Poulsard (also Ploussard) is a red French wine

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 ...

from the Jura wine region. The name Ploussard is used mainly around the town of Pupillin but can appear on wine labels throughout Jura as an authorized

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

. While technically a dark-skinned ''noir grape'', the skins of Poulsard are very thin with low amounts of color -

phenols In organic chemistry, phenols, sometimes called phenolics, are a class of chemical compounds consisting of one or more hydroxyl groups (− O H) bonded directly to an aromatic hydrocarbon group. The simplest is phenol, . Phenolic compounds ar ...

and produces very pale colored red wines, even with extended maceration and can be used to produce

white wine White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without undergoing the process of Maceration (wine), maceration, which involves prolonged contact between the juice with the grape skins, seeds, and pulp. The wine color, colou ...

s. Because of this, Poulsard is often blended with other red-skin varieties or used to produce lightly colored ''

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the wine color, color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the Macerati ...

'' wines. Additionally the grape is used to make '' blanc de noir'' white wines and sparkling ''cremants''.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 129 Oxford University Press 1996 Poulsard is an authorized grape variety in the ''

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...

'' (AOC) wines of Arbois AOC, Côtes du Jura AOC, Crémant du Jura AOC, L'Etoile AOC and Macvin du Jura AOC. Outside Jura, Poulsard is also grown in Bugey AOC of the Ain '' département'' in eastern France.J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pg 200 Mitchell Beazley 1986

Wine regions

Poulsard is found almost exclusively in eastern France, particularly in the Jura between

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

where it has been grown since the 15th century. Because of its versatility and its distinctive floral aromas, the grape was once the most widely planted grape variety in Jura but because of various viticultural difficulties and changing trends in the wine market, its numbers have declined. However, it is still the second most widely planted in Jura.Jura Wines '
Grape Varieties
"'' Official Site. Accessed: February 7th, 2011 It is a permitted grape in several Jura AOCs including the Arbois and Côtes du Jura AOC where it is blended with Trousseau noir and

Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

to produce red and ''rosé''; the L'Etoile AOC where it is used to produce a ''blanc de noir'' white wine and the Crémant du Jura AOC where it is used to make white and sparkling ''rosé''. Outside Jura, it is grown in the Bugey wine region located near the Beaujolais wine region. There Poulsard is blended with

Gamay Gamay () is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire_Valley_(wine), Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as lon ...

, Pinot noir and Mondeuse noire to produce light reds.

Viticulture

While the grape can grow in many different vineyard soils, in Jura it is most often planted on

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, Clay minerals, clays, and silt. When Lithification, hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. M ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

soils. The grape clusters produce tightly compacted bunches with thin-skinned oval berries that have a light violet to black color. The Poulsard vine tends to buds early, which makes it prone to the viticultural hazard of early spring time frost. In some vintages, ''

coulure Coulure (pronounced coo-LYUR) is a viticultural hazard that is the result of metabolic reactions to weather conditions that causes a failure of grapes to develop after flowering. In English the word ''shatter'' is sometimes used. Coulure is tri ...

'' can set in and affect yields (which are usually very low to begin with). Additionally the vine is very susceptible to various grape diseases including downey mildew, grey rot and oidium. These issues, coupled with its low phenolics and coloring pigments, have contributed to the grape's decline in overall plantings,Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 188 Harcourt Books 2001 though it still maintains its presence in Jura. Historically, Poulsard has been used in eastern France as a

table grape Table grapes are grapes intended for consumption as fresh fruit, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, Juicing, juice production, jelly and jam making, or for drying into raisins. ''Vitis vinifera'' table grapes can be in the form of e ...

but its thin skin has made transport of the grape beyond local villages difficult.

Clones

Over the centuries the Poulsard grape has developed a number of

mutations In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, mitosi ...

that have allowed clones of the variety to emerge. In addition to the light red-berried form that is most commonly found, there is a completely white-skin and separate pink-skinned variety of Poulsard as well as deeply aromatic, darker skin variety ''musqué'' clone.

Wine styles

Though technically a red-skinned ''noir grape'', Poulsard often produces '' Vin gris'' either due to low extraction of color compounds or from

oxidation Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is ...

of the

must Must is freshly crushed Juice, fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of the total weight of the must. Making must ...

that lightens the color even further. While most red skin grape contribute color over a matter of hours to a few days during the maceration process where the skin is kept in contact with the fermenting

, the amount of pigment in Poulsard is so low that even after a week of extended maceration very little color has seeped into the must. It is for this reason that Poulsard is often used in the production of white and lightly colored ''rosé'' wines, though officially more than 80% of the

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 ...

in Jura is used for red wine production. Though Poulsard can be used to produce a varietal wine, it is often blended the grape with other varieties either for enhanced color or to allow the Poulsard to contributes to the aroma of the blend. Among the grapes that Poulsard are often blended with is Trousseau noir, Trousseau gris, and Pinot noir.

Synonyms

Poulsard and its wines have been known under a variety of

including Belossard, Blussart, Blussard Blau, Blussard Frueh Blau, Blussard Modry, Cornelle, Drille-de-Coq, Kleinblaettrige Fingertraube, Malvasier Schwarz, Mècle, Mescle, Méthie, Miècle, Olivette, Pandouleau, Pelossard, Peloussard, Pendulot, Plant d'Arbois, Pleusard, Pleusart, Plousard, Ploussard, Plussart, Pulceau, Pulsar, Pulsard, Quille de coq, Raisin Perle and Yurskii Zhemchug.Poulsard
,

Vitis International Variety Catalogue The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung G ...

, Accessed: February 7th, 2011 The white clone version of Poulsard blanc shares many similar synonyms in addition to Blussard weiss, Pelossart, Pulsar Belyi and Quille de Coque.Poulsard blanc
,

, Accessed: February 7th, 2011

References

{{wines Red wine grape varieties