White grape of interest for adaptation

Alvarinho

ahl-vah-ree-NYOH
How to read this

Capitals mark the stressed syllable. “ny” is the ny in “canyon”. The French r comes from the back of the throat. The recording is the reference.

Alvarinho, also called Albariño, is a white grape from Portugal with no parents on record in VIVC, admitted in AOC Bordeaux in 2021 for dry whites, within 5% of an estate’s vines for the color, with the other adaptation grapes.

Alvarinho is a white grape. VIVC, the variety catalog of the Julius Kühn-Institut, gives Portugal as its country of origin and records no parents; its synonyms are all Iberian, Albariño among them. In Bordeaux it belongs to the “varieties of interest for adaptation” (“variétés d’intérêt à fin d’adaptation”), grapes admitted on trial to help an appellation face climate change. The INAO directive that governs the class, in its revision of June 3, 2021, caps them, all together, at 5% of an estate’s vines and 10% of the final blend, for a trial of 10 years that may be extended by 10 more. Each appellation’s own rules set the exact limits, listed under “In today’s rules” on this page. Bordeaux Supérieur does not admit Alvarinho.

The earliest Bordeaux record in my library is a research vineyard. VitAdapt, a plot of 52 varieties planted near Bordeaux in 2009 by the EGFV research unit of the Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin, holds Alvarinho; Aleksandra Burdziej’s 2020 thesis names it among the plot’s vines planted that year at Villenave d’Ornon. Louise Durand’s 2012 report from the plot already ranks it by the warmth it needed to reach mid-flowering. Marc Plantevin’s 2024 study of berry acidity in 51 varieties grown near Bordeaux, over 2017 to 2023, includes it.

Then came the rules. The arrêté of March 22, 2021, published in the Journal officiel on March 30, admitted Alvarinho in AOC Bordeaux, with Liliorila, for white wines of 4 grams per liter of residual sugar or less; the 2023 Bordeaux text also lists it for rosé. The Bordeaux Supérieur rules do not list it. The new white Médoc, homologated on July 31, 2025, names it with Floréal, Liliorila, Sauvignac, and Souvignier Gris. Each grower needs a convention signed with INAO and the appellation’s growers’ body. A 2023 presentation by the Chambre d’agriculture de la Gironde named it among the 5 white varieties under study but gave no planted area for it.

Oldest record in my library: “Alvarinho”, 1909, in Pierre Viala and Victor Vermorel, Ampélographie, vol. 7, dictionary (a Portuguese grape of the Minho); near Bordeaux, Louise Durand, report on the VitAdapt plot, 2012, on vines planted in 2009 (Aleksandra Burdziej, 2020)

The family

Parents unknown.

Alvarinho

In today’s rules

Admitted for adaptation (white) in 2 of the appellations and designations on this site; admitted for adaptation (rosé) in 1.

Admitted for adaptation · white
Bordeaux (with the other adaptation varieties: up to 5% of the estate’s vines for that color and up to 10% of each lot for sale; dry whites only (4 g/l of sugar or less)), Médoc (with the other adaptation varieties: up to 5% of the estate’s vines for that color and up to 10% of each lot for sale)
Admitted for adaptation · rosé
Bordeaux (with the other adaptation varieties: up to 5% of the estate’s vines for that color and up to 10% of each lot for sale)

Timeline

  1. 2019The INAO national committee approves the framework convention for varieties of interest for adaptation (June 18, 2019), the legal route for these grapes into Bordeaux.
    Cahier des charges AOC Bordeaux supérieur (opposition draft after CNAOV opinion of November 18, 2020), V.1: 'convention cadre approuvée par le comité national compétent le 18 juin 2019', https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/3-CDC-Bordeaux-Supérieur.pdf
  2. 2021Admitted in AOC Bordeaux (white, dry wines) as a variety of interest for adaptation, within the 5% of plantings that the adaptation varieties share.
    Arrêté of March 22, 2021 homologating the cahier des charges of AOC Bordeaux (NOR AGRT2106893A), Journal officiel, March 30, 2021. The grapes and their limits are in the cahier published in the Bulletin officiel of the Ministry of Agriculture (link printed in the arrêté), as set out in INAO's draft after the national committee's opinion of November 18, 2020: https://winewitandwisdomswe.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Cahier-des-Charges-AOC-Bordeaux-updated-November-2020.pdf
  3. 2026The Bordeaux rules homologated on May 13, 2026 keep Alvarinho for white wines of 4 g/l of sugar or less and for rosé. In Bordeaux these grapes together may take up to 5% of the estate’s vines for the color and up to 10% of each lot for sale. Bordeaux Supérieur does not admit Alvarinho.
    Arrêté of May 13, 2026 homologating the cahier des charges of AOC 'Bordeaux' (BO Agri, May 21, 2026), sections V.1, V.2 and IX.1.b, https://fgvb.fr/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/CDC-Bordeaux-homologue-arrete-13-mai-2026-boma-21-mai-2026.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12

In the lab

More than 524 studies and theses in the Bordeaux Reviews library mention this grape.

