Terret Noir

Identity

Terret Noir is the stock. Terret Blanc and Terret Gris are colour mutations of it, and this corpus gives them three entries — three pages for what a geneticist calls one variety.

It is the second such case here, after the Grenaches. The difference is that Grenache Noir is a world name and Terret Noir is described by Pl@ntGrape as "anecdotal, kept chiefly out of heritage attachment rather than for any central role".

Three pages for a grape nobody looks up. That is the price of a corpus that follows regulatory texts rather than fame.

In the vineyard

Late bud burst and late ripeness — both. That is an uncommon combination and it makes sense in the Languedoc: budding late protects against spring frost, finishing late lets you pick once the nights have cooled.

Its vigour is not filled in, and that is deliberate: the source record uses no word for vigour about it. An empty field means "not established", never "medium".

In the glass

Low alcohol, and that is the only character the source quantifies.

It gives "pale, lightly tannic reds, always in a marginal share of a blend". For a southern variety, where the usual problem is excess degree, a naturally light red had a real use before heat became the dominant constraint — and might find one again.

This entry's single descriptor, macerated red fruit, is a reading of that pale-red register, not a quotation.

Why three entries

Because the cahiers des charges count them separately. Terret Blanc, Terret Gris and Terret Noir each have their own line in the texts, their own appellations, and sometimes different roles within the same one.

This corpus follows the texts. A colour mutation does not change the DNA, but it changes what you are allowed to do with it, and that is what a grower reads.

Where it is named

In the southern Rhône, where Châteauneuf-du-Pape's specification names it among the permitted varieties.

What this entry does not say

Its parentage — we know it is the stock of the other two Terrets, we do not know where it came from. Its susceptibilities, which the source does not detail. And its planted area, which no source opened here gives.