California wine Department of Viticulture and Enology. The seven leading grape varieties are: Other important red wine grapes include Barbera, Cabernet Franc, Carignan, Grenache, Malbec, Mourvèdre, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Sangiovese, and Tannat. Important white wine varietals include Chenin blanc, French Colombard, Gewürztraminer, Marsanne, Muscat Canelli, Pinot blanc, Pinot gris, Riesling, Roussane, Sémillon, Trousseau gris, and Viognier. Up until the late 1980s, the Californian wine industry was dominated by the Bordeaux varietals and Chardonnay. Sales began to drop as wine drinkers grew bored with the familiarity of these wines. Groups of winemakers like Rhône Rangers and a new wave of Italian winemakers
Petite Terre Islands named because it is downwind compared to Terre de Haut island ("Upper Land" island) to its northeast which first meets the trade winds blowing from the north-east in the Caribbean. Administratively, the Petite Terre Islands are dependent of the commune (municipality) of La Désirade. The two islands and 842 hectares (2,081 acres) of sea around them were declared a nature reserve, the "National Nature Reserve of Îles de la Petite-Terre". Petite Terre Islands Petite Terre Islands (, literally "Islands of the Small Land") are two small uninhabited islands located about to the south-east of the island of Grande-Terre (Guadeloupe), in