Arrufiac (or Arrufiat) is a white

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and America ...

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...

Arrufiac

Vitis International Variety Catalogue The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung Gei ...

, accessed on June 26, 2010 that is primarily planted in the

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...

region of South West France. It is a secondary grape in the wines from the

Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Madiran wine is produced around the village of Madiran in Gascony under three '' Appellations d'Origine Contrôlées'' (AOCs): Madiran for red wines and Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh and Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec for white wines. The production area fo ...

Appellation d'origine contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

'' (AOC). J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Wine Course'' Third Edition pg 100 Abbeville Press 2003 While the grape has had a long history being blended with Petit Courbu in Gascon wines, it has only recently experienced a resurgence of interest in the late 20th century following the release of white blends from Andrė Dubosc of Producteurs Plaimont, one of the region's largest co-operative wineries, in the 1980s.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 24 Oxford University Press 1996

Wine regions

Arrufiac has had a long history of use in the wines of Gascony, particularly those from the AOC region of Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh, covering the same area as

Madiran Madiran () is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France. It is the centre of a wine-producing area. Madiran wine Wine is produced around Madiran under three '' Appellations d'Origine Contrôlées'' (AOCs): Madira ...

, and those from the

Béarn AOC Béarn is an ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) for wine in South West France. It is located in the area of intersection of three French departments: Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées and Gers; and two regions: Aquitaine and Midi- ...

in the Vic-Bilh hills. Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 38 Harcourt Books 2001 There, the grape was often blended with Petit Courbu which, along with Arrufiac's distinctive

gunflint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fires ...

aroma An odor (American English) or odour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds that are generally found in low concentrations that humans and animals can perceive via their sense ...

, gave the wines of Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh a distinctive contrast to the white wines of nearby

Jurançon Jurançon (; oc, Juranson) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. Population See also *Jurançon AOC, a wine from this commune *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The followi ...

. Additionally, winemakers in Gascony have blended Arrufiac with the other grapes of Jurançon,

Petit Manseng Petit Manseng (sometimes translated: Small Manseng, rarely "Little Manseng") is a white wine grape variety that is grown primarily in South West France. It produces the highest quality wine of any grape in the Manseng family. The name is deriv ...

and

Gros Manseng Gros Manseng (sometimes translated: Large Manseng, rarely "Big Manseng") is a white wine grape variety that is grown primarily in South West France, and is part of the Manseng family. It produces dry wines in the Jurançon and Béarn regions o ...

Wine styles

Arrufiac is used primarily as a blending wine with its medium body and relatively low

alcohol levels Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

for a wine grown in southern France. In blends, its main contribution is in the aroma and bouquet, with wines featuring Arrufiac often marked by a distinctive gunflint note.

Synonyms

Arrufiac and its wines are known under a variety of synonyms including Ambre, Arafiat, Arrefiac, Arrefiat, Arrufiat, Arufiat, Raffiac, Raffiat, Refiat, Rouffiac Femelle, Ruffiac, Ruffiac Blanc, and Rufiat.

References

{{reflist White wine grape varieties