The crus, in a general way, are the result of a main trilogy of influences: the grape varieties, the climate and the soils. The common point of the latter is their capacity to provide a moderate and regular supply of water throughout the year, avoiding any excess. The grape variety is also essential.
If, in the case of a great wine, it seems impossible to totally dissociate the effect of each of the factors, it is not unthinkable to establish between them a kind of hierarchy dominated by the vine plants used.
Thus, the grape varieties of the Bordeaux vineyards, whose vocation lies in the production of typical and quality wines, with renowned appellations of origin, have remained traditional. In Gironde, the variety of grape varieties, both red and white, is characterized by its plurality, unlike that of some vineyards producing a single grape variety. The wines of Bordeaux are mostly made from the processing of several grape varieties blended in the tank or after fermentation.
THE ORIGINS
After two millennia of viticultural history of our country, it has not been particularly easy to guarantee the natural sources of the grape varieties used today.
In the ancient cradles of the Vitaceae of the genus vitis species vinifera L. often modelled on those of ancient civilizations (Indus Valley, Euphrates Valley, Fertile Crescent, Transcaucasia), the wild compartment, vitis vinifera ssp silvestris represented by dioecious plants called lambrusks, has been domesticated by man. A cultivated compartment vitis vinifera sativa, more or less resulting from this domestication, in particular by probable mutation of male flowers into hermaphroditic flowers, appeared in the middle of the Neolithic period, around 5000 years BC (LACOMBE T., 2011). Other more recent centers of domestication have existed, particularly in Central Europe and around the Mediterranean. To this must be added the transit of plant material from these areas, to cultivation areas and between cultivation areas, over the course of different civilizations. The environment, the transfer to other regions and the cultivation methods, have caused mutations to appear in a random way (in particular for the color of the berries) and possibly chimeras (appearance of different and notorious morphological characteristics: example of the miller grape varieties) which are factors of evolution of the intrinsic diversity of the grape varieties. Without the constraint of grafting, this natural diversity could be on the one hand, quite easily multiplied by the man at the time by vegetative way (cutting) and on the other hand, increased with the appearance of new plants, by the natural or controlled sowing.
Each great French vineyard – like the Bordeaux region – has a variety of local or distant origin, used on the spot by the men of art sometimes for a long time. At first spontaneously, then according to the type of wine they wished to produce and here, with a high quality, the choice of grape varieties had to meet these objectives.
They were propagated by pilgrims and also by the Cistercian abbeys that owned vineyards (Cîteaux, Conques, etc.) mainly during the Middle Ages.
After the identification of DNA by CRICK and WATSON in 1953, important advances in cellular and molecular biology have allowed in particular the identification of grape varieties by micro satellite markers, and the discovery of their relationship. The work of John E. Bowers and Carole P. Meredith at the University of Davis in California on the relationship of Cabernet-Sauvignon in 1997 was followed by that of Jean-Michel BOURSIQUOT, Thierry LACOMBE and Valérie LAUCOU at Montpellier supAgro, on the large collection (3,500 varieties) of the INRA Vassal estate in Marseillan (34). The parentage of more than 800 grape varieties has already been determined in 2012. All this has made it possible to know, with greater precision, the genetic origin of the grape varieties cultivated today, to constitute eco-geographical groups and to know the relationships between these groups.
The great red vineyards of Bordeaux use a majority of grape varieties belonging to the same eco-geographic group designated under the collective term of Carmenets, whose typical plant is Cabernet Franc and which includes Carmenère, Fer Servadou or Hère, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. We find here all the traditional red grape varieties of Bordeaux. Only Fer Servadou, present in the vineyards of Saint Mont and red Gaillac, although a close form, is no longer cultivated in Bordeaux and Carmenère seems to be gaining some interest.
The others (Cot or Malbec and Petit Verdot) belong to other groups.
RED VARIETIES
The Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is one of the oldest vines in Bordeaux, even if it has evolved over time. Nowadays, it is known to have many variations of the type, which confirm its ancestral nature. Formerly called Grosse Vidure in Gironde, it is called Acheria in the French Basque Country, Ondarrabi Beltza in the Spanish Basque Country, Bouchy in Béarn, Messanges rouge or Sable rouge in the ancient vineyards of the sands of Capbreton, Bouchet in Libournais, Breton in the Loire Valley where it was introduced under Richelieu.
