Dureza is a dark-skinned

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and Amer ...

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried ( raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see V ...

from the

Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.France in the

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône ...

region. The grape is most widely known for being the father vine of

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse ...

—a discovery that confirmed that the Syrah vine was native to France and not introduced to the country from

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Sicily Sicily ( it, Sicilia , ) is the list of islands in the Mediterranean, largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. The Strait of Messina divides it from the region of Calabria in Southern Italy. I ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

or elsewhere, as had been speculated.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pgs XXVII, 316, 528 & 1023, Allen Lane 2012 Dureza was historically used for production of red wine, but is hardly grown any more and is not part of the list of the allowed grape varieties of any French '' Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' wine, though it can be produced under some ''

vin de pays ''Vin de pays'' (, "country wine") was a French wine classification that was above the '' vin de table'' classification, but below the '' appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) classification and below the former '' vin délimité de qualit� ...

''. There were only 11

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

s planted to Dureza in the late 1970s: by 1988 only one hectare remained. However, since the variety's relationship to Syrah was revealed, interest in Dureza has been increasing: Pascal Jamet has introduced plantings of the grape to the

Saint-Joseph AOC Saint-Joseph or St.-Joseph is a French wine ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) in the northern Rhône wine region of France. Though the appellation covers the largest amount of land, it is second in actual size under vine to Crozes-Hermi ...

in the northern

Rhône Valley The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

, for wine to be made under the appellation of Collines Rhodaniennes ''vin de pays''.

History

Ardeche vineyard with Mont Ventoux in background

The Dureza vine is a member of the ''

Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are curr ...

'' family of grape vines. It is believed to be native to the northern Ardèche region of south-central France. At some point the vine spread eastward towards the

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

and

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Savoie wine Savoy () is a wine region situated in the Savoy region in eastern France, and is sometimes referred to as the country of the Allobroges. It is the only alpine wine region in France, and is known for grape varieties rarely grown elsewhere, includ ...

grape

Mondeuse Blanche Mondeuse blanche is a variety of white grape almost exclusively found in and around the Savoy (Savoie) wine region in France. With just of plantations in 1999, it leads a dwindling existence and is used primarily in the VDQS wine Bugey and t ...

where the two varieties created a natural crossing that became the international variety Syrah.

Relationship to Syrah and other varieties

In 1998, DNA typing conducted at both the

University of California-Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The instit ...

and at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...

established that Dureza was the father of the Syrah grape, with Mondeuse Blanche the mother. Rhones Alpes region with Ardeche, Drome, Isere and Savoie highlighted

Rhones Alpes region with Ardeche, Drome, Isere and Savoie highlighted

Mondeuse Blanche is native to the

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population of ...

region, though it has been found in the

Ain Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is An ...

and Isère departments. The DNA evidence showing that Dureza, an Ardèche variety, and Mondeuse Blanche were the parent vines of Syrah helped to confirm that Syrah was an indigenous French grape variety that originated somewhere in the Rhône-Alpes region; grape geneticist Dr.

Carole Meredith Carole P. Meredith is an American grape geneticist and was a professor at the Department of Viticulture and Enology of University of California, Davis. Career Before she retired in 2003, Meredith and her research group pioneered the use of DN ...

speculates that the northern Isère region was the likely birthplace. DNA mapping has also revealed some relationship to the

Italian wine Italian wine is produced in every region of Italy. Italy is the world's largest producer of wine, with an area of under vineyard cultivation, and contributing a 2013–2017 annual average of 48.3 million hl of wine. In 2018 Italy accounted for ...

grape variety

Lagrein Lagrein (pronounced lah-GRAH’EEN, lah-GRINE or lah-GRI’NE) is a red wine grape variety native to the valleys of South Tyrol, northern Italy. Along with Marzemino, it is a descendant of Teroldego, and related to Syrah, Pinot noir and Dureza ...

grown in the

Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol it, Trentino (man) it, Trentina (woman) or it, Altoatesino (man) it, Altoatesina (woman) or it, Sudtirolesegerman: Südtiroler (man)german: Südtirolerin (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official ...

region of northeast Italy, though the exact relationship is unclear. The most recent research from Swiss grape geneticist Dr. José Vouillamoz, completed in 2006, suggests that Dureza might be an "uncle" to Lagrein and connected together by another red Italian wine grape, Teroldego. In the 20th century, ampelographers Louis Levadoux and (decades later) Linda Bisson categorized Dureza as a member of the Pelorsien eco-geogroup along with Bia blanc, Béclan,

Durif Durif is a variety of red wine grape primarily grown in Australia, California, France, and Israel. Since the end of the 20th century, wineries located in Washington's Yakima River Valley, Maryland, Arizona, Texas, West Virginia, Chile, Mexico' ...

, Exbrayat,

Jacquère Jacquère is a variety of white grape found primarily in the Savoy wine region of France. It is a high-yielding vine variety which is used to produce lightly scented, refreshing and gently aromatic dry white wine, such as Vin de Savoie. Jacqu ...

, Joubertin,

Mondeuse blanche Mondeuse blanche is a variety of white grape almost exclusively found in and around the Savoy (Savoie) wine region in France. With just of plantations in 1999, it leads a dwindling existence and is used primarily in the VDQS wine Bugey and t ...

, Peloursin, Servanin and Verdesse.

Viticulture

Dureza is known as a vigorous vine, capable of producing high yields. The variety tends to ripen late in the season, which linguist Jacques André and

ampelographer Ampelography ( ἄμπελος, "vine" + γράφος, "writing") is the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines, ''Vitis'' spp. Traditionally this has been done by comparing the shape and colour of the ...

Louis Levadoux have noted may account for the synonyms Serène and Serine attached to the variety. Both synonyms, which are now more closely related to Dureza's similarly late-ripening offspring Syrah, are connected to the root of the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

term ''serus'', "late".

Synonyms and confusion with other grapes

Dureza is also known under the synonyms Duré, Duret, Durezza (when grown in the

Annonay Annonay (; oc, Anonai) is a commune and largest city in the north of the Ardèche department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It is the most populous commune in the Ardèche department although it is not the capital ...

commune of the Ardèche) and Petite Duret (in the Drôme and Isère departments).Vitis International Variety Catalogue: Dureza
, accessed on May 15, 2008 Historically it has also been known as Serène and Serine which are more widely recognized as synonyms for its offspring Syrah used in the Côte-Rôtie AOC. Dureza has sometimes been confused with

(which is also known as Petit Sirah),

Peloursin Peloursin is red French wine grape variety best known for crossing with Syrah to make the red wine grape Durif (known in the United States as Petite Sirah).J. Robinson ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 510 Oxford University P ...

(which is known under the synonyms Duresa, Dureza and Durezi) and

References

{{wines Red wine grape varieties