Fer (also known as Fer Servadou, Pinenc, Mansois and several other synonyms) is a red

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 Ameri ...

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 ...

that is grown primarily in South West France and is most notable for its role in the ''

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 bo ...

'' (AOC) wines of Gaillac,

Marcillac Marcillac (; oc, Marcilhac) is a former commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Val-de-Livenne.Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three B ...

but can also be found as minor component in the wines of Madiran, Cabardès and Bergerac.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 69 Oxford University Press 1996 The grape is also featured in red blends from several '' vin de pays'' regions in the south west with significant plantings coming from the

Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitan ...

department. J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pg 205 Mitchell Beazley 1986 According to wine expert Oz Clarke, wine made from Fer is often characterized by its perfumed aromas of currants and red fruit, soft tannins, and concentration in fruit. Oz Clarke & M. Rand ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 89 Webster International Publishers The grape is not related to the clone of Malbec known as ''Fer'' that is widely planted throughout

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

. The name ''Fer'' is

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

for

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

(

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''Ferrum''), a reference to the very hard and "iron-like" wood of the vine's above ground canopy. Because of this very hard wood stock, the vine can be difficult to prune and trellis.

History

Fer has a long tradition in the southwestern wine regions of France and is possibly indigenous to the area. For centuries many of the full-bodied red wines of the many wine-producing communes often included some percentage of Fer in the blend. The grape was prized for the

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

and concentration it added even though

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, r ...

and cultivation could be difficult due to its extremely hard wood stock. Though the grape developed numerous synonyms throughout the region, the "iron-like" hardness of the vine's wood gave rise to its primary name, Fer, which is also the French word for iron.

Wine regions

While plantings of Fer can be found through southwest France, the grape is most widely planted in the Aveyron department where it is featured in the wines of

Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three B ...

, Fer is also as known ''Pinenc'' and while once more prominently utilized, now is usually only a complementary player to Tannat,

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon ...

and

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being u ...

. In the Tarn department, it can be found in the AOC wines of Gaillac where it known under the old synonyms of ''Brocol'' and ''Braucol''. Other AOC wines that include Fer among their permitted varieties is Cabardès in the

Languedoc-Roussillon wine Languedoc-Roussillon wine, including the ''vin de pays'' labeled ''Vin de Pays d'Oc'', is produced in southern France. While "Languedoc" can refer to a specific historic region of France and Northern Catalonia, usage since the 20th century (espe ...

region and Bergerac in the

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named ...

which is essentially the northernmost reach of the grape. Outside France growers in

thought that they had plantings of Fer under cultivation but in the late 20th century it was discovered that the 3,700 acres (1,700 hectares) of the vine was actually a clone of Malbec which, though a French grape itself, has no known relation to Fer.

Wine styles

Wine expert

Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...

describes the wines made from Fer as "interestingly perfumed" with a

rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of '' Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhi ...

aroma note. Typically the wines are often full-bodied with dark ruby colors and concentrated fruit flavors. Robinson notes that the predominantly Fer composed wines of Marcillac can be tannic and rustic with smokey aromas.

Synonyms

Over the years Fer and its wines have been known under various

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are ...

including Arech, Arrouya, Bequignaou, Béquignol, Bois droit, Braucol, Brocol, Caillaba, Camarouge, Camirouch, Chalamoncet, Chalosse noir, Chausset, Couahort, Cruchenit, Estronc, Estrong, Fer bequignaou, Fer Noir, Ferre, Folle Rouge, Here, Herrant, Herre, Mances, Mansoi, Mansois, Mauran, Moura, Mourach, Noir brun, Panereuil, Petit Fer, Petit here, Petit Mourastel, Petite here, Piec, Piek, Pienc, Pinenc, Plant de fer, Queufort, Salebourg, Saoubade, Saumances, Saumansois, Saumences, Scarcit, Veron and Verron.Fer
,

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 ...

, Accessed: February 14th, 2011

References

{{reflist Red wine grape varieties