Recent work on the relationship of Merlot (BOURSIQUOT J.-M. et al., 2009) following research on the relationship of Cabernet Sauvignon (BOWERS J. E. and MEREDITH C., 1997) demonstrate their genetic origin, descended from Cabernet Franc, the most ancestral of the varieties of the Carmenets group. The latter, contrary to the romanticized story of “Biturica” which would come from Albania, was certainly selected by the Bituriges Vivisques. This Celtic people, present in the region 300 years before Christ, introduced, through their commercial relations with the Basques or Vascons, plant material from the Basque-Pyrenean foothills, adapted to the humid climate and planted the first acres of vines in the first century around the future Burdigala. He wanted to try to produce his own wine, rather than continuing the trade with Narbonne or Italy (BORDENAVE L. et al., 2007). The Romans then developed and enhanced this vineyard.
This or these selected grape varieties did not experience many problems before the phylloxera invasion of the second half of the 19th century and grafting may have influenced their cultural behavior and their results. At present, Cabernet Franc is found particularly in Saint-Émilionnais with 30 to 35% of the surface area (52% at Château de Cheval Blanc) and therefore does not play a role comparable to that of Cabernet-Sauvignon in the Médoc and the Graves. Although it is found everywhere in Bordeaux, its position is tending to weaken under the advance already reported by the latter, although it is more sensitive to the ESCA disease. New clones of Cabernet franc, less productive and more qualitative, have been selected recently by the Chamber of Agriculture of Gironde.
Of good vigor, quite regularly fructiferous, the Cabernet franc provides medium bunches, pyramidal, not very to moderately compact and with normal berries well pruinées. The fruit of the grape is very similar to that of the wild sloe. The wine is less colored and less tannic than that of the Cabernet-Sauvignon and still appears very fruity in the Bordeaux type, but it reaches its fullness a little more quickly. If the reds are appreciated, the very marked rosés are pleasant, clear, perhaps reminiscent of medieval “Claret”.
Cabernet-Sauvignon
Son of Cabernet franc and Sauvignon blanc (BOWERS and MEREDITH, 1997), the latter drawing its origin from the Messiles group which constitutes the majority of the grape varieties of the Centre and the Loire Valley. (BISSON)
Cabernet-Sauvignon is the base of the Médoc and Graves vineyards. In the great growths, it can occupy up to three quarters of the plantations and even more. Its high viticultural and oenological qualities, revealed especially after grafting, which reduced some of its defects, have developed its career in the Gironde. It is progressively gaining importance, even in the secondary crus and the vines of the regional appellations.
In spite of its crossbred nature which is not exceptional among the current vine plants, its general aspect classifies it well in the Carmenets. Vigorous, upright and fruit-bearing, Cabernet-Sauvignon bears rather tightly packed bunches, sometimes winged, with small black berries but bluish in color due to an abundant bloom. The primary aromas of these grapes are of blackcurrant, of crushed vegetable with a dominant green bell pepper. The strongly colored wine, very firm by its tannin, provides flavors strongly inflected by the soil of production and the techniques of wine making in addition to the ageing under oak.
Typically from Bordeaux, this variety has become, with some 150,000 ha, the fourth largest black grape variety in the world, including 53,000 ha in France and more than 30,000 ha in the Gironde region alone.
Merlot noir
This natural seedling (Sème dou flaube) discovered on the banks of the Dordogne River around the beginning of the 17th century, is a son of Cabernet franc and Magdeleine noire des Charentes (BOURSIQUOT et al., 2009), an ancient early grape variety, which existed between Northern Gironde and Brittany.
Merlot noir, also a member of the Carmenets family, is one of the most evolved of these.
