Calitor or Calitor noir is a red French wine grape variety. It was previously widely cultivated in southern France, in particular in Provence, but is now very rare, almost extinct. Historically used as mainly a blending variety, Calitor gives high yields and produces a light-bodied and lightly colored wine. When grown on hillside sites, it can give a wine of character. Calitor is a very old variety that was first noted growing in southern France in 1600. The grape has produced two color mutations, Calitor blanc, which has been growing in the Costières de Nîmes region since at least 1782, and a pink-berried Calitor gris which are both not widely grown. Plantings of Calitor noir, itself, have been steadily declining since the early 20th century as French wine producers turned first to the more reliably productive Aramon noir and later to higher quality

international varieties An international variety is a grape variety that is widely planted in most of the major wine producing regions and has widespread appeal and consumer recognition. These are grapes that are highly likely to appear on wine labels as varietal wines a ...

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' ...

and

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 ...

. In 1968, there were of Calitor noir in France but by 2008 that number had dropped to just .J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pgs 131, 176 Allen Lane 2012

History

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 ...

believe that the name ''Calitor'' is derived from the

Provençal words Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France *Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Romanc ...

''Col'' (meaning "stalk") and ''tor'' (meaning "twisted") and was likely a reference to the near

right angle In geometry and trigonometry, a right angle is an angle of exactly 90 Degree (angle), degrees or radians corresponding to a quarter turn (geometry), turn. If a Line (mathematics)#Ray, ray is placed so that its endpoint is on a line and the ad ...

bent of the

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

stalk of Calitor bunches as they hang on the vine. The earliest synonyms of Calitor, Col Tor and Pécoui-Touar, mean literally "twisted stalks". Vignes des Costières

Under the synonym ''Colitor'', the grape was mentioned along with Pinot, Ribier,

Beaunois Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

, Meslier,

Bourboulenc Bourboulenc is a white wine grape variety primarily grown in southern France. The variety is found in the regions Southern Rhône (wine region), Rhône, Provence wine, Provence and Languedoc wine, Languedoc. Bourboulenc is a late-ripening grape ...

and other varieties, in French soil scientist

Olivier de Serres Olivier de Serres (; 1539–1619) was a French author and soil scientist whose '' Théâtre d'Agriculture'' (1600) was the accepted textbook of French agriculture in the 17th century. Biography Serres was born in 1539 at Villeneuve-de-Berg, A ...

' work ''Théâtre d'Agriculture'' (1600) as one of the distinguished varieties that was commonly planted in several provinces. In 1656, the grape was mentioned again under the name ''Colitor'' growing around the commune of

Lapalud Lapalud (; oc, La Palús) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in southeastern France. People from Lapalud * Rodolphe Julian (1839–190 ...

in Vaucluse department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. The white-berried color mutation, Calitor blanc, was first mentioned in 1782 as being one the varieties behind the popular white wines of the

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

in the

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Languedoc-Roussillon region. After the

phylloxera epidemic The Great French Wine Blight was a severe blight of the mid-19th century that destroyed many of the vineyards in France and laid waste to the wine industry. It was caused by an aphid that originated in North America and was carried across the Atl ...

of the mid-19th century and the World Wars of the early 20th century, plantings of Calitor were slow to recover as French wine growers first turn to plantings of hybrid grape varieties and reliable workhorse varieties like Aramon noir. In 1968 there were of Calitor planted in France but for the rest of the 20th century those plantings slowly declined as growers were now focusing on more popular international varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. In the late 20th and early 21st century, the rules for several '' Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) regions were rewritten with Calitor's roles in those AOC greatly diminished. For example, in the

Côtes de Provence AOC Provence (Provençal) wine comes from the French wine-producing region of Provence in southeast France. The Romans called the area ''provincia nostra'' ("our province"), giving the region its name. Just south of the Alps, it was the first Roman pr ...

new plantings of Calitor are discouraged by the AOC requirement that only Calitor grapes harvested from vines that were planted before 1994 are permitted to be used in the AOC red and

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact method. ...

wines. By 2008, plantings of the grape had dropped to throughout France.

