🍇 Bastardo

Bastardo is a red wine grape that the VIVC catalogue lists under the French name Trousseau noir and considers French, from the Jura region. There is more of it in Portugal than in its homeland: 1,100 ha in 2007 against 172 ha in France (2009).

According to DNA markers, one of its parents is Savagnin, also known as Traminer; the other is unknown. Among its 57 synonyms in VIVC are Bastardo, Maria Ordoña, Merenzão and Verdejo negro. The variety has 13 offspring, among them Bastardo Magarachsky (Trousseau × Saperavi) and Royalty.

The technical file of the Arbois appellation in the Jura says that Trousseau makes red wines that are more tannic, often darker and frequently with animal notes, and that with age they take on aromas of undergrowth, humus and mushrooms. Poulsard, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Savagnin grow alongside it in the zone.

In Portugal Bastardo is on the grape lists of the Madeira and Palmela appellations. According to VIVC, its area there is shrinking: 1,754 ha in 1999 and 1,100 ha in 2007. The grape also grows far from Europe, in Australia (250 ha, 2007) and South Africa (188 ha, 2000).

Why it matters to you. Trousseau on a French label and Bastardo on a Portuguese one are the same grape. A grape named on an EU wine means at least 85 % of that grape. Red wines are served at 15–18 °C and stored lying down, in the dark, at 10–16 °C.