It is a straightforward grape variety, which has long remained discreet in Gironde due to coulure and millerandage. Grafting has mitigated this tendency and allowed the plant to expand in the 20th century. A little earlier than the Cabernets, Merlot provides medium to large bunches, more elongated, often winged. The medium-sized berries have a black skin blued by the bloom like that of the Cabernets. When ripe, the grapes taste a little sweeter and less acidic than those of the Cabernets. The fruitiness that they deliver has the Carmenet note: green and firm vegetal without being exacerbated.
Merlot provides alcoholic wines, very colored, with relatively soft tannins or quickly attenuated by the ageing. Similarly, the aromas melt more easily into the gustatory perceptions provided by the wines which moderate, it is known, the framework and youthful virility of the vinified Cabernets.
Much planted after the destructive frosts of 1956, Merlot, fruitful in spite of some irregularities, has since occupied increasing surfaces, notably in Saint-Émilion (50%) and especially in Pomerol (up to 90% and more). Like Cabernet-Sauvignon, it is also making clear progress in the world vineyard (in 3rd place with nearly 160,000 ha) and in France where, in 1st place for reds, it occupies 101,000 ha, including 69,000 for the Gironde alone. After several atypically warm years, its alcohol content has increased somewhat and its future in the vineyard seems threatened, if temperatures continue to rise, by the announced climate change.
Carmenère
It is the daughter of Cabernet Franc and Gros Cabernet (BOURSIQUOT et al., 2009), a variety that has disappeared.
This variety was cultivated in the past, especially in the Médoc, but was abandoned because of its poor health (short-nuke) and constant coulure. It is now the subject of a selection.
Relatively early, its medium-sized, loose, slightly tight bunches of grapes bear medium-sized, black berries with good plumage. Still in the Carmenet type, its vegetal fruitiness seems a little more vanilla-like at maturity (clone 1059).
Thanks to its rich, colored, tannic and finely aromatic wine, Carmenère could also bring some variation in the Cabernet context.
Petit Verdot
Long considered a Carmenet, it is genetically part of a small group apart, that of the Verdot, also of Pyrenean origin, where we find Petit and Gros Verdot, Lambrusquet, an archaic form, and Ardonnet, a grape variety that exists in trace form, particularly in Béarn.
It is a grape variety with a long vegetative cycle, which starts early, which can be a problem with spring frosts. On the other hand, it ripens very late and when it is ripe, it must be picked very quickly.
This grape variety has qualities, although it does not occupy important positions in Bordeaux. Correctly productive, it gives small, not too compact bunches, with rather reduced berries, with a somewhat herbaceous flavor.
When well ripened, Petit Verdot gives a personalized wine, rich in color and tannins, with a character that expresses itself all the better with age.
Rustic, for a long time confined to the Médoc’s marshes, and in the vineyards of Queyries in La Bastide on the right bank, to which it gave a certain notoriety, it had become almost a relic grape variety. We are trying to give it back some good positions in the gravels, for the benefit of the gustatory diversification in the local type (clones 400 and 1058).
Cot or Malbec
Introduced in Bordeaux in the 18th century by M.Vassal de Montviel in Saint-Émilionnais, at the château de Pressac, does not belong to the previous group but to the Cots du Quercy, their region of origin. It is a son of Prunelard, an old grape variety from the Tarn region, and Magdeleine noire from the Charentes region (BOURSIQUOT et al., 2009), and is therefore a half-brother of Merlot through its mother. It is surrounded by grape varieties of various values of which the best known are: Négrette, Valdiguié and Mérille.
Cot has spread to the neighboring areas of the interior South-West (Toulousain, Agenais, Périgord, etc.). Present almost everywhere in France, it has found no other area of extension than in Touraine and for some decades in Argentina where it produces great wines with excellent maturity.
Its cultivation has regressed in Gironde because of its sensitivity to coulure. It is the main grape variety of the Cahors wines whose reputation it has made under the name of Auxerrois, a name that comes from the area of Hauteserre on the Causse de Cahors, where the seedling was found – Autserres in Languedoc. It is a vine that probably has, with Fer, the most synonyms, a good forty in France.
Its uncorked bunches are generally large, of medium compactness, and its berries, which are quite black, are larger than those of Carmenets. It has a fruity taste, but less than that of the Carmenets, and discreet aromas that evoke spices with a certain minerality. Despite more regular selections, Malbec has regressed everywhere in Bordeaux, except in Bourgeais and even in Blayais, where it retains some modest positions.
