Red grape of interest for adaptation
Castets
How to read this
Capitals mark the stressed syllable. The recording is the reference.
Castets is a rare red Bordeaux grape, a cross of Gros Cabernet and Camaraou Noir by DNA markers, named for the man who spread it around Saint-Macaire and admitted to Bordeaux’s rules in 2021.
Castets is a red grape that DNA markers show to be a cross of Gros Cabernet and Camaraou Noir (Lacombe and colleagues, 2013). Since the Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur rules of March 22, 2021, it is one of the varieties of interest for adaptation. Together these may take up to 5% of an estate’s vines for the color and up to 10% of each lot for sale; Bordeaux Supérieur keeps each lot below 10%. The Médoc rules homologated on October 21, 2022 list it too, as do the Haut-Médoc and Listrac-Médoc rules homologated on July 31, 2025. Margaux added Castets in 2023.
Its story is local. Dr Guilbert, writing in La Vigne américaine in 1885, reported that the vine was known as Nicouleau at Saint-Maixent, in the canton of Saint-Macaire, where a few very old vines grew, and that about 20 years earlier a road surveyor named Castets had spread it with success through the canton (Ludovic Portes and F. Ruyssen, Traité de la vigne et de ses produits, 1886). Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, told the same story in 1893: M. Castets, “who gave it his name” (« qui lui a donné son nom »).
The description Portes and Ruyssen quote praised it for budding 15 days to 3 weeks after the other vines, “a great advantage against frosts” (« un grand avantage contre les gelées »), and for a wine “very deep in color and at the same time very fine” (« très coloré en même temps que très fin »); its one fault was oidium. In 1893 Pierre Viala, in Les maladies de la vigne, listed “Castets ou Nicouleau” among the vines very little attacked by downy mildew. It nearly vanished all the same: about 27 ha in 1958 and under 1 ha in 1988, by Julia Riffault’s 2017 charts from Galet and FranceAgriMer. A 2023 survey by the Chambre d’agriculture de la Gironde counted about 22 ha.
Oldest record in my library: Dr Guilbert, La Vigne américaine, 1885, as quoted by Portes and Ruyssen, Traité de la vigne et de ses produits, 1886
The family
Gros Cabernet shown by DNA markers
Camaraou Noir shown by DNA markers
Castets
- Lacombe et al. 2013; D'Onofrio et al. 2021; VIVC 2325
The discovery: In 2013, Lacombe and colleagues, in Theoretical and Applied Genetics, gave Castets as a cross of Gros Cabernet and Camaraou Noir.
The names
In today’s rules
Admitted for adaptation (red) in 6 of the appellations and designations on this site; admitted for adaptation (rosé) in 1.
- Admitted for adaptation · red
- Bordeaux (red and clairet; 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), Bordeaux Supérieur (with the other adaptation varieties: up to 5% of the estate’s red vines and below 10% of each lot for sale), Haut-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), Listrac-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), Margaux (up to 5% of the estate’s vines and up to 10% of each lot for sale), 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)
Area planted
- 22 ha planted area, Gironde (department 33), data year not stated (2023 presentation)
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 2026-10-12 - 27 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 1958
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 24 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 1968
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 0.8 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 1988
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 0.579 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 2015
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12
Stands out at
In the books
“formerly called Nicouleau in the canton of Saint-Macaire, it has been grown on a large scale for about twenty years by M. Castets, road surveyor, who gave it his name.”
qu'on appelait anciennement Nicouleau dans le canton de Saint- Macaire , est cultivé en grand depuis vingt ans environ par M. Cas- tets , agent voyer , qui lui a donné son nom .
“Vines very little attacked: Castets or Nicouleau, Pignon or Pardotte”
Cépages trés peu attaqués : Castets ou Nicouleau, Pignon ou Pardotte
“Its vineyard covers 25 hectares planted with fine vines, Cabernet, Merlot, Castets”
Son vignoble occupe 25 hectares complantés en cépages fins, cabernet, merlot, castets
“the Fer, the Saint-Macaire, the Castets, the Panereuil”
le Fer , le Saint- Macaire , le Castets , le Panereuil
Timeline
- 1885Dr Guilbert reports that the vine, known locally as 'Nicouleau' at Saint-Maixent (canton of Saint-Macaire), was spread about 20 years earlier by a road surveyor named Castets, whose name it took.
Ludovic Portes & F. Ruyssen, Traité de la vigne et de ses produits, 1886, pp. 373-374, quoting Dr Guilbert in La Vigne américaine (1885) - 1958About 27 ha in Bordeaux; under 1 ha by 1988.
J. Riffault 2017 (Rencontres des cépages modestes), citing Galet 2006 and FranceAgriMer 2017, https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf - 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 - 2021Admitted as a variety of interest for adaptation in AOC Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur (red), within the collective limits set for the adaptation varieties.
