Cadarca or Kadarka or Gamza is a dark-skinned variety of

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years a ...

used for

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 gr ...

. It has a long history and is popular in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, where it is known as Гъмза ''Gamza''. It used to be an important constituent of the Hungarian red cuvée Bull's Blood of

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque bui ...

Szekszárd Szekszárd (, formerly also ''Szegzárd''; hr, Seksar; german: Sechshard or ; sr, Сексард) is a small city in southern Hungary and the capital of Tolna County. By population, Szekszárd is the smallest county capital in Hungary; by area ...

, but has long been in decline in Hungarian plantations, to be replaced by Kékfrankos and Portugieser. It is also grown in most other central European and balkan countries where it is sometimes known as ''Cadarca'' or ''Skadarska''.Herbst, Ron and Sharon ''Wine Lover's Companion'' pg 273 (Barron's 1995) Kadarka is sometimes assumed to originate from Hungary. Another hypothesis is that is related to the variety Skadarsko, which is supposed to originate from

Lake Scutari Lake Skadar ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Скадарско језеро, Skadarsko jezero, ; sq, Liqeni i Shkodrës, ) also called Lake Scutari, Lake Shkodër and Lake Shkodra lies on the border of Albania and Montenegro, and is the largest lake in Southern ...

, which is situated on the border between

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

and

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

. In a recent study, it is claimed that one of the parents of Kadarka is

Papazkarası Papazkarası, also Papaskara ( tr, papazkarası, "priest's black"), is a Turkish grape variety and a Turkish wine grown in the Marmara and Central Anatolia regions of Turkey. This variety was used to make a red wine blend with Cinsaut. The wine h ...

which is grown in Strandja region of

Kırklareli Kırklareli () is a city within Kırklareli Province in the European part of Turkey. Name It is not clearly known when the city was founded, nor under what name. The Byzantine Greeks called it Sarànta Ekklisiès (''Σαράντα Εκκλησι� ...

. Cadarca (Kadarka) wine is characterised by full, easily recognizable taste, deep aroma and dark or medium dark colour. Kadarka is often used for cuvees including some of the

Egri Bikavér Egri Bikavér (Bull's Blood of Eger) is a blended red wine produced in Eger, Hungary. It is very representative of the red wines of Eger, a terroir wine, which carries the flavour of the soils of local production sites, the mezzo-climate unique ...

s, and also for production of

table wine Table wine (rarely abbreviated TW) is a wine term with two different meanings: a style of wine and a quality level within wine classification. In the United States, the term primarily designates a wine style: an ordinary wine which is not fortifi ...

s. The best Kadarka has been grown in Minis, Romania since the 17th century. In Bulgaria, Gamza is mostly cultivated in the northwestern and central northern regions, in the Danubian Plain. Until the recent decades, Gamza was the dominant grape varietal in these Bulgarian regions. The main features of Gamza are a large yet compact cluster of small, almost spherical grapes, dark blue to black in colour.

Synonyms

Kadarka is also known under the following synonyms:Vitis International Variety Catalogue: Kadarka
, accessed on December 16, 2009 (note: site renders Hungarian accented characters incorrectly) Backator-Szőlő, Black Kadarka, Blaue Kadarka, Blaue Ungarische, Bleu de Hongrie, Blue Kadarka, Branicevka, Budai Fekete, Cadarca, Cadarca de Minis, Cadarca Neagra, Cadarka, Cedireska, Cerna Ghija, Cerna Giza, Cerna Meco, Cerna Skadarka, Cetereska, Cherna Gizha, Chernina, Chetereshka, Csoka Szőlő, Domanli, Edle Ungartraube, Edler Schwarzblauer Tokayer, Feket Budai, Fekete Czigány, Fekete Zinka, Fűszeres Kadarka, Gamza, Gemza, Gimza, Gmza, Gymza, Jenei Feket, Jenei Fekete, Kadar, Kadarka, Kadarka Blaue, Kadarka Ble, Kadarka Bleu, Kadarka Chernaya, Kadarka Crna, Kadarka Fekete, Kadarka Fűszeres, Kadarka Keck, Kadarka Modra, Kadarka Nemes, Kadarka Nera, Kadarka Noir, Kadarka Rubinrot, Kadarka Schwarz, Kadarka Sinyaya, Kadarkas, Kadarska, Kallmet, Kara Shiralak, Kék Budai, Kékkardarka, Kereszetes Levelű, Keresztes Levelű, Ksoka Szőlő, Ksoko Szőlő, Lúdtalpú, Lugojana, Meco Cerna, Mekis, Mekish, Modra Kadarka, Mor Kadarka, Mórkadarka, Mosler Schwarz, Nazlin Gomza, Nazlun Gamza, Nemes Kadarka, Noble Bleu, Noir de Scutari, Noir de la Moselle, Raisin Noir de Scutari, Raisin Turc, Schwarzer Cadarca. Schwarzer Mosler, Schwarzer Skutariner, Scutariner, Sirena, Siva Gamza, Skadarka, Skadarska, Skakar, Tanka Gamza, Török Szőlő, Törökbúza Szőlő, Törökszőlő, Tokaynero di Scutari, Ungarische Edeltraube, Vodishka Loza, Vodnishka, Vrachansko Cherno, Zelena Gamza, Zherni Shipon.

References

{{wines Red wine grape varieties Grape varieties of Hungary Bulgarian wine Grape varieties of Bulgaria