Alicante Ganzin is a red French wine grape variety. Unlike most '' Vitis vinifera'' wine grapes, Alicante Ganzin is a teinturier with dark flesh that produces red juice. Most varieties used to produce

red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties. The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice from most purple grap ...

, such as

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' ...

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse B ...

, etc., have clear color flesh and juice with the wine receiving its color through a maceration process where the color seeps out of the grape skins for as long as they are in contact with the juice. Alicante Ganzin can thus produce light red and '' rose'' colored wine without maceration. It is believed that Alicante Ganzin is often described as the

progenitor In genealogy, the progenitor (rarer: primogenitor; german: Stammvater or ''Ahnherr'') is the – sometimes legendary – founder of a family, line of descent, clan or tribe, noble house, or ethnic group.. Ebenda''Ahnherr:''"Stammvater eines G ...

of all French teinturier grapes.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 22 Oxford University Press 1996

History

While Alicante Ganzin is believed by

ampelographers Ampelography ( ἄμπελος, "vine" + γράφος, "writing") is the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines, ''Vitis'' spp. Traditionally this has been done by comparing the shape and colour of the ...

to be the

of all French teinturiers, the exact origins of the grape variety are not clear. Some, such as 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 grape as a cross of Alicante Bouschet and a hybrid of a '' Vitis rupestris'' variety and '' Vitis vinifera'' grape Aramon known as ''Aramon Rupestris Ganzin No.4''. J. Robinson ''Vines Grapes & Wines'' pg 226 Mitchell Beazley 1986 This is the parentage attributed to the variety by the Vitis International Variety Catalogue, which date the grape's creation to 1886 by private grape breeder

Victor Ganzin The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French sho ...

.Alicante Ganzin
, Vitis International Variety Catalogue, Accessed: February 21st, 2011

Offspring

In 1958, University of California, Davis viticulturist Dr. Harold Olmo crossed Alicante Ganzin with the Portuguese wine grape variety

Tinta Cão Tinta Cão is a red Portuguese wine grape variety that has been grown primarily in the Douro region since the sixteenth century. The vine produces very low yields which has led it close to extinction despite the high quality of wine that it can ...

to produce the red-fleshed variety Rubired that is often used a coloring agent in red wine blends. Olmo also used Alicante Ganzin to cross with the Jura wine grape

Trousseau gris ''Trousseau Gris'' is a French wine, French grape variety made into white wine. It is occasionally found in eastern France and was once widely grown in California wine, California under the name ''Gray Riesling''. In cool climates it can produce ...

to produce Royalty. Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC)
Royalty
'' Accessed: August 17th, 2012

References

{{reflist Red wine grape varieties