Enfariné noir (or Gouais noir) 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 is grown predominantly in 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 ...

region of eastern France. Despite being known under the synonym ''Gouais noir'' in the

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374. Geography The department borders No ...

Aube Aube ( ) is a French departments of France, department in the Grand Est region of northeastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube (river), Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),

, Marne,

Meuse The Meuse or Maas 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 total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

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 Gouais blanc () or Weißer Heunisch () is a white grape variety that is seldom grown today but is important as the ancestor of many traditional French and German grape varieties. The name ''Gouais'' derives from the old French adjective ‘ ...

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 a ...

Gamay Gamay () is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire_Valley_(wine), Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as lon ...

and Melon de Bourgogne. While once widely planted throughout the

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

, 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), 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 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 word ''farine'' meaning

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

. It comes from the "bloom" or "blush" (now known to be indigenous yeast) that covers ripening grapes, looking like flour dusting. Some ampelographers, 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 ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, 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 Switzerland. Capi ...

in the

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) 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 Mondeuse noire () is a red French wine grape variety that is grown primarily in the Savoy region of eastern France. The grape can also be found in Argentina, Australia, California, Switzerland and Sicily. Plantings of Mondeuse noire was hit h ...

, Valet noir and Barclan blanc, that were planted after 1702 had to be uprooted and replaced with

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

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 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 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 In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or Plant embryogenesis, embryonic Shoot (botany), shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a Plant stem, stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormancy, dormant conditi ...

pruning, 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 ...

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 Basin, Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern ...

'' 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'' *''Ampe ...

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 An estate is a large parcel of land under single ownership, which generates income for its owner. British context In the United Kingdom, historically an estate comprises the houses, outbuildings, supporting farmland, tenanted buildings, and ...

, 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 Poulsard (also Ploussard) is a red French wine grape variety from the Jura wine region. The name Ploussard is used mainly around the town of Pupillin but can appear on wine labels throughout Jura as an authorized synonyms. While technicall ...

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 ...

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 the ...

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 ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') 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. ...

and along the

Saône The Saône ( , ; ; ) is a river in eastern France (modern Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté). It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges (department), Vosges Departments of France, department an ...

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 G ...

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enfarine noir Red wine grape varieties