Use of the word ‘varietal’ seems to be a love-hate issue in the world of Winos. Say “This Cape Blend contains only a small portion of the Pinotage varietal” and you’re sure to get lynched - but why?

A prolonged stay at the office, a little Googling and a fair number of drained glasses yielded the following:

varietal
adj. Of, indicating, or characterizing a variety, especially a biological variety.
n. A wine made principally from one variety of grape and carrying the name of that grape.

So The Month concludes: Use ‘varietal’ as an adjective to modify a noun; if you must use it as a noun, simply use it to refer to a wine bearing the name of the principal grape from which it is made and if you’re in any way unsure, keep the wine glass to your lips.