Peloursin is red French wine grape variety best known for crossing with

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 ...

to make the red wine grape Durif (known in the United States as Petite Sirah).J. Robinson ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 510 Oxford University Press 2006 Eric Asimov '
Petite Sirah's Extra Large Wallop
'' ''The New York Times'' January 5th, 2005 The variety is believed to have originated in

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Rhône-Alpes region. Today Peloursin can be found in some quantities in California and in the

Australia wine The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor ...

region of Victoria.J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pg 228 Mitchell Beazley Publishing 1986

History

Ampelographers believe that Peloursin originated in the Isère department near Grenoble somewhere along the

Vallée du Grésivaudan Vallée is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: *André Vallée (1930–2015), Canadian Roman Catholic bishop *Anne Vallée (born 1958), Canadian biologist *Bernard Vallée (born 1945), French fencer *Brigitte Vallée (born 19 ...

. The name ''Peloursin'' likely derives from the local word ''pelossier'' used to describe the blackthorn trees that populate the area and whose fruit the Peloursin grapes have a slight resemblance to. At some point the grape was brought to the northern

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...

and

Savoie wine Savoy () is a wine region situated in the Savoy region in eastern France, and is sometimes referred to as the country of the Allobroges. It is the only alpine wine region in France, and is known for grape varieties rarely grown elsewhere, includin ...

regions but it is in the Isère that the vine crossed with Syrah to produce the Durif vine.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pg 316-317 & 779, Allen Lane 2012

Durif

In the 1860s, French botanist François Durif kept a nursery of several grape varieties at his home in the commune of

Tullins Tullins () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Geography The agglomeration of Tullins is situated in forested foothills that flank Chambaran Plateau. At its foot lies the alluvial plain of the Isère, which is the ag ...

where he most likely had plantings of both Peloursin and Syrah. At some point the two vines cross pollinated and Durif discovered a new grape variety growing in his nursery. It was identified and named ''Plant du Rif'' (later Durif) by ampelographer

Victor Pulliat 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 shor ...

in 1868. Durif later made its way to California where it was eventually named Petite Sirah. In the late 20th century University of California, Davis researchers led by Dr. Carole Meredith discovered that some of the California plantings of Petite Sirah were, in fact Peloursin, and that Peloursin had a parent-offspring relationship with Durif that likely sprung from a crossing with Syrah.Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 168 Harcourt Books 2001

Viticulture

Peloursin is a vigorous grapevine capable of producing high yields and excessive foliage if not kept in check with winter pruning and summertime leaf pulling. The variety tends to be a mid-ripening grape whose main viticultural hazards are susceptibility to

botrytis bunch rot ''Botrytis cinerea'' is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as "botrytis bunch rot"; in horticulture, it is usually called "grey mould" or ...

and black rot.

Wine regions

Today Peloursin is nearly extinct in France though some attempts have been made in recent years to revive the variety. In the Tarn department of South West France plantings of the grapes have been added to an experimental vineyard in Peyrole. Jura wine producer

Domaine Ganevat An estate is a large parcel of land under single ownership, which would historically generate income for its owner. British context In the UK, historically an estate comprises the houses, outbuildings, supporting farmland, and woods that s ...

has plantings of Peloursin (called here Gros Béclan) in their

Rotalier Rotalier () is a commune in the Jura department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Jura department The following is a list of the 494 communes of the Jura department of Franc ...

vineyard which they use in their ''

vin de primeur A ''nouveau'' ( ), or ''vin (de) primeur'', is a wine which may be sold in the same year in which it was harvested. The most widely exported ''nouveau'' wine is French wine Beaujolais ''nouveau'' which is released on the third Thursday of N ...

'' blend. Outside France some plantings of Peloursin can be found in Victoria, Australia. In the late 20th century, several California vineyards that thought they were planted with Durif/Petite Sirah were found to be field blends that contain some plantings of Peloursin.

Relationships and confusion with other grapes

In addition to being a parent of Durif, Peloursin was also crossed with

Persan Persan () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department, Île-de-France, northern France. Persan–Beaumont station has rail connections to Pontoise, Creil, Sarcelles and Paris. Population See also *Communes of the Val-d'Oise department The fo ...

to create

Joubertin Joubertin is a red French wine grape variety that was historically grown in the Savoie wine region of southeast France. The grape was once prized for its productivity and high yields but its plantings have declined as the grape has fallen out of f ...

. DNA testing also suggest a relationship between Peloursin and

Bia blanc Bia blanc is a white French wine grape variety that is no longer commercially cultivated for wine production with only a few plantings existing worldwide in viticultural archives and experimental vineyards. The exact origins of Bia blanc are not ye ...

which share some morphological similarities but the exact nature of that relationship is not yet known. Plantings of Peloursin are often confused with its offspring Durif and this was particularly the case in California where many plantings of Petite Sirah/Durif were discovered to actually be Peloursin. In the Jura region, it is sometimes confused both

Poulsard Poulsard (also Ploussard) is a red French wine grape variety from the Jura wine region. The name Ploussard is used mainly around the town of Pupillin but can appear on wine labels throughout Jura as an authorized synonyms. While technically a ...

and Béclan due to similarities in synonyms among the three grapes. In the Isère, Peloursin is sometimes confused with

Dureza Dureza is a dark-skinned French wine grape variety from the Ardèche department of south central France in the Rhône-Alpes region. The grape is most widely known for being the father vine of Syrah—a discovery that confirmed that the Syrah vin ...

, one of the parent grapes of Syrah.

Synonyms

Over the years Peloursin has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Belossard, Blauer Thuner, Chatille, Corsin (in Savoie), Durazaine, Duret, Durif fourchu, Famette, Feunette (in Haute-Savoie), Fumette (in Haute-Savoie), Gondran, Gro Nuar, Gronnat, Gronnay, Gros beclan (in Jura), Gros nat, Gros noir, Gros noirin, Gros plant, Mal noir, Mauvais noir, Mosaguin, Parlouseau, Parlousseau, Pelaursin, Pellorcin, Pellossard, Pelossard noir, Pellourcin, Pelorsin (in Isère), Pelossard, Pelossier, Peloursin noir, Plant d’Abas, Plant de Paris, Pourret (in Franche-Comté), Pourrot (in Franche-Comté), Saler, Salet, Salis, Sella, Soler, Spartin, Thuner, Thuner Rebe, Treillin, Verne and Vert noir. Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC)
Peloursin
' Accessed: March 24th, 2013

References

{{reflist Red wine grape varieties