Some red grape varieties were tolerated until 1953 for Bordeaux and various other regional appellations. Rare, they exist nowadays, especially in collections or in the memory of ampelographers. This is the case of Béquignol, Grapput or Bouchalès (Prolongeau in Gironde), Fer or Hère, Folle noire, Jurançon rouge, Mancin, Castets, Pardotte and Saint-Macaire. These plants, different from the classic grape varieties, and not well known to winegrowers, were saved in a conservatory during the second half of the last century.
WHITE VARIETIES
Sémillon
We have here apparently, a really autochthonous grape variety of Gironde, whose parentage is not yet known. Its origin is probably the Sauternes region. It is the most cultivated grape variety in the Gironde, but it has greatly regressed over the last fifty years due to the increase in the surface area of red vineyards on the one hand, and on the other hand, to the disaffection towards sweet and syrupy white wines at a certain time. They seem to be regaining interest nowadays.
Nevertheless, it remains, correctly selected, a productive plant with medium-sized bunches, golden yellow berries sometimes turning red and with a fine musky and honeyed taste. The wines are sappy, full-bodied, round, delicately aromatic and quickly take on a golden color. A certain character, let’s say gummed up, prevents them from providing truly fresh and dry products.
Today, Semillon is still grown in the great vineyards of Sauternes, Barsac, Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, Loupiac and certain sectors of the Graves (Cérons) where prestigious sweet or semi-wet wines are still produced. Thanks to the constitution of the skins of its berries, it is very well adapted to the noble rot.
Sauvignon
The late Émile Peynaud in Le Goût du Vin (1983) included Sauvignon Blanc in the Carmenet group. We now know that it belongs to the group of Messiles ligériens, which includes Chenin and Mesliers. Half of its alleles are linked to Savagnin (Lacombe, personal communication), so it would have an even more oriental origin, close to the Alps.
It is the main grape variety of the Sancerre, Pouilly fumé, Quincy, Reuilly and Menetou Salon appellations in the center of France, where it originated. It is the second most important grape variety in the Gironde region in terms of its growing importance, in contrast to Sémillon. Its bunches are rather small and compact, bearing small, slightly elliptical berries, very pruinaceous, acidic and with a marked terpenic and citrus flavor. Treated dry, for which it is better suited than Semillon, its wines are in vogue, developing and diversifying the aromas of the grape on which climate and terroir have a great deal of influence and not always in the best direction.
In Gironde, considered for a long time as not very productive, degenerate and sensitive to several parasites, it was for some time neglected. The selection, the modification of its management and its vinification, allow now to obtain sufficient and quality harvests. The work of Denis DUBOURDIEU, Takatoshi TOMINAGA and Philippe DARRIET at the Faculty of Oenology of Bordeaux Segalen in 1993, highlighted the molecule (4-metyl-4- mercaptopentanone) responsible for its aromas which are volatile thiols.) Apart from excellent dry, fresh and fruity wines with original notes of citrus fruits and box tree shoots, its products also combine well with those of Semillon, to provide the greatest sweet wines after the action of Botrytis cinerea. However, as the fungus destroys the primary aromas of the grape in the skin, Sauvignon is often harvested in this case after simple over-ripening and blended in the vat as needed.
This prominent grape variety, grown here on 5,300 ha, has made significant progress in France, stabilized, it seems, around 21,000 ha. As in many foreign vineyards, it is sensitive to the growing environment and does not provide satisfactory results everywhere. It excels in particularly interesting terroirs in New Zealand (Otago, Marlborough).
Muscadelle
Muscadelle belongs to another allochthonous ecogroup that was once widespread, the Gouais. The white Gouais, whose alleles are shared by 78 varieties and are potentially its descendants, is one of its parents, the other being still undetermined (BOURSIQUOT et al., 2009). In the midst of very common varieties, currently neglected, Muscadelle stands out for some of its qualities.
