This white grape variety is a new cross between Baroque x Chardonnay. The crossing took place in 1956 on behalf of INRA by the Basque Pierre Marcel Durquéty (1923-2016) in France with the support of the University of Montpellier. The early-maturing, low-yielding vine is susceptible to botrytis. It yields full-bodied, aromatic white wines with relatively low acidity. Therefore, the variety is well suited for noble sweet wines. However, it is only cultivated in very small amounts in southwestern France in the departments Charente, Haut-Loire and Lot on just under one hectare. In Switzerland, there is a tiny cultivation area of 0.1 hectare in the canton of Ticino. in 2016, a total of one hectare of vines was designated (Kym Anderson). There are also a few vines in the vine museum of the Franz Leth winery in the municipality of Fels (Lower Austria).
Pictures: Ursula Brühl, Doris Schneider, Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI)
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Thomas Götz
Weinberater, Weinblogger und Journalist; Schwendi