-berry fruit, low grip, easy warmth.

Maximum color and density — dark, full and savory.

Blackberry and tar over massive tannin, built to age.

Firm tannin under a violet-and-bergamot perfume — structure with lift.

A red-fleshed teinturier — as dark and saturated as wine gets, with a savory undertow.

Umbria's most tannic grape: blackberry, tar and grip built for the long haul.

Dense and floral with firm tannin — power dressed in violet perfume.

A leaner, more savory Pinot Grigio with an actual citrus spine and a whisper of Mediterranean herb.

A rounder, softer Pinot Grigio that trades bite for an almond finish.

Rome's forgotten German grape: green apple, chalk and saline — bone-dry and light as air.

Crisp, unoaked, high-acid white with mineral cut.

A Pinot Grigio with more to say, brighter, with pear and a mineral edge.

The step up: the same easy drinkability, but with pear, quince and texture.

A crisp, low-alcohol white with a faint spritz and a lick of sea salt.

A crisp, floral coastal white built for warm afternoons.

Crisp, saline Pinot Grigio with more citrus zip.

A crisp Italian white with more grip and structure than Pinot Grigio.

A lean, high-acid alpine white, citrus and pith when made clean, nutty and textured when made on the skins.

Crisp, high-acid, food-friendly white; amber qvevri versions turn nutty and grippy.

Pinot Grigio with more grip.

More aromatic than Pinot Grigio, with grapefruit and a herbal snap.

A crisp, textural white with a savory almond finish.

An old-world, earthy Pinot Noir.

A peppery, lightly chilled Syrah with the weight and translucence of Pinot Noir.

A light, high-acid red with Pinot Noir's freshness and a crack of black pepper on top.

Drinks like a chilled, wild-strawberry Pinot Noir with a Sicilian accent.

A firmer, wilder Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir with a savory, herbal streak; sometimes a lighter Nebbiolo.

Pinot Noir with a firmer handshake.

A light, chillable Loire red in the orbit of a cool-climate Pinot Noir or a Loire Gamay.

Pinot Noir with a peppery, paprika edge.

A perfumed, high-acid Carpathian red, Kadarka by another name.

A smoky, high-acid Pinot Noir grown on the side of a volcano.

Raspberry, pomegranate and graphite — mineral and perfumed, a Cru Beaujolais cousin.

Aromatic, low-tannin light red like Pinot Noir, but more floral.

High-altitude Etna red: red cherry, orange peel and ash — Burgundian poise from a volcano.

A rustic, old-vine Pinot Noir or Gamay.

A lighter, peppery Pinot Noir you serve with a slight chill.

Light, savory, mineral Pinot Noir with a volcanic edge.

A peppery, featherweight Loire red you chill down and drink like Pinot Noir.

A paler, wilder Pinot Noir.

A firmer, wilder Pinot Noir with more grip.

Pinot Noir with a Mediterranean tan and a handful of wild herbs.

A perfumed, light-bodied Piedmont red, Pinot Noir's aromatic cousin, floral and soft-tannined.

A high-altitude Spanish cousin of village Pinot Noir, pale, perfumed, and built on acidity rather than weight.

A darker, more savory Pinot Noir.

Pale, low-tannin alpine red — strawberry and violet, best with a slight chill.

A pale, low-tannin Macedonian red that growers refused to pull, and chill lightly.

A pale, high-acid light red you should chill, where a village Pinot Noir or a serious Gamay lives.

Pinot Noir.

Jura's pale, savory, wild-edged red — cranberry and white pepper, quietly obsessed over.

Saturated black fruit and full body. Note: these are dry reds, not sweet fortified wine — the grapes, not the style.

High tannin and acid, savory and ageworthy.

Madeira's bone-dry opposite, electric and citrusy, with acidity that can carry it a century.

The backbone of Port, made dry: dense, floral and structured.

Portugal's Bairrada made pink long before Provence went global — high-acid, tart and often lightly sparkling.