Traditional but already less widespread in Bordeaux, it was once used in the elaboration of sweet wines. Compared to the two previous grape varieties, besides a very sweet grape and a specific musky aroma, it nevertheless presents some defects that are often linked. Earlier, sensitive to oidium and insects, its fragile skin is easily affected by grey rot at maturity when one would rather have noble rot.
In addition to these three classic grape varieties, which cover three quarters of the white vineyards of Gironde, we can also mention the accessory plants allowed by the AOC decrees but subject to a limit of 30% of the planting of the vineyard: white Merlot, Colombard, Mauzac, Ondenc and Ugni blanc (15% for the white Merlot in AOC Bordeaux Supérieur).
Merlot blanc
Merlot blanc, which is not the white form of black Merlot but a son of Merlot by Folle blanche (Boursiquot et al., 2009), started out in the Bourgeais and Blayais regions, where it has not spread much. Correct, without great particularities, its wine does not stand up well to comparison with that of other more personalized regional grape varieties. Its cultivation is on the way to extinction.
Colombard
Colombard, son of Gouais blanc and Chenin (BOURSIQUOT et al., 2009), was, in the past, essentially exploited in the Cubzaguais to produce boiler wines. Today, properly vinified, it can give, alone or in association, good dry white wines fairly fruity and pleasant or contribute to the development of Crémants or Fine Bordeaux. It has progressed in the Côtes de Gascogne where it gives good blended wines.
Mauzac
Mauzac (Blanc-Lafitte in Gironde) and Ondenc (Blanquette in Gironde) do not exist anymore in the regional tenements, as well as other grape varieties whose planting is not authorized anymore, at least in AOC. They were, for example, the White Auba and the white Jurançon well identified.
Ugni blanc
Ugni blanc, better known in Gironde and Cognac under the name of Saint-Émilion des Charentes, was mentioned in Bordeaux as early as 1736, at least under certain dubious synonyms shared, moreover, by other grape varieties (Cadillac, Muscadet, Grand Blanc, Chatar, etc.) sometimes applied to Monbadon, a large producer grape variety that has almost disappeared from the Nord-Gironde region, but which is currently regaining popularity in Cognac. Ugni blanc has been and still is cultivated, especially in the Entre-deux-Mers and in the vineyards that were once on the margins (Blayais, Sainte-Foy, Saint-Macaire, etc.). Its true identity is Trebbiano Toscano, whose history goes back at least to the Etruscans, who would have cultivated it either in Trebies (Trebulanum) in Campania or in Tuscany. With more than 90,000 hectares, it is the most widely cultivated white grape variety in France, mainly in Cognac. Depending on the growing conditions, it produces a rather colorless, neutral and acidic but balanced wine. Under these conditions, it is suitable for blending with more aromatic dry products and can be used in the composition of local Crémants and eaux-de-vie.
The different grape varieties are distributed in the Gironde vineyard generally according to the wishes of the winegrowers, except for the limited white varieties, according to their adaptation to the soil, depending on the type of wine sought in the appellation claimed.
As much in the field of pedology as in the choice of rootstocks, great progress has been made which has had repercussions on the type and quality of the harvest. In the same way, oenology, which has become a real science, especially in Bordeaux, knows the grapes much better and takes their composition into account in the different phases and techniques of wine making. Here again, a significant improvement in the taste and conservation of the wine has been obtained. Finally, the ageing in wood, brought to the level of an art in Bordeaux, plays a determining role in the appreciation of the products, although the wines of all the grape varieties, all the crus and all the vintages do not benefit from this treatment to the same extent. What will also happen with the new authorized practices (chips, sawdust) aiming at following the global trends that level out wines without a determined expression?
The legislation on Bordeaux AOCs has not imposed any individual percentage for red grape varieties in the regulated assortment either in the vineyard or in the blending of wines of various varieties. This is a regional tradition that is sometimes neglected with single-variety vinifications based on Merlot noir or Sauvignon blanc, for example.
Finally, as a reminder, it is possible in Gironde, apart from AOC wines, to produce table wines or Atlantic country wines. These wines are made from thirty-two grape varieties “recommended” on the ONIVINS departmental list, and in 2000 they came from 320 ha of vines (Source DDDI 33).