Viticulture

Calitor is a

late ripening In viticulture, ripeness is the completion of the ripening process of wine grapes on the vine which signals the beginning of harvest. What exactly constitutes ripeness will vary depending on what style of wine is being produced ( sparkling, still, ...

grape variety that can be very productive and high yielding if not kept in check by winter pruning or

green harvest 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, ran ...

ing during the

growing season A season is a division of the year marked by changes in weather, ecology, and the amount of daylight. The growing season is that portion of the year in which local conditions (i.e. rainfall, temperature, daylight) permit normal plant growth. Whil ...

. The vine tends to produce large clusters of big berries that hang from the vine with a near right angle bent of the peduncle stem that attaches the bunch to the cane of the grapevine. It is this "twisted stalk" look that gives rise to the grape's name and several of its synonyms. While Calitor has some resistance to powdery mildew, it is very susceptible to the viticultural hazards of

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 downy mildew.

Confusion with other grapes

Despite sharing several synonyms with

Bouteillan noir Bouteillan noir is a red French wine grape variety that is grown in the Provence wine region of southern France. While the grape has been recorded growing in the Vaucluse region since at least the early 18th century, today the grape is virtually ex ...

, Calitor has no known relationship with the Provençal wine grape. In Nice, plantings of Calitor noir have historically been confused with Braquet noir. Other varieties that are sometimes confused with Calitor noir include Jurançon and Piquepoul noir.

Wine regions

While Calitor is a permitted grape variety in several AOCs of the southern Rhône, Languedoc and Provence but its use is very limited. In Bandol, the grape was once permitted to be blended with Mourvèdre,

Grenache Grenache () or Garnacha () is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world. Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' p. 25, JP Bøger – JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. . It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry conditi ...

, Cinsault and other varieties in the AOC red and rosé wines but a revision of the AOC wine laws in 1992 took Calitor off the list of permitted grape varieties for that AOC. The wine laws of the Côtes de Provence AOC were also rewritten to further limit Calitor use with a grandfather clause allowing only Calitor grapes from vines that were planted before 1994 to still be used in the AOC wines. In the rosé-only AOC of

Tavel Tavel may refer to: Places * Tavel, Gard, a commune in France * Tavel AOC, a French wine ''appellation'' from the town of Tavel * Tafers (french: Tavel, link=no), a municipality in Switzerland People * Connie Tavel Connie Tavel is an Ameri ...

of the southern Rhone, Calitor is still permitted to be blended Grenache, Cinsault and other varieties but only to a maximum of 10% of the blend.

Styles

According to Master of Wine

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 ...

, Calitor tends to produce light-bodied wines that are often very light in color with low acidity that can make the wine come across as "dull".

Synonyms

Over the years Calitor has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Anglas, Assadoule Bouvier, Binxeilla, Blavette, Calitor noir, Canseron, Cargo Miola, Cargo Muou, Catitor, Causeron, Causeroun, Charge Mulet, Colitor, Col Tor, Coulitor, Coytor, Dameron des Vosges, Foirard, Foirat, Fouiraire, Fouiral, Fouirassan, Garriga (in

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; ca, Rosselló ; oc, Rosselhon ) is a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the reg ...

), Mouillas, Noeuds-Courts, Nou Courte, Pampoul, Pécoui-Touar (in Bandol), Pecoui Touar, Pecoui Tovar, Picpoule Sorbier, Piquepoul de Fronton, Pride of Australia, Qualitor, Ramonen, Rouget de Salins, Rousselin, Rousselin noir, Rousset, Rouxal, Sang de Boeuf, Saure, Sen Zhan, Siege noir, Sigotier, Sigoyer, and Tentyure Artekskii.Calitor noir
in Vitis International Variety Catalogue, accessed 2010-07-01 Synonyms for Calitor blanc include: Clairette Egreneuse, Coronega and Pampoul. Synonyms for Calitor gris include: Fouirau and Saoule Bouvier. Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC)
Calitor gris
'' Accessed: June 21st, 2013

References

{{Reflist Red wine grape varieties