Sources

  • Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, passport id 15689, accessed October 2026
  • INAO, directive INAO-DIR-CNAOV-2018-01 rev2 on varieties of interest for adaptation, dated June 3, 2021 (Comité national, sessions of June 2 and 3, 2021): 5% of the holding's plantings, 10% of the final blend for the color, 10 years extendable by up to 10, https://inao.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2024-09/DIR-VIFA-062021-Rev2-1.pdf, accessed October 2026
  • Arrêté of March 22, 2021 homologating the cahier des charges of AOC Bordeaux (NOR AGRT2106893A), Journal officiel, March 30, 2021. The grapes and their limits are in the cahier published in the Bulletin officiel of the Ministry of Agriculture (link printed in the arrêté), as set out in INAO's draft after the national committee's opinion of November 18, 2020: https://winewitandwisdomswe.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Cahier-des-Charges-AOC-Bordeaux-updated-November-2020.pdf
  • INAO, cahier des charges AOC 'Bordeaux', national opposition draft after the Comité national opinion of November 18, 2020, sections V.1, V.2 and IX.1 (convention cadre of June 18, 2019), copy at https://winewitandwisdomswe.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Cahier-des-Charges-AOC-Bordeaux-updated-November-2020.pdf, accessed October 2026
  • INAO, cahier des charges AOC 'Bordeaux supérieur', opposition draft after the Comité national opinion of November 18, 2020, https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/3-CDC-Bordeaux-Supérieur.pdf
  • Cahier des charges AOC 'Bordeaux', header 'Publié au BO-AGRI le 31 août 2023. Homologué par arrêté du 16 août 2023 publié au JORF du 25 août 2023', sections V.1, V.2 and IX.1, copy at https://winewitandwisdomswe.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Bordeaux-AOC-Cahier-des-Charges-August-2023.pdf (BO-Agri and Légifrance could not be read), accessed October 2026
  • Cahier des charges AOC 'Bordeaux supérieur', header 'Publié au BO-AGRI du 31 août 2023. Homologué par arrêté du 16 août 2023 publié au JORF du 25 août 2023', section V.1, copy at https://winewitandwisdomswe.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Bordeaux-Superieur-AOC-Cahier-des-Charges-August-2023.pdf, accessed October 2026
  • INAO, cahier des charges AOC 'Bordeaux supérieur' as modified by the Comité national on June 12, 2025, sections V.1, V.2 and IX.1, https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/3-CDC-Bordeaux-sup%C3%A9rieur-06-2025.pdf; homologated by arrêté of November 26, 2025, JORF November 29, 2025, as stated in Bordeaux Supérieur ODG, 'Comparaison CDC BxSup 2023-2025', https://pro.planete-bordeaux.fr/wp-content/uploads/Comparaison-CDC-BxSup-2023-2025.pdf, accessed October 2026
  • INAO, modification of the cahier des charges AOC 'Bordeaux' adopted by the Comité national on June 12, 2025, sections V.1, V.2 and IX.1, https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/2-CDC-Bordeaux-06-2025.pdf, accessed October 2026
  • INAO, 'Le Médoc s'ouvre aux vins blancs': 'L'arrêté du 31 juillet 2025 homologuant le cahier des charges est paru au Journal Officiel le 5 août 2025', https://www.inao.gouv.fr/actualites-medoc-vins-blanc-aout-2025, accessed October 2026
  • INAO, modification of the cahier des charges AOP 'Médoc' (white wines) adopted by the Comité national on February 6, 2025, sections V.1.a, V.2.a and IX.1.a, https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/2-PNO-CDC-Medoc.pdf; European Commission, communication of an approved standard amendment, PDO-FR-A0730-AM06, C/2026/1140, Official Journal C of March 2, 2026, single document section 8, copy at https://winewitandwisdomswe.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Cashier-des-Charges-Medoc-AOC-March-2926.pdf, accessed October 2026
  • Chambre d'agriculture de la Gironde, PNDV Tour 2023, 'Évolution et pilotage de l'encépagement' (Charlier, Vecchiato), slide 28 'Variétés à l'étude (ODG Bordeaux, Bx Supérieur)', header 'Surfaces plantées (33)', https://gironde.chambre-agriculture.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/Nouvelle-Aquitaine/100_Inst-Gironde/Documents/pdf_home_page_actualites/2023/PNDV_TOUR_2023_Evolution_et_pilotage_de_l_encepagement_CHARLIER_VECCHIATO.pdf, accessed October 2026 (no data year stated)
  • Cornelis van Leeuwen, Agnès Destrac-Irvine, Matthieu Dubernet et al., 'An Update on the Impact of Climate Change in Viticulture and Potential Adaptations', Agronomy 9:514, 2019, pp. 9-10
  • Aleksandra Burdziej, 'Effect of selected elicitors on grapevine (Vitis vinifera) primary and secondary metabolism: focus on stilbenes and triterpenoids', doctoral thesis, 2020, p. 111
  • Louise Durand, 'Mise en place d'un protocole de traitement de données pour l'étude de l'adaptation d'une large gamme de cépages aux évolutions climatiques en Bordelais', 2012, figures 8 and 10 and tables
  • Marc Plantevin, Yoann Merpault, Julien Lecourt, Agnès Destrac-Irvine, Lucile Dijkstra, Cornelis van Leeuwen, 'Characterization of varietal effects on the acidity and pH of grape berries for selection of varieties better adapted to climate change', Frontiers in Plant Science, 2024, doi 10.3389/fpls.2024.1439114
  • Pierre Viala & Victor Vermorel, Ampélographie, t. VII, Dictionnaire ampélographique, Paris, Masson, 1909, Alvarinho
  • Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, accessed October 2026

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