Table 1- Evolution of the grape varieties in the Bordeaux vineyard from 1985 to 2021
VARIETIES FOR ADAPTATION
RED VARIETIES
From 2021, at the initiative of the ODG of Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur and with the agreement of the INAO, six grape varieties resulting from a study of 52 grape varieties at the INRA in Villenave d’Ornon, aimed at observing their behavior with respect to climate change and their ability not to alter the typicality of Bordeaux wines, may be planted under the heading “varieties of interest for adaptation”. They can represent 5% of the surface and not exceed 10% of the blend.
These are four red varieties: Arinarnoa, Castet, Marselan and Touriga nacional, and two white varieties: Alvarinho and Liliorila.
In the context of a proven evolution of the climate since the 1980s, some varieties have increased their accumulation of sugar, due to a greater precocity. For Bordeaux, we can mention Merlot, which can currently reach 14 to 15° of TAV, which positions it beyond the criteria of the appellation.
In the 1980’s, an INRA researcher created hybrids to replace the hybrids that were still too numerous in the generic appellations of the South West. Among the candidates selected for Bordeaux, there is Arinarnoa in red and Liliorila in white.
Arinarnoa (clone 723)
In Basque language, Arinarnoa means the wine of the stone.
It is an intraspecific crossing (Cabernet Sauvignon X Tannat) obtained at the INRA of Bordeaux in 1956. It is a variety with a late budding which avoids frosts in general. It is quite vigorous with a medium to high fertility which can be controlled by a moderate bud load. The bunches are moderately compact and not very sensitive to Botrytis cinerea. It has a behavior close to that of Cabernet Sauvignon and keeps quite well on the vine. It produces a rather interesting wine with its intense color, fruity aromas and important tannic structure. We obtain structured products, suitable for aging.
Castet (clone 1126)
This is an old endemic variety of Jurançon. Its parents are Gros Cabernet (extinct variety) and Camaraou noir which is an old variety from Béarn. It was introduced in Gironde in the 17th century in the Garonne valley around Langon and Saint-Macaire and was praised and promoted by Mr. Castet, agent voyer of Saint André-du-Bois.
It is cited as being tolerant to oidium, but was gradually eliminated from the plots because of its insufficient production for the time – around 50 hl per hectare – to the benefit of Merlot, which reached more than 80 hl. It buds late and its maturity is between Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Its adult leaf, very similar to that of the Camaraou noir, is quite large, quite flat, with a wavy profile between the veins and quite pronounced teeth. We can notice a low density of leaves, which makes it an airy variety. The bunches are quite massive but few in number and generally quite loose. It produces quality wines with good ageing potential, very colorful, structured with fairly fine tannins.
Marselan (clone 980)
It is an intraspecific creation of the INRA of Montpellier, resulting from the crossing of Cabernet Sauvignon X Grenache noir in 1961. Its foliage is very similar to that of Cabernet Sauvignon with a glabrous and shiny blade like Grenache. Its bunches are large with small berries which limits its juice yield. It is not very sensitive to Botrytis cinerea and to powdery mildew. It buds a little like Merlot, but its maturity is late. It gives colorful, full-bodied, aromatic wines with soft tannins.
Touriga nacional (clone 1201)
A grape variety of Portuguese origin, it forms the basis of the great red wines of the Douro and also participates in the grape varieties of Port wines. It is a moderately vigorous variety. It can be pruned long to obtain a certain yield. It has an earliness between Merlot and Cabernet Franc. It has small bunches, not very compact, with a long stalk. It is rather tolerant to cryptogamic diseases, except to excoriosis. Its wine is colorful, complex, aromatic, structured and of excellent quality.
WHITE VARIETIES
Alvarinho (clone 1143)
This grape variety originates from the northwest of Spain and the north of Portugal. It composes the majority of the wines of Galicia, under a marked oceanic climate. It has long branches, medium-sized rounded leaves and fairly small, not very compact bunches. It requires a long pruning. It is adapted to the oceanic climate, quite tolerant to cryptogamic diseases and resistant to Botrytis cinerea.
It produces fine and aromatic wines with a certain acidity, which can be attenuated by higher temperatures.
