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New
French Wine Grape Arrives in U.S. Market
Red wines made from the Marselan
grape are appearing on store shelves now
that the government has approved the name
on imported wine labels
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Marselan Bulletin >>
Lynn Alley
Posted: Tuesday, July 10, 2007
A new grape variety could be starting
to make a name for itself. Marselan, named
after Marseillan, the small town on France's
Mediterranean coast where it was first
grown, has been garnering attention for
the past few years in the European market
from producers and consumers alike. And
now wines made from the grape are beginning
to arrive in the United States.
In mid-June, prompted by an inquiry from
Arizona-based wine importer Robert Hopkins,
the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade
Bureau added Marselan to its list of grape
varieties that can be used on the labels
of imported wines. Hopkins now imports
a Marselan from Domaine
de la Camarette in the Côtes
du Ventoux appellation, along with wines
from other small producers in the south
of France.
First bred in 1961 by researchers at the
French National Institute for Agricultural
Research (INRA), Marselan is a cross between
Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache. The INRA
researchers hoped to get a grape variety
with the heartiness, color and heat tolerance
of Grenache coupled with the finesse of
Cabernet. But Marselan failed to satisfy
growers' desires for a naturally heavy-cropping
variety, so they more or less ignored
it for 30 years.
The first Marselan varietal wine was made
in 2002 by a winery near Carcassone called
Domaine Devereux. At least four other
French wineries are also now making Marselan,
one of them being a co-op facility. All
of the French Marselan producers are located
in the Languedoc region.
As for its flavor, "It's not what
most Americans expect from Cab. Most people
have experienced California Cab as being
fruit, herb and oak," said Mulan
Chan, French wine buyer for San Francisco
retailer K&L Wine Merchants, which
sells Marselan. "But this has no
wood. It's a medium- rather than a full-bodied
wine."
Is there a future for U.S.-grown Marselan?
Perhaps. Steve Maniaci, general manager
of Sunridge Nurseries in Bakersfield,
Calif., currently the sole purveyor of
Marselan in the United States, said that
he has been selling the variety to growers
for the past three years. "Winemakers
are asking for those unknown varieties
to put a unique twist on their wines,"
he said, adding that he's sold about 5,000
cuttings of the variety over the past
two years, "mostly in the North Coast
appellations."
To date, Wine Spectator has tasted three
Marselans from France: the Château
Camplazens Marselan Vin de Pays d'Oc 2005
(81 points, $17); the Domaine de Couron
Marselan Vin de Pays des Coteaux de l'Ardèche
2006 (88, $9); and Domaine de la Mordorée
Merlot-Marselan Vin de Pays du Gard Renaissance
2006 (not yet rated, $13).
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