🍇 Piquepoul
An old French dark-berried grape, Piquepoul noir: it has grey and white forms, is permitted in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and is now rare.
Piquepoul (Picpoul) is an old wine grape from southern France. It has three colour forms — black, grey and white — and the official French variety catalogue lists them as three separate varieties with the codes N, G and B. This page is about the black Piquepoul noir: VIVC gives France as its home and does not know its parents.
Three forms. According to VIVC, grey Piquepoul is a mutation of the black, while Piquepoul Bouschet is a cross of Piquepoul with Petit Bouschet. The best known today is white Piquepoul, which makes Picpoul de Pinet in the Languedoc. The black form is rare and goes mostly into blends.
Where it is permitted. The AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape specification (a 2011 decree) lists 18 varieties for red and white wines, among them all three Piquepouls — white, grey and black. The black one has a special rule: its vines may be trained only as gobelet bush vines with short pruning, like Grenache, Mourvèdre and Terret Noir.
How much there is. According to VIVC, France had 356 ha of Piquepoul noir in 1958, 203 ha in 1988 and only 79 ha in 2006; Spain, where it is called Picapoll negro, had 9.6 ha (1999). VIVC lists 40 other names, among them Picpoul, Piquepoule, Languedocien and Schwarzer Gruebler; 12 collections keep samples of the variety.
Why it matters to you. The word «Picpoul» on a bottle usually means white Piquepoul, not this black variety. Black Piquepoul is easier to find in a red Châteauneuf-du-Pape blend. If a variety is named on an EU wine label, it makes up at least 85% of the wine.
Facts
| Country | France 1 |
|---|---|
| Region | 79 ha in France (2006), 9.6 ha in Spain (1999) 4 |
| Main use | Red blends; one of 18 varieties of the AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape 3 |
How it connects to Wine
🍇 Piquepoul → kind of → 🍇 Grape varieties → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Part of
- 🍇 Grape varieties
- Origin
- 🗺️ French wine
- Where it grows
- 📍 Languedoc
- Main grape in
- 📜 Châteauneuf-du-Pape
- Offspring
- 🍇 Seibel 2510, 🍇 Rubín, 🍇 Piquepoul Blanc, 🍇 Piquepoul Gris
Frequently asked questions
Which Piquepoul is described here?
The VIVC passport of this item (9298) is Piquepoul noir, the black-berried form.
Are Piquepoul blanc, gris and noir the same variety?
No. The official French catalogue lists them as three separate varieties with colour codes B, G and N.
Where does Piquepoul noir come from?
VIVC gives France as the country of origin and records no parentage.
Is it true that grey Piquepoul is a separate old variety?
No. According to VIVC, Piquepoul gris is a mutation of the black Piquepoul, although the French catalogue lists it separately with the code G.
Where is black Piquepoul permitted?
For example in the AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape: it is one of 18 permitted varieties, and its vines must be trained as gobelet bush vines with short pruning.
What to read next
- 🗺️ French wine — The country's wine and winemaking: regions, grapes and appellations.
- 🍇 Piquepoul Blanc — The white form of Piquepoul from the Languedoc — a mutation of the black; the only grape of Picpoul de Pinet, known since 1608.
- 🍇 Seibel 2510 — A hybrid bred in France by Albert Seibel.
- 🍇 Piquepoul Gris — The grey form of Piquepoul from southern France — a mutation of the black; nearly vanished, permitted in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
- 🍇 Rubín — A red wine grape bred in Slovakia in 1951.
Similar
🍇 Piquepoul Gris · 🍇 Aramon Gris · 🍇 Oeillade Noire · 🍇 Terret Blanc · 🍇 Piquepoul Blanc · 🍇 Servant
Sources
- VIVC. Piquepoul noir (passport 9298)
- Ministère de l'agriculture. Catalogue officiel des variétés de vigne: liste des variétés à fruits inscrites et synonymes utilisables (validée par la section Vigne du CTPS en 2015)
- Cahier des charges de l'AOC «Châteauneuf-du-Pape» (décret n° 2011-1567 du 16.11.2011)
- VIVC: area statistics PIQUEPOUL NOIR
- VIVC: passport Piquepoul gris (9297)
- VIVC: passport Piquepoul Bouschet (9296)
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 (grape varieties on labels)