Aspiran (or Aspiran noir) is a red French wine grape variety planted primarily in the Languedoc where it permitted under '' Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) regulations in the 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 of the

Minervois AOC Minervois is an AOC in the Languedoc-Roussillon wine region, in the departments of the Aude and of the Herault. Historically, the region's capital has been the village of Minerve. AOC regulations require the wine to be blended (at least 2 variet ...

. Aspiran is a very old variety with a long history of producing light bodied and perfumed wines.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Wine Course'' Third Edition pg 130 Abbeville Press 2003

History

Before 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 ...

, Aspiran was common in Languedoc, in particular in Hérault, where it once represented one quarter of the plantations in this department. The grape variety is probably named after the town

Aspiran Aspiran () is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Hérault department The following is a list of the 342 communes of the Hérault department of France. The communes cooperate in t ...

in Hérault. The severe frost in 1956 killed off much of the then existing Aspiran plantations. In 1988, only remained, and the variety is usually not being replanted.

Other grape varieties

There are also several other grape varieties where Aspiran forms part of their name, including

Aspiran blanc Aspiran () is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Hérault department The following is a list of the 342 communes of the Hérault department of France. The communes cooperate in t ...

and

Aspiran gris Aspiran () is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Hérault department The following is a list of the 342 communes of the Hérault department of France. The communes cooperate in t ...

, but only Aspiran noir is simply called "Aspiran". Aspiran should not be confused with the Greek white grape variety

Aspirant Aspirant is a rank in the Royal Canadian Navy, Estonian Defence Forces, French military, Brazilian military, Portuguese military, Swiss military, Italian Air Force, Argentinian Armed Forces, Romanian Navy, Polish Policja and Państwowa Straż ...

Synonyms

Aspiran noir is also known under the synonyms Aspiran, Aspiran Chernyi, Aspiran Csornüj, Aspirant, Epiran, Espiran, Peyral, Peyrar, Piran, Ribeyrenc, Riverain, Riveyrenc, Riveyrene, Spiran, Verdai, Verdal, and Verdal noir.

References

{{reflist Red wine grape varieties