Bouteillan noir is a red French winegrape variety that is grown in the Provence wine region of southern France. While the grape has been recorded growing in the Vaucluse region since at least the early 18th century, today the grape is virtually extinct. Despite sharing synonyms with another Provençal grape, Calitor, and the Languedoc wine grape Aramon noir, Bouteillan noir has no known relationship with either of those variety. The white Provençal grape Colombaud (not to be confused with the Cognac and South African wine grape Colombard) was once thought to be a white berried color mutation of Bouteillan noir but research conducted by Linda Bisson of the University of California, Davis shows that while the two grapes are likely related, one is not a color mutation of the other.[1]
History
Bouteillan noir has been recorded in several documents of the 18th and 19th century as being one of the grape varieties that was being grown the Vaucluse region and at some point the variety made its way south into the greater Provence region. The earliest mention of the grape was in 1715 where an unknown commentator noted that Bouteillan noir was more commonly found than other grape varieties such as Rians, Pertuis, Cadenet and Cucuron.[1] Today, besides Bouteillan noir, only Cadenet blanc is a recognized variety or synonym by the Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC).[2]
Ampelographers believe that Bouteillan noir is closely related to Provençal grape Colombaud but unlike Pinot blanc/Pinot noir and Grenache blanc/Grenache, the two grapes are distinct varieties and not color mutations of one or the other. Despite sharing several synonyms with the Languedoc grape Aramon and the Provençal grape Calitor, Bouteillan noir has no known relationship with either variety.[1]
Over the years Bouteillan noir has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Bouteillan a Gros Grains, Boutelion noir, Cargomuou, Cayau, Esfouiral, Esfouiras de Roquemaure, Fouiral (in the Hérault department), Moulas (in the Vaucluse department), Petit Bouteillan, Plant de Psalmodi, Psalmodi noir, Psalmody, Sigotier and Sigoyer (in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department).[3][1]
References
^ abcdefJ. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours pg 131 Allen Lane 2012 ISBN978-1-846-14446-2