Grand Noir

Grand Noir is a hybrid that originated from a cross between Petit Bouchet and Aramond Noir. It was created in 1885 by Henry Bouchet, who named it "Grand Noir de la Calmette" in honour of the location of his estate. This colourful berry vine spread in France in the 20th century. Until the 1960s, it was the fifth most planted grape but has now almost disappeared in its country of origin. It was introduced in Italy, in Tuscany, by Professor Racah at the beginning of the 20th century to replace Colorino and Tinturier. It was common in the Pisan Hills region. Today this type of vine, which has almost disappeared, has started to grow in the hills of Poggio al Casone, which now hosts the largest Grand Noir vineyard in the whole world. The efforts of Piergiorgio Castellani, who found the grape variety on the estates of Poggio Al Casone in Italy, saved it from extinction. His experience with vines allowed him to graft a sample of this plant onto his experimental vineyard. He quickly fell in love with this light and velvety-textured wine with spicy and berry flavours. Besides France, this variety is in the grape variety list of other European countries: Bulgaria, Portugal and Spain.