Roussin de Morgex is an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
grape variety, native to the western part of the
Aosta Valley
The Aosta Valley ( ; ; ; or ), officially the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, is a mountainous Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Fr ...
in the municipality of
Morgex
Morgex ( Valdôtain: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Aosta Valley region of north-western Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italia ...
.
It is a pink-skinned
teinturier
Teinturier grapes () are grapes whose flesh and juice are red in colour due to anthocyanin pigments accumulating within the pulp of the grape berry itself. In non-teinturier red grapes, anthocyanin pigments are confined to the outer skin tissue ...
grape that produced a light pink juice. Although it may by used as one of the autochthonous varieties allowed in the red
DOC
DOC, Doc, doc or DoC may refer to:
People and characters
* Doc, an abbreviation of doctor
* Doc (nickname)
* Doc (mascot), the Towson University mascot
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* The D.O.C., American rapper (born 1968)
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wine from the region,
Valle d'Aosta Rosso or ''Vallée d'Aoste Rouge'', in 2010 it was not cultivated commercially; according to wine writer Ian D'Agata nobody had made wine from it in 300 years.
Since then, small experimental plantings have been made, and a subsequent 20 bottle batch of pink sparkling wine produced by Cave Mont Blanc in 2014 showed sufficient promise to spur further research and planting.
Origin
Roussin de Morgex belongs to a group of grape varieties geographically isolated in the Alpine regions of Italy and
Valais
Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...
, in
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 ...
. DNA analyses suggest that while unrelated to
Roussin, it is related to the
Prié variety, and more distantly to
Rèze
Rèze is a white Swiss wine grape variety that is primarily found around the city of Sierre in the canton of Valais in southwest Switzerland.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 152 Oxford University Press 1996 Here the var ...
, from the
Swiss Alps
The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...
.
The grape was rescued by Giulio Moriondo of the Institut Agricole Régional in Aoste in 1998.
Further reading
* Giulio Moriondo: ''Vini et Vitigni Autoctoni della Valle d'Aosta.'' (139 pages). Institut Agricole Régional, Aosta 1999.
Roussin de Morgexin the
Vitis International Variety Catalog.
References
{{authority control
Red wine grape varieties
Wine grapes of Italy