A comprehensive study of red wine properties according to variety

•Discriminant analyses track varieties despite winemaking and ageing influences.•Profiles obtained for international varieties are different from local ones.•Hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonols presented interesting differentiation features.•Copigmentation is as important for wine colour as the anthocyanin content itself.•Significant correlations between Mg and most metal content were obtained. More than 80 properties have been studied in 250 commercial red wines to obtain a reliable description of the characteristics of each variety. Such a large set of data allows the testing of previous assumptions and a thorough investigation about whether varietal discrimination is possible despite the strong influences of ageing and environment. Even though several studies have been performed regarding how variety influences wine phenolics or colour, only a few count on a large data set. Most studies are performed by applying only one technology or on a limited number of wines. In this work, a heterogeneous wine population is thoroughly analysed by using diverse analytical techniques. Therefore, analysis of variance can be applied and patterns are observable in different parameters like flavonols or anthocyanins in spite of the high heterogeneity of the samples. The study confirms that discriminant analysis can be successful in distinguishing wines according to variety in spite of the influences of winemaking techniques and vintage.