A pink-skinned grape born for rosé — rose petal and orange blossom over dry citrus, pale and fresh.

Pale, bone-dry Amyndeon rosé — red berry cut with tomato leaf and herb, with acidity built for the table.

A dry, high-acid Riesling built for the table and the cellar.

A bone-dry volcanic white with the nerve of dry Riesling and the salinity of Chablis.

Green apple, chalk and saline — Germany's forgotten grape, electric and bone-dry. It won't give you Riesling's floral sweetness, but the racy acid is all there.

A bone-dry, smoky Riesling.

Citrus and wet stone with real weight — the mineral side of Riesling, drier and rounder.

A fiercely mineral, smoke-streaked white with Riesling's nervy tension and a stony, almost salty grip.

Grapefruit, lime and fennel with a herbal lift — the closest aromatic snap among Spanish whites.

Soft tannin and ripe red fruit that take to oak the way Rioja does — Greece's most approachable red.

Raspberry, pomegranate and graphite — a mineral, perfumed red from Bierzo, next door in spirit.

Dense, floral and ageworthy — the Iberian backbone Rioja lovers recognize, with a violet lift.

More weight than a typical crisp white, with green apple, peach and fennel.

A crisp, saline white with the cut of Sauvignon Blanc and the mineral spine of Chablis.

Old-World Sauvignon Blanc with the green edge sanded off, softer, saltier, finished with a twist of bitter almond.

Citrus and wet stone — bright but textural, mineral rather than grassy.

Drinks like a rounder, saltier Sauvignon Blanc.

A crisp, peppery white with Sauvignon Blanc's zip and a stony spine that carries food better than most.

Sauvignon Blanc traded its grassy edge for wet limestone and a squeeze of lemon.

Grapefruit, lime and fennel with a bitter-almond twist — Spain's zesty answer to Sauvignon.

A dry white with Sauvignon Blanc's zip but riper tropical fruit and a fuller body.

A leaner, saltier Sauvignon Blanc with the grass swapped for stone.

Leather, tobacco and firm tannin — dark, serious and volcanic.

Maximum color and depth — a black-fruited, full-bodied red with a savory undertow.

A savory, high-acid, peppery red between Syrah and Cabernet Franc, structured but built for the table.

A lighter, softer Syrah with the pepper turned up.

Peppery, structured Syrah from Southwest France.

A leaner, more savory Syrah with an iron edge and a peppery snap.

A cooler, more mineral cousin of Syrah, dark and structured, but with an Alpine tension Cabernet rarely shows.

A savory, herb-brushed Syrah with less weight and more lift.

A savory, peppery Syrah with southern Italian grip.

A savory, sun-baked stand-in for Syrah when dry; a Port alternative when sweet.

A cool-climate Syrah with the volume down and the acid up.

The most tannic grape Italy grows — inky, powerful and built for the long haul.

A leaner, higher-acid northern-Rhone Syrah with the volume turned down and the pepper turned up.

Floral and structured with a peppery lift that echoes northern-Rhône Syrah.

Savory, peppery Syrah.

Syrah's ink and pepper with the acid snap of a wine half its color, served cold.

Saturated black fruit for sheer density.

High acid and firm tannin, savory and long.

Even Italy's most tannic grape meets its match here — blackberry, tar and grip.

Red cherry and orange peel with a mineral lift.

Pale and low-tannin — strawberry and violet, lovely with a chill.

A little more color and fruit, still soft and easy.

Deep, dark and saturated — the same bold fruit with a savory, structured core.

Old-vine Zinfandel with more acid and a savory, herbal edge.

A leaner, more savory Zinfandel with the jam turned down and the grip turned up.

South Africa's own: brambly dark fruit with a woodsmoke-and-mocha edge.

A ripe, high-alcohol Zinfandel or Primitivo.

The same dark-fruited punch, dressed in floral perfume and firmer tannin.