Béquignol noir (; also known as Red Chenin) 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 ...

that originated in Southwest France. However it is now more widely grown in the

Mendoza wine Mendoza Province is Argentina's most important wine region, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the country's entire wine production. Located in the eastern foothills of the Andes, in the shadow of Aconcagua, vineyards are planted at some of th ...

region of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

where it is often used to add

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 ...

to blends. The grape is often confused with several other red wine varieties such as

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...

Durif Durif is a variety of red wine grape mainly grown in Australia, California, France, and Israel. Since the end of the 20th century, wineries located in Washington's Yakima River Valley, Maryland, Arizona, Texas, West Virginia, Chile, Mexico's ...

Fer Fer (also known as Fer Servadou, Pinenc, Mansois and several other synonyms) is a red French wine grape variety that is grown primarily in South West France and is most notable for its role in the ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) ...

and Prunelard with Béquignol noir sharing several synonyms with these grapes. However

DNA profiling DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting and genetic fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is cal ...

has shown Béquignol noir to be distinct from those grape varieties. Further research in 2011 showed that Béquignol noir may have a parent-offspring relationship with the

Savagnin Savagnin () or Savagnin blanc is a variety of white wine grape with green-skinned berries. It is mostly grown in the Jura region of France, where it is made into Savagnin wine or the famous vin jaune and vin de paille. History The history of S ...

grape.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pg 99, Allen Lane 2012

History

Ampelographers 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 ...

believe that the name Béquignol comes from the

Gascon dialect Gascon ( , , ) is the vernacular Romance variety spoken mainly in the region of Gascony, France. It is often considered a variety of larger Occitan macrolanguage, although some authors consider it a separate language due to hindered mutual ...

terms ''béc'' and ''inhol'' which together means literally "little

beak The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for pecking, grasping, and holding (in probing for food, eating, manipulating and ...

" and could be a reference to the size of the berries. The first written record of Béquignol noir comes from the journals of mayor of

Libourne Libourne (; ) 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-Émilion and Pomerol. Geog ...

Antoine Feuilhade who wrote about the grape being cultivated in the

Bordeaux wine region The wine regions of Bordeaux in France are a large number of wine growing areas, differing widely in size and sometimes overlapping, which lie within the overarching wine region of Bordeaux, centred on the city of Bordeaux and covering the whole ...

between 1763 and 1777.

Relationship to other grapes

Béquignol noir has long been confused with many other Southwestern France and

Bordeaux wine Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gi ...

grape varieties such as Cabernet Franc, Fer, Prunelard and Durif with the grapes sharing many synonyms. However, DNA analysis in 1999 confirmed that Béquignol noir was its own grape variety distinct from those other grapes with further research in 2011 suggesting a parent-offspring relationship between Béquignol noir and the

Jura wine Jura wine is French wine produced in the Jura '' département''. Located between Burgundy and Switzerland, this cool climate wine region produces wines with some similarity to Burgundy and Swiss wine. Jura wines are distinctive and unusual wi ...

grape Savagnin. It is not yet clear which grape is the parent and which is the offspring. Béquignol blanc and Béquignol gris are white and grey

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 ...

s of Béquignol noir that are rarely seen.

Viticulture

Béquignol noir is a mid to late ripening grape variety that tends to produce very small berries. The vine can be very vigorous and high yielding. While it is resistant to

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

conditions, the vine is very susceptible to the

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 ...

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as eac ...

Wine regions

Though Béquignol noir originated in France, today it is rarely seen 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), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

(2.5 acres) of the grape reported in 2008 all in the

Gironde Gironde ( , US usually , ; , ) is the largest department in the southwestern French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,623,749.

and

Vendée Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442. The vast majority of the world's Béquignol noir plantings are in Argentina where the grape is also known as ''Red Chenin''. In 2008, there were 919 hectares (2,271 acres) of the grape in Argentina with most of the plantings found in the high altitude vineyards of the Mendoza. Here the grape is used similarly to

Douce noir Douce noir (also known as Bonarda, Corbeau and Charbono) is a red Savoyard wine grape variety that has historically been grown in the Savoy region, but today is more widely planted in Argentina. It arrived in Savoy in the early 19th century, ...

(Bonarda) in adding color to darken up red wine blends.

Styles

According to 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 ...

Béquignol noir tends to produce light-bodied wines with a deep color that are usually meant to be consumed

young Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one's age is low, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an America ...

Synonyms

Over the years Béquignol noir has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Balouzat, Bequignaou, Béquignol Noir, Bequinaou, Béquin rouge (in Saint-Macaire and

La Réole La Réole (; ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Geography La Réole is located on the right bank of the Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux by rail. La Réole station has rail connections to Age ...

in the Gironde), Bequin rouge, Blanc Fer, Breton (in Dissay in the

Poitou-Charentes Poitou-Charentes (; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ) was an administrative region on the southwest coast of France. It comprised four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. It included the historical provinces of Angoumo ...

region), Cabernet (in Dissay), Camerouge, Chalosse noir, Chalosse noire (in the

Bas-Médoc The wine regions of Bordeaux in France are a large number of wine growing areas, differing widely in size and sometimes overlapping, which lie within the overarching wine region of Bordeaux, centred on the city of Bordeaux and covering the whole ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

), Chausse, Chausset, Durif, Egrenant, Embalouzat (in the

Entre-Deux-Mers Entre-Deux-Mers is a French region, well known as a Bordeaux wine growing region. The geographical area is situated between the rivers Garonne and Dordogne, and is bounded in the east by the border of the Gironde department and in the west by ...

), Enrageat rouge, Grosse Here, Here, Jurancon, Mançais noir (in the

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.

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)
Béquignol noir
'' Accessed: April 17th, 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bequignol noir Red wine grape varieties de:Béquignol fr:Béquignol