Varietal character is "a term in wine tasting used to describe the degree to which a wine reflects its varietal origins, and thus demonstrate the signature characteristics of the grape from which it was produced...It is an important component in judging wine competition when wines of the same varietal are judged against each other." (thanks wikipedia!)
Here is a useful list of red wine varietal characters. (If the document text looks a bit small click the 'spanner' icon in the top right corner of the document to access a magnifying tool):
Red Wine Lists