Liliorila ou fleur de lis (clone 734)
Intraspecific variety obtained at the INRA of Bordeaux in 1956, resulting from the crossing Baroque X Chardonnay. It is a moderately vigorous variety, small producer. It is a little sensitive to Botrytis cinerea. Its bunches are small, moderately compact and with a pleasant taste. It ripens quite early, giving low acid, aromatic wines. It can produce sweet wines due to a certain aptitude for noble rot.
VARIETIES TOLERANT TO CRYPTOGAMIC DISEASES
In this category, we find interspecific varieties where varieties other than vitis vinifera are involved. These varieties have been chosen for their organoleptic qualities and especially for their capacity to be cultivated with a minimum of phytosanitary treatments against fungal parasites.
RED GRAPE
Vidoc (clone 1268)
It is the result of an interspecific crossing between a variety of Muscadinia rotundifolia X Regent, obtained by INRA and the Julius Kühn-Institut in Germany.
This vigorous variety is rather sensitive to magnesium deficiency and has medium-sized, compact bunches with small berries. It is resistant to mildew and oidium, tolerant to Botrytis cinerea and sensitive to black rot.
It has the earliness of Merlot and gives full-bodied, colorful, balanced wines with a certain acidity, fruit and spice aromas.
WHITE GRAPES
Sauvignac blanc
It was obtained by Mr. Blattner in Switzerland, from a cross between a half-breed (Sauvignon X Riesling) and an unknown hybrid. This interspecific grape variety, whose wood is quite brittle in the wind, gives a high production that must be controlled by short pruning. It is early and gives small bunches, moderately compact, a little colored in pink. It is mostly tolerant to mildew and black rot, rather sensitive to oidium and sulfur on the leaves. The wine is light, with notes of citrus and exotic fruits.
Souvignier gris
This interspecific grape variety was obtained in Germany in 1983, from the Seyval X Zaehringer cross, the latter being a Gewurztraminer X Riesling cross. It presents a strong vigor, a good production, a good resistance to mildew, oïdium and black rot. Relatively late, it gives aromatic wines like exotic fruits and citrus fruits.
Floréal (clone 1265)
Obtained by INRA, it is an interspecific variety resulting from the Villaris X Muscadinia rotundifolia cross, vigorous, resistant to mildew, oidium, black rot and sensitive to erinosis. The bunches are small and loose, the wines are aromatic like boxwood, exotic fruits and citrus.
CONCLUSION
The vineyard of Gironde, where white grape varieties were once in the majority up to two thirds, has seen the color of its grape varieties reversed over the years, with red grape varieties currently dominating. The Cabernet Sauvignon keeps a good place. With a gain of thirty thousand hectares in twenty years, Merlot has increased significantly but is currently stabilizing. The Cabernet Franc remains in second place, especially in the Medoc, but the warmer temperatures may later favor it, as it has an aromatic and tannic potential that has not been fully exploited until now. Cot or Malbec has declined sharply while Petit Verdot, although timidly, is regaining some planting momentum.
For the whites, Sémillon has always been in the majority for dry wines, but its position is deteriorating to the benefit of Sauvignon, which has been the subject of in-depth studies on its aromas at the Faculty of Oenology. Currently, Sémillon and Sauvignon are equally represented in the vineyard, with Sémillon maintaining its strong majority in the sweet wine vineyards. The Muscadelle has strongly regressed.
What will happen with the grape varieties under study in the vineyard? The Bordeaux vineyard experienced a period of prosperity under the Roman Empire followed by a strong decline, then a new favorable period under the English presence, which favored trade with Northern Europe. A new fall, followed by the flourishing Dutch trade which developed the white vineyard. Then came the brilliant 18th century until the classification of Médoc wines in the 19th century, in 1855. The terrible phylloxera crisis created a collapse of the vineyard but also awakened ingenious minds to get out of it. This was followed by a prodigious leap in knowledge of oenology, especially at the University of Bordeaux.
Nowadays, a new climatic crisis is looming which could call into question our grape varieties. The viticulture is working to emerge courageously and research is working on solutions for adapting new grape varieties. Could this experimentation be a guarantee of success?
