Bouchalès or Grapput is a red

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and Amer ...

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 grown primarily in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

and Southwest France wine

appellations An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

. Plantings have declined in recent years as the vine has shown high sensitivity to

downy mildew Downy mildew refers to any of several types of oomycete microbes that are obligate parasites of plants. Downy mildews exclusively belong to the Peronosporaceae family. In commercial agriculture, they are a particular problem for growers of cruc ...

and

black rot Black rot is a name used for various diseases of cultivated plants caused by fungi or bacteria, producing dark brown discoloration and decay in the leaves of fruit and vegetables: * A disease of the apple, pear and quince caused by a fungus ('' Botr ...

.J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pg 204 Mitchell Beazley 1986

Old vine Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, ...

plantings of Bouchalès that more than a 100 years exist at Château de la Vieille-Chapelle in the

Fronsac AOC Fronsac is a wine growing region named after the commune of Fronsac on the right bank of the Gironde estuary in Bordeaux. It includes the following communes: La Rivière, St.-Germain-la-Rivière, St.-Aignan, Saillans, St.Michel-de-Fronsac, ...

located just northwest of the city of

Libourne Libourne (; oc, label= Gascon, Liborna ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the wine-making capital of northern Gironde and lies near Saint-Ém ...

in the "Right Bank" region of Bordeaux. These vines are believed to be some of the oldest vines in Bordeaux (where only 27% of the vines average more than 30 years age Wine Mega
Bordeaux: A Few Statistical Figures
'' Bordeaux News, January 2004), having likely survived 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 late 19th century due to the ancient Libournais practice of flooding the vineyards in winter which would disrupt the nymph stage in the life cycle of phylloxera.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pg 128, Allen Lane 2012

History and origins

French

ampelographer 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 ...

Guy Lavignac has theorized that the name ''Bouchalès'' comes from the

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

word meaning "box tree" and could refer to the way that the ''Bouchalès'' vine in full foliage resembles a box shape. However,

Master of Wine Master of Wine (MW) is a qualification (not an academic degree) issued by The Institute of Masters of Wine in the United Kingdom. The MW qualification is generally regarded in the wine industry as one of the highest standards of professional knowle ...

Jancis Robinson notes that many ''

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 curr ...

grapevines ''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, ...

resemble boxes, and since Bouchalès is a common surname in the Lot-et-Garonne region, it is likely that the grape took on the name of one of its propagators. In the Dordogne region, Bouchalès is also known as Bouissalet; this has led some ampelographers to believe that the grape could be a dark

color mutation The propagation of grapevines is an important consideration in commercial viticulture and winemaking. Grapevines, most of which belong to the ''Vitis vinifera'' family, produce one crop of fruit each growing season (vine), growing season with a lim ...

of the white wine grape

Arrufiac Arrufiac (or Arrufiat) is a white French wine grape varietyArrufiac

which is known as Bouissalet in the

Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Madiran wine is produced around the village of Madiran in Gascony under three '' Appellations d'Origine Contrôlées'' (AOCs): Madiran for red wines and Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh and Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec for white wines. The production area fo ...

region, but

DNA testing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, o ...

has ruled out a connection between the two varieties. Documents from 1783-1784 described Bouchalès being widely planted throughout southwest France (the ''Sud-ouest''), particularly in the

Lot-et-Garonne Lot-et-Garonne (, oc, Òlt e Garona) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.Gers, and

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is name ...

departments. Vineyards in

Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern department ...

, Auch, Estillac, Saint-Barthélemy-de-Bellegarde, and

Tonneins Tonneins (; oc, Tonens) is a town in the Lot-et-Garonne department of south-western France. It stands above the river Garonne, between Marmande to the west and Agen to the east, and is the first major town below the confluence of the Lot and ...

were particularly noted for Bouchalès growing well there and producing deeply

colored ''Colored'' (or ''coloured'') is a racial descriptor historically used in the United States during the Jim Crow Era to refer to an African American. In many places, it may be considered a slur, though it has taken on a special meaning in Sout ...

"black wine" of good quality. Like many ''Vitis vinifera'' varieties, plantings of Bouchalès were decimated during the phylloxera epidemic of the late 19th century. The fact that Bouchalès experienced difficulties in taking the grafting of American

rootstock A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to a ...

(like ''

Vitis riparia ''Vitis riparia'' Michx, with common names riverbank grape or frost grape, is a vine indigenous to North America. As a climbing or trailing vine, it is widely distributed across central and eastern Canada and the central and northeastern parts ...

'' and ''

Vitis rupestris ''Vitis rupestris'' is a species of grape native to the United States that is known by many common names including July, Coon, sand, sugar, beach, bush, currant, ingar, rock, and mountain grape. It is used for breeding several French-American hy ...

'') also contributed to its decline. However, in 2009 a Libournais vineyard belonging to Château de la Vieille Chapelle was discovered to contain ungrafted Bouchalès vines over 100 years old. Wine expert Jancis Robinson and others have speculated that these vines survived the phylloxera epidemic due to the frequent winter flood irrigation of the vineyards that was a tradition of Libournais

viticulture 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, ...

for many centuries. This flooding with waters from the nearby river

would disrupt the life cycle of the phylloxera louse by inhibiting its growth during its nymph stage.

Viticulture

Bouchalès is a productive vine that can create full foliage and high yields if not severely pruned. It has a tendency to

bud 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 spec ...

early and ripen mid-season. The main

viticultural hazard 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'' *'' Am ...

s for Bouchalès, beyond its difficulty to take to grafted rootstocks, is its susceptibility to black rot.

Wine regions

Scattered plantings of Bouchalès can be found throughout southwest France with the majority found following the path of the

Garonne The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – ...

river. In 1958 there were 12,355 acres (5,000

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

) but by 2008 that figure had dipped to only 272 acres (110 hectares).

Confusion with other grape varieties

Over the years Bouchalès has often been confused with other grapevines due to either similarity in appearance or synonyms. This includes the Mérille grape of the Garonne that is also grown in the Ariège department where historic plantings of Bouchalès once were. Also in the Garone it has been confused for

Côt Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are ...

, the local name for the ancient Bordeaux variety Malbec.

Synonyms

Over the years Bouchalès has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Aubet, Bouchalès Chedy, Bouchalets (in Lot-et-Garonne), Boucharès, Bouchedey, Boucherès (in Dordogne), Bouissalet (in Dordogne), Bouscalès, Bouscarès, Bouyssalet, Capbreton Rouge, Cayla, Crapput, Craput, Cujas, Esparbasque, Grappu, Grapput (in Gironde), Gros de Judith, Gros grappu, Gros Marthy, Gros Marty, Gros maure, Gros Mol, Jeanjean, Négrasse, Picardan, Picardan noir, Piquardan, Plant Touzau, Prolongeau, Prueras, Prueyras, Queuefort, Sensit Rouge, Toussan and Touzan.

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)
Bouchalès
'' Accessed: March 19th, 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouchales Red wine grape varieties