Red grape of interest for adaptation

Marselan

mar-suh-LAHN
How to read this

Capitals mark the stressed syllable. “ahn” is a nasal vowel: say it through the nose, with no n. The French r comes from the back of the throat. The recording is the reference.

Marselan is a red cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache made by Paul Truel in 1961, confirmed by DNA markers; admitted in 2021, it had the largest area of Bordeaux’s new grapes for adaptation in a 2023 survey.

Marselan is a red grape crossed in 1961 by Paul Truel, from Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache, a pedigree DNA markers confirm (VIVC). 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. A 2023 survey by the Chambre d’agriculture de la Gironde counted about 120 ha, the largest area among the new varieties.

Its start was slow. A 2010 Uruguayan thesis, summarizing INRA, records that the breeders at the Vassal field in the Hérault were after large berries and higher yields, and got small berries of about 1.3 g. Etienne Montaigne, Alfredo Coelho, and Leila Khefifi write in Wine Economics and Policy (2016) that micro-vinifications from 1978 to 1982 showed its high quality, but that professional opinion judged the yield too low; INRA kept at it and had the variety entered in the catalog in 1991. The same thesis traces the name to Marseillan, a town of the Hérault.

By 2013 it covered 3,226 ha in Languedoc-Roussillon, Montaigne’s team reports, and Côtes du Rhône had allowed it, up to 10%, since 2010. In China, where it was introduced in 2001, Ma Tengzhen and Han Shunyu wrote in 2021 that it was considered “a new star variety in China wine regions”.

Crossed in 1961: Paul Truel, INRA (VIVC)

The family

Cabernet Sauvignon shown by DNA markers

Grenache shown by DNA markers

Marselan

Cross: Truel, Paul, INRAE Domaine de Vassal & Institut Agro Montpellier (as VIVC lists the institute today), 1961.

  • VIVC 16383 marker pedigree (breeder record agrees)

The discovery: In 1961, Paul Truel crossed Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache; DNA markers later confirmed the recorded pedigree (VIVC).

The names

Other names in VIVC: Inra 1810-68.

In today’s rules

Admitted for adaptation (red) in 5 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), 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

  • 120 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

Stands out at

Timeline

  1. 1961Bred by INRA from Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache.
    Wine Scholar Guild / M. Gorman-McAdams MW, Bordeaux Masters study manual, 5th edition (2024), Unit 2, pp. 41-47 (secondary textbook)
  2. 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
  3. 2021Admitted as a variety of interest for adaptation in AOC Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur (red).
    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
  4. 2023About 120 ha planted in the Gironde, as reported in November 2023, the largest of the new varieties.
    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 276 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 16383, accessed October 2026
  • 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
  • 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
  • Estudio ampelográfico, fisiológico, reproductivo y tecnológico en el sur de Uruguay de dos variedades vitis viníferas Marselan y Petit Verdot (thesis, 2010), section 2.5.3, citing INRA 2004, Mieusset 2004 and Viti-net 2004
  • Etienne Montaigne, Alfredo Coelho & Leila Khefifi, 'Economic issues and perspectives on innovation in new resistant grapevine varieties in France', Wine Economics and Policy 5:73-77, 2016
  • Ma Tengzhen & Han Shunyu, 'Winemaking in Cold Regions with Buried Viticulture in China', 2021
  • C. Alcalde-Eon, E. Boido, F. Carrau, E. Dellacassa & J. Rivas-Gonzalo, 'Pigment Profiles in Monovarietal Wines Produced in Uruguay', American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 57 (4):449, 2006 (the oldest text in my library that names Marselan)
  • Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, accessed October 2026

Every grape

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