Red grape
Grenache
How to read this
Capitals mark the stressed syllable. The French r comes from the back of the throat. The recording is the reference.
Grenache, Garnacha in Spain, is a black Spanish grape that DNA markers show to be a parent of Marselan, with Cabernet Sauvignon, admitted into AOC Bordeaux in 2021.
Grenache is a black grape from Spain, filed in VIVC as Garnacha Tinta (passport 4461), with no parents on record. In 1824, Alexander Henderson’s History of Ancient and Modern Wines described Roussillon wines “called grenache, from a Spanish grape that is much cultivated in these districts.” A Médoc book of 1842 was wary of the name. In Culture de la vigne dans le Médoc, A. Joubert told of Vaucluse growers who cooked the must, fortified it, and sold it as Grenache: “In general, one must be wary of Grenaches” («En général, il faut se défier des Grenaches»).
Its Bordeaux ties are modern, and DNA markers confirm them. Paul Truel crossed Cabernet Sauvignon with Grenache in 1961 to make Marselan, and VIVC’s marker pedigree agrees with his record; on March 22, 2021, Marselan was admitted into AOC Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur as a variety of interest for adaptation. Grenache is also a parent of Alicante Henri Bouschet, Henri Bouschet’s 1855 cross of Petit Bouschet and Grenache. Grenache itself has grown in the Gironde since 2009, as one of the 52 varieties of the VitAdapt experimental vineyard at Villenave-d’Ornon.
Oldest record in my library: “grenaches”, 1816, in André Jullien, Topographie de tous les vignobles connus (Vaucluse and Roussillon); Alexander Henderson, History of Ancient and Modern Wines, 1824
The family
- VIVC 16383 marker pedigree (breeder record agrees)
- VIVC 304 marker pedigree (breeder record agrees)
The names
Other names in VIVC: Alicante De Pays, Alicante Roussillon, Aragonais, Espagnin Noir, Grenache, Grenache A Fleurs Femelles, Grenache De Cosperon, Grenache Noir, Grenache Rouge, Limouxin, Navarre De La Dordogne, Rivesaltes, Roussillon, Rouvaillard.
In today’s rules
Not named in the rules of any Bordeaux appellation today.
Sources
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, passport id 4461, accessed October 2026
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, passport id 16383, accessed October 2026 (Marselan: Cabernet Sauvignon x Grenache by markers, breeder record agrees; breeder Paul Truel, crossed 1961)
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, passport id 304, accessed October 2026 (Alicante Henri Bouschet: Petit Bouschet x Grenache by markers, breeder record agrees; Henri Bouschet, 1855)
- Alexander Henderson, The History of Ancient and Modern Wines, 1824, p. 178-179
- A. Joubert, Culture de la vigne dans le Médoc, 1842
- André Jullien, Topographie de tous les vignobles connus, 1st ed., 1816, index
- Arrêtés of March 22, 2021 homologating the cahiers des charges of AOC Bordeaux and Bordeaux supérieur (JORF March 30, 2021), as recorded in the Castets, Arinarnoa and Marselan packs
- van Leeuwen, C. et al. (2019), 'An Update on the Impact of Climate Change in Viticulture and Potential Adaptations', Agronomy 9:514, Figure 6, list of the 52 VitAdapt varieties
- André Jullien, Topographie de tous les vignobles connus, 1st ed., 1816, Vaucluse and Roussillon
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, accessed October 2026
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