Gros Manseng (sometimes translated: Large Manseng, rarely "Big Manseng") is a white

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

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 South West France, and is part of the Manseng family. It produces dry wines in the

Jurançon Jurançon (; oc, Juranson) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. Population See also *Jurançon AOC, a wine from this commune *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The followi ...

and Béarn regions of Southwest France. In Gascony it is permitted 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 ...

Appellation d'origine contrôlée 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 bou ...

'' (AOC), in the

Côtes de Gascogne Côtes de Gascogne is a wine-growing district in Gascony producing principally white wine. It is mainly located in the Departments of France, département of the Gers in the former Midi-Pyrénées region (now part of the Occitanie region), and it ...

and in the

Floc de Gascogne The Floc de Gascogne is a regional apéritif from the Côtes de Gascogne and Armagnac regions of Sud-Ouest wine region of France. It is a ''vin de liqueur'' fortified with armagnac, the local brandy. It has had '' Appellation d'origine contr� ...

Comparison to Petit Manseng

While the grape vines of Gros Manseng and

Petit Manseng Petit Manseng (sometimes translated: Small Manseng, rarely "Little Manseng") is a white wine grape variety that is grown primarily in South West France. It produces the highest quality wine of any grape in the Manseng family. The name is deriv ...

look very similar to each other, there are distinct differences. Gros Manseng's berries are larger and less susceptible to

coulure Coulure (pronounced coo-LYUR) is a viticultural hazard that is the result of metabolic reactions to weather conditions that causes a failure of grapes to develop after flowering. In English the word ''shatter'' is sometimes used. Coulure is trigge ...

. The vine also produces much higher yields but the resulting wine is less elegant and rich than wine made from

.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 334 Oxford University Press 2006

Wine styles

On its own, Gros Manseng has the potential to produce intensely flavored wines with high

acidity In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a ...

, apricot and quince fruit along with

spicy Pungency () refers to the taste of food commonly referred to as spiciness, hotness or heat, found in foods such as chili peppers. Highly pungent tastes may be experienced as unpleasant. The term piquancy () is sometimes applied to foods with a l ...

and

floral A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

notes. The time of harvest will play a large role in the type of wine that the grape will produce. When it is picked at a potential

alcohol level Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

of 11.5-12%, the resulting wine will have more characteristics of fresh fruit and flowers. If picked later at a potential alcohol content of 12.5-13.5, the flavors will be much more intense and powerful. Despite its thick skin, the grape does need gentle handling in the

winemaking Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and ...

process. Unlike many wine grapes, the juice of the Gros Manseng is ''grey'' in color which means that it is already prone to produce deeply, golden colored wines with minimal

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 soakin ...

. If the grapes are pressed too roughly or the grapes are left in extended contact with the skins, the resulting wine will be very coarse with excessive levels of

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'' ...

s and

polyphenol Polyphenols () are a large family of naturally occurring organic compounds characterized by multiples of phenol units. They are abundant in plants and structurally diverse. Polyphenols include flavonoids, tannic acid, and ellagitannin, some o ...

s. Some winemakers are experimenting with making

botrytized ''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" o ...

wine aged in

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

that have drawn favorable comparisons to similarly made wine from

Sémillon Sémillon is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, mostly in France and Australia. Its thin skin and susceptibility to botrytis make it dominate the sweet wine region Sauternes AOC and Barsac AOC. History The Sémil ...

. That style wine is prized for its food matching ability, particularly with

foie gras Foie gras (, ; ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a duck or goose. According to French law, foie gras is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by gavage (force feeding). Foie gras is a popular and well-known delica ...

.Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 113 Harcourt Books 2001 In May 2020, CSIRO scientists discovered through DNA analysis that Australia's plantings of Petit Manseng are in fact Gros Manseng.

Synonyms

Gros Manseng is also known under the synonyms Gros Mansenc Blanc, Gros Manseng Blanc, Ichiriota Zuria Handia, Ichiriota Zuriahandla, Manseng Gros Blanc, Petit-Mansenc.Manseng Gros Blanc
,

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 ...

, accessed 2010-12-03

References

{{reflist White wine grape varieties