Arrêtés of March 22, 2021 homologating the cahiers des charges of AOC Bordeaux (NOR AGRT2106893A) and AOC Bordeaux supérieur (NOR AGRT2106889A), Journal officiel, March 30, 2021. The grapes and their limits are in the cahiers published in the Bulletin officiel of the Ministry of Agriculture (links printed in each arrêté), as set out in INAO's drafts 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 and https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/3-CDC-Bordeaux-Supérieur.pdf - 2023About 22 ha planted in the Gironde, as reported in November 2023.
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 2026-10-12
In the lab
More than 13 studies and theses in the Bordeaux Reviews library mention this grape.
- L'exploration de la diversité variétale en production viticole à fin d'adaptation au changement climatique à travers des approches écophysiologiques, chimiques et sensorielles. Application au vignoble bordelais
Marc Plantevin, 2025 - Etude de l'arôme fruité des vins rouges via les interactions perceptives entre composés volatils d'intérêt dans le contexte de changement climatique pour le vignoble bordelais
Justine Garbay, 2024 - Gradient of grapevine varietal susceptibility to esca
Pierre Gastou, Lucas Etienne, Lucia Guérin-Dubrana, Chloé Delmas, 2024 - A Comprehensive Economic Examination and Prospects on Innovation in New Grapevine Varieties Dealing with Global Warming and Fungal Diseases
Etienne Montaigne, Alfredo Coelho, Samson Zadmehran, 2021
Sources
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, passport id 2325, accessed October 2026
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, 'Bibliography to pedigree confirmed by markers' for variety 2325, accessed October 2026
- Lacombe, T. et al., 'Large-scale parentage analysis in an extended set of grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.)', Theoretical and Applied Genetics 126 (2):401-414, 2013, doi:10.1007/s00122-012-1988-2
- Arrêtés of March 22, 2021 homologating the cahiers des charges of AOC Bordeaux (NOR AGRT2106893A) and AOC Bordeaux supérieur (NOR AGRT2106889A), Journal officiel, March 30, 2021. The grapes and their limits are in the cahiers published in the Bulletin officiel of the Ministry of Agriculture (links printed in each arrêté), as set out in INAO's drafts 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 and https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/3-CDC-Bordeaux-Supérieur.pdf
- INAO, cahier des charges AOC Bordeaux, modification adopted by the CNAOV on February 7, 2023 (national opposition procedure draft), V.1 and VI.2, https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/CDCBordeaux-PNO2023.pdf, accessed October 2026
- Cahier des charges AOC Médoc, homologated by arrêté of October 21, 2022, JORF October 27, 2022, V.1, V.2, IX.1.a (BO-Agri), https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/boagri/document_administratif-c44a6487-9266-41d7-a328-1602d767c741/telechargement, accessed October 2026
- Cahier des charges AOC Haut-Médoc, homologated by arrêté of July 31, 2025, JORF August 5, 2025, V.1, V.2, IX.1.a (BO-Agri), https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/boagri/document_administratif-f1b84e6a-7c8c-4bdb-916f-9cae0b31ba08/telechargement, accessed October 2026
- Cahier des charges AOC Listrac-Médoc, homologated by arrêté of July 31, 2025, JORF August 7, 2025, V.1, V.2, IX.1.a (BO-Agri), https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/boagri/document_administratif-f6d9d034-1fd3-40ff-a10b-fc965726676b/telechargement, accessed October 2026
- Wine Scholar Guild / Mary Gorman-McAdams MW, Bordeaux Masters study manual, 5th edition (2024), Unit 5, Médoc section (states that the Médoc, Haut-Médoc and Listrac-Médoc cahiers changed in 2022)
- winewitandwisdomswe.com, 'The Médoc Marches On', December 19, 2022, https://winewitandwisdomswe.com/?p=22193, accessed October 2026
- Official Journal of the European Union, C 254, July 19, 2023, 2023/C 254/10, communication of a standard amendment to the Margaux PDO specification (PDO-FR-A0329-AM02): 'Le cépage castets N a été ajouté ... limité à 5 % de l'encépagement et à 10 % dans l'assemblage', as hosted at https://winewitandwisdomswe.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/EU-Official-Journal%e2%80%94Margaux-AOC%e2%80%94July-2023.pdf, accessed October 2026
- winewitandwisdomswe.com, 'Margaux, Castets, and VIFA (newsflash from Margaux)', July 2023, https://winewitandwisdomswe.com/?p=22753, accessed October 2026
- Ludovic Portes & F. Ruyssen, Traité de la vigne et de ses produits, 1886, p. 374, quoting Dr Guilbert in La Vigne américaine, 1885
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite, 6th ed., 1893, 'Cépages de vignes rouges', p. 22
- Pierre Viala, Les maladies de la vigne, 1893, Mildiou, 'Cépages trés peu attaqués'
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite, 7th ed., 1898, Le Puy, Château-Vertbois
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite, 9th ed., 1922, Ampélographie, p. 14
- Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, 11 Nov 2017, slides citing Galet, Cépages et vignobles de France t. III (2006) and FranceAgriMer 2017, https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.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)', 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
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, accessed October 2026
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