Enfariné noir (or Gouais noir) 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 Ameri ...

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 ...

that is grown predominantly in the Jura wine region of eastern France. Despite being known under the synonym ''Gouais noir'' in the

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Aube Aube () is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),Marne,

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

and

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

departments, the grape has no known connection to the Gouais blanc wine grape that is the parent of several wine grape varieties such as

Chardonnay 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 ...

Gamay Gamay is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as long ago as the 15th centu ...

and Melon de Bourgogne. While once widely planted throughout the

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, ...

, the grape is now nearly extinct with less than 1

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 i ...

(2.5 acres) of the variety planted in 2008.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pp. 330-331, Allen Lane 2012 .

History

Wine Grapes with dusting that contains yeast

The name Enfariné comes from the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

word ''farine'' meaning

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cul ...

. It comes from the "bloom" or "blush" (now known to be indigenous yeast) that covers ripening grapes, looking like flour dusting. Some

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 ...

s, such as Pierre Galet, speculate that the grape originated in the Aube department in what is now part of the Champagne wine region. The first written record of Enfariné noir comes from a February 3, 1731 decree from the parliament of

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...

in the

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Foirard noir, Foirard blanc, Maldoux, Valet noir and Barclan blanc, that were planted after 1702 had to be uprooted and replaced with

cereal A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food ...

crops. According to an 1856 report, this parliamentary decree resulted in a decreasing of vineyard plantings by more than a third by 1732. The synonym ''Gouais noir'' has long been attached to Enfariné noir but ampelographers have determined that Enfariné noir is not a color mutation of Gouais blanc with no known connection between the two grapes. There is some speculation from ampelographers like Galet that the variety may have some connection to Gueuche noir of which it shares several synonyms.

Viticulture

Enfariné noir is a late ripening variety that can be very productive and high yielding if not kept in check by winter bud

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, ...

, low vigor

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 ...

and perhaps even green harvesting. The vine tends to create large cluster thick-skin berries that tend to be larger than other ''

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 cur ...

'' varieties. There are very few

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'' *'' Am ...

that Enfariné noir is susceptible to with the vine being resistant to most grapevine diseases.

Wine regions

Enfariné noir was once widely planted throughout the Franche-Comté but over the last couple centuries its numbers have dramatically decreased and now the variety is nearly extinct. In 2008, less than 1 hectare (2.5 acre) of the vine was reported with the vast majority being found in the Jura wine region. Here producers such as Domaine Ganevat, Domaine des Cavarodes, Étienne Thiebaud and Domaine Jean Bourdy have worked to replant and sustain the variety in conservation vineyards. The results from these conservation vineyards often goes into '' vin de pays'' where it is often blended with Poulsard.

Styles

According to

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 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 ...

Enfariné noir tends to produce wines with high acid levels that can be useful as a blending component, especially for light bodied reds meant to be consumed early, or in

sparkling wine production Sparkling wine production is the method of winemaking used to produce sparkling wine. The oldest known production of sparkling wine took place in 1531 with the ''ancestral method''. Pressure and terminology In popular parlance and also in th ...

Synonyms

Over the years Enfariné noir has been known under a variety of synonyms, including Bourgogne, Bregin bleu, Brezin de Pampan, Chagnot, Chaigneau, Chamoisien, Chineau, Encendre, Enfarine, Enfariné du Jura, Gaillard (in

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...

and along the

Saône The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île. The name d ...

valley), Gau, Goix noir, Got noir, Gouache, Gouai noir, Gouailler, Gouais, Gouais noir, Gouais violet, Gouape, Gouat gau, Gouet, Grisard, Grison (in the arrondissement of Dole), Hureau, Lombard, Lurio, Mureau, Neri blau, Nerre, Petit Goix, Saint Martin, Urio and Urion.

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 ...

(VIVC)
Enfariné noir
' Accessed: April 17th, 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enfarine noir Red wine grape varieties