Terret is an ancient ''

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

'' vine that, like the parent Pinot vine of

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

's history,

mutated 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, mitos ...

over the course of thousands of years into

grape varieties 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 Vit ...

of several color. Originating in the Languedoc-Roussillon wine of southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, the descendants of Terret now include the red wine variety Terret noir, the white

Terret blanc Terret blanc is a white French wine grape variety growing primarily in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France. It is a mutation of the Terret vine that also spawned the dark skinned Terret noir and light-skinned Terret gris varieties. ...

and the light-skinned

Terret gris Terret gris is a white French wine grape variety planted primarily in the Languedoc wine region. It is a mutation of the ancient ''Vitis vinifera'' vine Terret. ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) regulations allow the grape to be used in ...

.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 184-185 Oxford University Press 1996 For years, the light skin varieties of the Terrets were grown together as

field blends Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

and used in

Vermouth Vermouth (, ) is an aromatized fortified wine, flavoured with various botanicals (roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, and spices) and sometimes colored. The modern versions of the beverage were first produced in the mid- to late 18th cent ...

production. The dark-skinned Terret noir was more highly valued as a permitted variety in the notable

Rhône wine The Rhône wine region in Southern France is situated in the Rhône valley and produces numerous wines under various ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) designations. The region's major appellation in production volume is Côtes du Rhône ...

of Châteauneuf-du-Pape as well as in the ''

Appellation d'origine contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bo ...

'' (AOC)s of

Corbières AOC Corbières is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) for wine in the Languedoc-Roussillon, France, and it is this region's largest AOC, responsible for 46 per cent of the region's AOC wine production in 2005. Red wine dominates the producti ...

and

Minervois AOC Minervois is an AOC in the Languedoc-Roussillon wine region, in the departments of the Aude and of the Herault. Historically, the region's capital has been the village of Minerve. AOC regulations require the wine to be blended (at least 2 vari ...

in the Languedoc.Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 266 Harcourt Books 2001

Plantings and identifications

In his research,

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 ...

Pierre Galet Pierre Galet (28 January 1921 – 30 December 2019) was a French ampelographer and author who was an influential figure within ampelography in the 20th century and before DNA typing was widely introduced. Beginning in the 1950s, Pierre Galet intro ...

identified Terret vines still growing the Languedoc with vines containing clusters that have different colored berries (red, white, pink) all in the same bunch but the French '' Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité'' (INAO) currently doesn't track Terret as a separate planting apart from Terret noir and Terret blanc/gris which are often counted together. As of 2000, the INAO reported that there was 3000 hectares of the light skinned Terrets growing mostly in

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 693 Oxford University Press 2006

Viticulture and winemaking

All the Terret varieties are noted for their late

budding Budding or blastogenesis is a type of asexual reproduction in which a new organism develops from an outgrowth or bud due to cell division at one particular site. For example, the small bulb-like projection coming out from the yeast cell is kno ...

, which helps the vines avoid Spring frost. The grapes ripen relatively early and are able to maintain high levels of

acidity In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

References

{{reflist Grape varieties

Plantings and identifications

Viticulture and winemaking

See also

References