Cygne blanc is a white

Australian wine The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor ...

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

that is a

seedling A seedling is a young sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle (embryonic root), the hypocotyl (embry ...

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

that was discovered in 1989 in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Unlike

Cabernet blanc Cabernet blanc is a white German and Swiss wine grape variety that is a crossing of the French wine grape Cabernet Sauvignon and the hybrid grape Regent. Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) Cabernet blanc' Accessed: October 22nd, 2 ...

, which was a crossing of Cabernet Sauvignon and Resistenzpartner, and Shalistin which is a white-berried

color mutation The propagation of grapevines is an important consideration in commercial viticulture and winemaking. Grapevines, most of which belong to the ''Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native t ...

of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cygne blanc is a selfling that sprang from a seed of a Cabernet Sauvignon berry that fell on the ground and took root.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pgs 160-161, 285-286, 1179 Allen Lane 2012

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

to Australia, Cygne blanc has been touted as the "first truly Australian grape variety".Harpers Editorial team '
First wine from new white' Cabernet grape launched
'' Harpers Wine & Spirits Trade Review, February 14th, 2006Drinks Business Staff '
Flightless bird takes root
'' The Drinks Business, February 6th, 2006

History

Cygne blanc, from the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

term for ''white swan'', is named after the Swan Valley where it was discovered in 1989 growing in a garden in Baskerville, Western Australia by Sally Mann, wife of winemaker Dorham Mann and daughter-in-law of Jack Mann, who noticed that the stray vine had leaves similar to Cabernet Sauvignon. The garden was planted next to one of the family's Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard and likely arose from a chance dropping of Cabernet Sauvignon seeds, either from dropped clusters and berries that decomposed, leaving behind the seeds, or from the

droppings Feces (also known as faeces or fæces; : faex) are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relatively small amount of ...

of birds or other wildlife which previous consumed the seeds and berries of the vine. Unlike vine cuttings which are

clones Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to: Places * Clones, County Fermanagh, Ireland * Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland * Clones railway station, Ireland Biology * Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massiv ...

of the parent vines and color mutations which are mutated vines derived from cuttings, vines propagated from seedlings are distinct varieties with diverse genetics that can lead to the offspring having very different traits from the parent vine, even if the original seed was the result of

self-pollination Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen arrives at the stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms) of the same plant. The term cross-pollination is used for the opposite case, where pollen from ...

. In the case of Cygne blanc, the grape vine likely inherited its white berried trait from its grandparent,

Sauvignon blanc Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...

, that crossed with

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...

to produce the red berried Cabernet Sauvignon. When it was discovered that the stray vine produced white berries, Dorham Mann decided to propagate the vine in secret and over the course of 8 years planted of the grape which he used to produce a white

sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While it is common to refer to this as champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that word for products exclusively produced in the Champagne ( ...

Wine regions

In 1999, Cygne blanc was officially added to the list of permitted Australian wine grape varieties. Today plantings of the grape can be found in Western Australia and in the

South Australian wine The South Australian wine industry is responsible for more than half the production of all Australian wine. South Australia has a vast diversity in geography and climate which allows the state to be able to produce a range of grape varieties&nda ...

region of the

Limestone Coast The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early 21st century for a Regions of South Australia#South Australian Government regions, South Australian government region located in the south east of South Australia which immediately adjoins ...

around Mount Benson. The South Australian plantings are the results of an exclusive license given by the Manns to Port Robe Estate to grow the variety for commercial production until June 2014 when rights to the grapes became available to other growers. In 2006, the first vintage of Cygne blanc (from the 2005

harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

) from Port Robe was released.

Styles

According to Master of Wine

Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...

, Cygne blanc produces white wines that have no overt characteristics of Cabernet Sauvignon apart from a slight herbal, leafy character that can emerge in some examples of the grape. Other wine writers describe the grape as exhibiting some traits reminiscent of a white Hermitage from the

Rhône Valley The Rhône ( , ; Occitan: ''Ròse''; Arpitan: ''Rôno'') 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 ( Gu ...

and of Sauvignon blanc from warm climate wine regions. Graham Cranswick-Smith of Port Robe Estates told Harpers Magazine that the grape produces wines that have a "Cabernet character" but with

aroma An odor (American English) or odour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is a smell or a scent caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds generally found in low concentrations that humans and many animals can perceive v ...

notes similar to Semillon and flavors of

Marsanne Marsanne () is a white wine grape, most commonly found in the Northern Rhône region. It is often blended with Roussanne. In Savoie the grape is known as ''grosse roussette''. Outside France it is also grown in Switzerland (where it is known a ...

and

Roussanne Roussanne () is a white wine grape grown originally in the Rhône wine region in French wine, France, where it is often blended with Marsanne. It is the only other white variety, besides Marsanne, allowed in the northern Rhône appellation d'Orig ...

References

{{reflist Red wine grape varieties