The red grape variety originates from France. Synonyms are Aramone, Aramonen, Aramon Noire, Aramon Pignat, Aramon Pigne, Aramon Saint Joseph, Aramont, Arramant, Eramoul, Eromoul, Gros Bouteillan, Pisse-Vin, Plant Riche, Rabalaïré, Raballaïré, Ramonen, Réballaïré, Revalaire, Revellaire, Ugni Noir (France); Amor-Não-Me-Deixes (Portugal); Aramon Chernyi, Aramon Crni, Burchard's Prince, Burchardt's Prince, Burkhard, Kék Aramon. Despite seemingly suggestive synonyms or morphological similarities, it must not be confused with the Bouteillan Noir or Juan García varieties. There is no relationship with Trebbiano Toscano (Ugni Blanc), which the synonym Ugni Noir might suggest. According to DNA analyses carried out in 2021, it comes from a presumably natural cross between Ouliven x Gouais Blanc. In the Hérault area, there are the light berry mutations Aramon Blanc and Aramon Gris. Aramon Noir was a crossing partner in the new varieties Alicante Ganzin, Bouschet Gros, Clairette Dorée Ganzin, Flot Rouge, Gramon, Grand Noir, Monerac and Petit Bouschet.
In 1824, the breeder Louis Bouschet created a cross between the varieties Aramon Noir x Teinturier du Cher and named it Petit Bouschet. In 1866, his son Henri Bouschet crossed this with Grenache Noir (Garnacha Tinta) and named the new variety Alicante Henri Bouschet (Alicante Bouschet). The colourful vine was then often grown together with the Aramon Noir in a mixed set to give the wines more dark colour. The late-maturing, high-yielding Aramon Noir is susceptible to downy mildew, botrytis, black spot disease (phomopsis) and mites; however, it is resistant to powdery mildew. It yields rustic, rather low-acid, low-alcohol and low-extract red wines with a light colour.
Aramon Noir was the basis for mass red wines in Languedoc-Roussillon from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. Around 1870, it occupied over 200,000 hectares in the département of Hérault alone and was the most cultivated grape variety in France for a long time. Its former widespread use was mainly due to high yields and its great resistance to powdery mildew, which ravaged the vineyards from 1860 onwards. Its decline began abruptly when it was not classified as a quality grape variety in 1955 and did not receive approval for Languedoc. It was quickly replaced by Carignan Noir (Mazuelo), Cinsaut and others. Today, 1,167 hectares of vineyards are planted with it in France. There are also small stocks in Algeria and Portugal (14 ha). In 2016, the variety occupied a total of 1,181 hectares of vineyards with an extremely declining trend (Kym Anderson).
Source: Wine Grapes / J. Robinson, J. Harding, J. Vouillamoz / Penguin Books Ltd. 2012.
Images: Ursula Brühl, Doris Schneider, Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI)
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