Braquet () is a red

French wine French wine is produced throughout all of 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. French wine traces its history to th ...

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, Zante currant, currant, sultana (grape), sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, including those unimp ...

grown predominantly in the

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

region of southeastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, particularly in the Bellet ''

Appellation d'origine contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...

'' (AOC) where it is as both a blending and varietal grape in still and ''

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the wine color, 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 Macerati ...

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

s. Also known as Brachet, the vine produces naturally low yields and light bodied wines that are delicately perfumed. Recent thought among

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 th ...

s is that Braquet is not related to the more

aromatic In organic chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property describing the way in which a conjugated system, conjugated ring of unsaturated bonds, lone pairs, or empty orbitals exhibits a stabilization stronger than would be expected from conjugati ...

Italian wine Italian wine () is produced in every region of Italy. Italy is the country with the widest variety of indigenous grapevine in the world, with an area of under vineyard cultivation, as well as the List of wine-producing regions#Countries, world's ...

grape of the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

region known as

Brachetto Brachetto () is a red Italian wine grape variety grown predominantly in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. At one time the grape was thought to be related to the French wine grape Braquet, but recent thought among ampelographers is that ...

.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 101 Oxford University Press 2006

History

Documents from 1783-1784 describe Braquet growing in the Provençal towns of

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional ) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur Re ...

and

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million table grape Table grapes are grapes intended for consumption as fresh fruit, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, Juicing, juice production, jelly and jam making, or for drying into raisins. ''Vitis vinifera'' table grapes can be in the form of e ...

and blending variety in the local wines. The exact origins of the name ''Braquet'' is unknown but Master of Wine

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 ...

speculates that it might be a local family name of one of the variety's original propagators.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pg 134, Allen Lane 2012

Viticulture

Braquet is a mid-ripening variety that naturally produces low

harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

yields of medium-sized berries even without severe

pruning Pruning is the selective removal of certain parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. It is practiced in horticulture (especially fruit tree pruning), arboriculture, and silviculture. The practice entails the targeted removal of di ...

. The variety tends to thrive on poor

vineyard soils The soil composition of vineyards is one of the most important viticulture, viticultural considerations when planting grape vines. The soil supports the root structure of the vine and influences the drainage levels and amount of minerals and nutrie ...

and in hot and dry conditions. The grape's 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 ...

is a susceptibility to

botrytis Botrytis may refer to: * ''Botrytis'' (fungus), the anamorphs of fungi of the genus '' Botryotinia'' **''Botrytis cinerea'', a mold important in wine making *Botrytis, the cauliflower cultivar group of ''Brassica oleracea ''Brassica oleracea'', a ...

Wine regions and AOC regulations

In 2008 there were 30 acres (12

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

s) of Braquet planted in France, mostly around the town of Nice where the variety is known as Brachet. Here it is a permitted variety in the Bellet AOC where it is blended with Fuella Nera to make up at least 60% of the blend for the AOC red and rosé wines. Other varieties that can be blended with Braquet in Bellet include

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 condi ...

and

Cinsault Cinsaut or Cinsault ( , ) is a red wine grape whose heat tolerance and productivity make it important in Languedoc-Roussillon and the former French colonies of Algeria, Lebanon, and Morocco. It is often blended with grapes such as Grenache and ...

. Braquet grapes destined for AOC wine production in Bellet must be harvested to a yield no greater than 40

hectoliters The litre (Commonwealth English, Commonwealth spelling) or liter (American English, American spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric units, metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic c ...

/hectare with the finished wine needing to attain a minimum alcohol level of 10.5%P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pg 40 Firefly Books 2004

Styles

According to Jancis Robinson, Braquet tends to make a light bodied, slightly floral wine with very little

color Color (or colour in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though co ...

. While it is often used as a blending grape, its light pigment does lend itself well to ''

'' production which is what most

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

examples of Braquet tend to be.

Relationship to other varieties

Due to the similarities in name, Braquet was often confused with the Piedmont wine grape Brachetto noted for the ''

Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita The following four classification of wine, classifications of wine constitute the Italy, Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; 'designation of origin'); * ''Indicazione ...

'' (DOCG)

Brachetto d'Acqui Brachetto d'Acqui (; ) is a red Italian wine that is classified as a '' Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita'' (DOCG) since 1996 and previously a ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata'' (DOC) region since 1969. It is produced in the ...

. However

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, or ...

has confirmed that they are separate varieties. The Provençal grape Calitor is another variety that Braquet shares some synonyms with and is often confused for. The white wine grape ''Braquet Blanc de Nice'' is a white

color mutation The propagation of grapevines is an important consideration in commercial viticulture and winemaking. Grapevines, most of which belong to the ''Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native t ...

of Braquet.

Synonyms

Over the years Braquet has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Brachet (in Nice), Bracke, Calito du Languedoc, Canseron and Pecoui Touar du Var.

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 G ...

(VIVC)
Braquet
'' Accessed: March 24th, 2013

References

External links

* {{cite web , url=http://www.vinsdebellet.com/english/html/un_peu_d_histoire.htm , title=The Wines of Bellet , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071019113433/http://www.vinsdebellet.com/english/html/un_peu_d_histoire.htm , archivedate=2007-10-19 Red wine grape varieties