Petit Bouschet is a red ''

teinturier Teinturier grapes are grapes whose flesh and juice is red in colour due to anthocyanin pigments accumulating within the pulp of the grape berry itself. In most cases, anthocyanin pigments are confined to the outer skin tissue only, and the squee ...

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 Viti ...

that is a crossing of

Aramon noir Aramon or Aramon noir is a variety of red wine grape grown primarily in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France. Between the late 19th century and the 1960s, it was France's most grown grape variety, but plantings of Aramon have been in continuous ...

and Teinturier du Cher created in 1824 by French grape breeder Louis Bouschet at his vineyard in

Mauguio Mauguio (; , primarily ''Melguelh'') is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. History The city of Mauguio, seventh city of the Herault department and chief town of the district, is located 11 km east of Montpellier. T ...

in the

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.Henri Bouschet Henri Bouschet was a French viticulturalist who specialized in crossing pigmented ''teinturière'' varieties of Vitis vinifera grapes - particularly with a view to sourcing colour (and tannin). Son of renowned viticulturalist, Louis-Marie Bousch ...

, to create several more varieties including

Alicante Bouschet Alicante Bouschet or Alicante Henri Bouschet is a wine grape variety that has been widely cultivated since 1866. It is a cross of Petit Bouschet (itself a cross of the very old variety Teinturier du Cher and Aramon) and Grenache.Grand Noir de la Calmette Grand Noir de la Calmette (or simply Grand noir) is a red ''teinturier'' grape variety that is a crossing of Petit Bouschet and Aramon noir created in 1855 by French grape breeder Henri Bouschet at his vineyard in Mauguio in the Hérault d ...

and

Morrastel Bouschet Morrastel Bouschet is red French wine grape variety that is a crossing of the Spanish wine ''Vitis vinifera'' grape Graciano and the red-fleshed teinturier Bouschet Petit. The grape is often confused with its parent vine, Graciano, that is known a ...

. Petit Bouschet saw a surge of plantings in the late 19th century as France recovered from 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 ...

where it was often used to add color to blends made from

hybrid grape Hybrid grapes are grape varieties that are the product of a Hybrid (biology), crossing of two or more ''Vitis'' species. This is in contrast to crossings between grape varieties of the same species, typically ''Vitis vinifera'', the European grape ...

s and other high yielding varieties. As its offspring Alicante Bouschet became more popular, plantings of Petit Bouschet fell off and the grape is now hardly found in France.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pgs 428 & 664 Allen Lane 2012

History and relationship to other grapes

Teinturier Agria and peeled Grenache grape

Petit Bouschet was created in 1824 by grape breeder Louis Bouschet at his Domaine de la Camette vineyard and breeding station near

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

in southern France. The grape is a crossing of two ''

Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are curre ...

'' varieties, Aramon noir and the red-flesh Teinturier du Cher. This makes Petit Bouschet a crossing and not a hybrid grape which would have parents from two difference species from the genus ''

Vitis ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, b ...

''. While Aramon noir is like most red-skinned ''Vitis vinifera'' varieties, 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 having white flesh which yields white or greyish color juice when pressed soon after

harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

, Petit Bouschet inherited red-flesh from Teinturier du Cher. This means that Petit Bouschet can produce red colored wine without needing long periods of

skin contact Maceration is the winemaking process where the phenolic materials of the grape—tannins, coloring agents (anthocyanins) and flavor compounds—are leached from the grape skins, seeds and stems into the must. To macerate is to soften by soaking, ...

to leach out the color compounds from the grape skins into the wine.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 414-415 Oxford University Press 2006 Louis Bouschet's son, Henri, would use Petit Bouschet to breed several more crossings including Alicante Bouschet (with

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 ...

), Grand Noir de la Calmette (with Aramon) and Morrastel Bouschet (with

Graciano Graciano is a Spanish red wine grape that is grown primarily in Rioja. The vine produces a low yield that are normally harvested in late October. The wine produced is characterized by its deep red color, strong aroma and ability to age wel ...

). In the early 21st century, some

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 ...

suspected that Petit Bouschet may have been a parent vine for the Provençal wine grape Téoulier but

DNA profiling DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is called DNA barcoding. DNA profiling is a forensic tec ...

has disproved that suggestion. The grape was also historically associated with the

Galician wine Galician wine is Spanish wine made in the autonomous community of Galicia in the northwest corner of Spain. It includes wine made in the provinces of A Coruña, Ourense, Pontevedra and Lugo. Within Galicia are five '' Denominacións de Orixe'' ( ...

grape Juan García dues to the similarities in synonyms, particularly with Petit Bouschet also being known as Negrón de Aldán in the '' Denominación de Origen'' (DO) region of

Bierzo El Bierzo (; ; gl, O Bierzo) is a ''comarca'' in the province of León, Spain. Its capital is the town of Ponferrada. Other major towns are Bembibre and Villafranca del Bierzo, the historical capital. The territory of El Bierzo includes m ...

. However, DNA evidence has also dispelled any link between the two varieties.

Viticulture

Petit Bouschet is an early to mid-ripening variety that also

buds In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be specia ...

early which can make it prone to damage from early spring frost in some areas. The vine can be very vigorous and high yielding if not kept in check by winter

pruning Pruning is a horticultural, arboricultural, and silvicultural practice involving the selective removal of certain parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. The practice entails the ''targeted'' removal of diseased, damaged, dead, ...

and green harvesting. Petit Bouschet also has a tendency to produce numerous

basal shoot Basal shoots, root sprouts, adventitious shoots, and suckers are words for various kinds of shoots that grow from adventitious buds on the base of a tree or shrub, or from adventitious buds on its roots. Shoots that grow from buds on the base of ...

s that grow on the trunk of the grapevine below the cordons. Also known as "suckers", these shoots can sap the vine of nutritional and water resources that would otherwise be funneled into developing and ripening the grape clusters and will need to be removed throughout 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 ...

. Other

viticultural hazards This is a list of diseases of grapes (''Vitis'' spp.). Bacterial diseases Fungal diseases Miscellaneous diseases and disorders Nematodes, parasitic Phytoplasma, virus and viruslike diseases See also *''Ampeloglypter ater'' *''Ampe ...

that Petit Bouschet is susceptible to include infection from erinose mites.

Wine regions

Petit Bouschet was widely planted throughout the southern wine regions of France in the late 19th century but today it is hardly found in the country with its offspring, Alicante Bouschet, largely taking over its role of adding color to wine blends. There are some plantings of the grape in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, particularly

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, and in 2009 there were of the Petit Bouschet growing in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Synonyms

Over the years, Petit Bouschet has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Aramon-Teinturier, Bouschet, Bouschet de Bernard, Bouschet Petit, Le Bouschet, Negrón de Aldán (in Bierzo region in Spain), Petit Bouse, Pit Bushe and Tintinha (in Portugal).

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 Gei ...

(VIVC)
Petit Bouschet
' Accessed: May 26th, 2013

References

{{reflist Red wine grape varieties