This South West France variety’s history is like a Dan Brown novel. However, what does it taste like?
Negrette History
Although Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code about the Knights Templar and the search for the Holy Grail was mostly made-up, Crusaders, much like the Spanish Conquistadors in the Americas, always had to have wine with them for Eucharist. It was also a source of potable water during the Crusades.
The Crusades not only sought to take over the Turks and the Holy Land, they ravaged much of Europe on their way. Although many European wine regions date back to cruel, invading Romans, 1,000 years later the Crusaders also pillaged, slaughtered and controlled many wine regions in Europe, such as St. Chinian in the Languedoc, where Crusaders wiped out the Cathars, a Christian sect.
In the Third Crusade, Richard the Lionheart, whose mother Eleanor of Aquitaine made wines from Bordeaux popular, first took the island of Cyprus, which he later sold to the Knights Templar. They liked the wine there so much that they established a winery that they named after their military command center, the Commandaria, from which they began to export to all of Europe. It was all the rage back then.
One of the grapes the Knights were fond of in Cyrus was called Mavro, which means ‘black’ in Greek. They brought a cutting of this grape back with them to their command center in South West France, which would evolve into what is now called Négrette, which is also derived from the Latin/French word for black. It is indeed a dark-skinned grape.
Negrette Today
Today, Negrette is mostly found in South West France.* It is the main variety of the appellation of Fronton, where it must be the majority part of any blend. It’s made into varietal reds, blends and rosés.
The wines tend to be dark, soft, floral, spicy and sometimes have an animal note. That’s why it’s often blended with Syrah and Cabernet to give it more structure. Gamay and other Bordeaux varieties are also used.
A little bit can still be found in California, where it was once widely planted under the name Pinot Saint-Georges and labeled Burgundy. Some still exist in field blends of old vines, and some were grafted with other varieties. In fact, I’ve tried a Bedrock Nervo Ranch with significant amounts of Negrette in it.
I found two varietal Negrette wines from Fronton to check out.
*Checkout my overview of South West France Wine & Tourism.
Tasting Notes
2020 Arbeau On l’appelle Négrette Fronton
The label lists many of the names of Negrette such as Folle Noire, Mavro and Pinot Saint-Georges.
Organic. Native yeasts. Unfined. Unfiltered. Semi-carbonic fermentation in stainless steel. Overall, it has a low-intervention, but universal, fruity, picnic or BBQ wine appeal. The nose shows black and red berry fruit with some spices and floral notes. The palate is a little darker but tart and soft. Medium-light body. The palate is more expressive than the nose, with so much acidic structure it can go with meats but soft-tannins to go with lighter foods too. It reminds me of Mondeuse from the Savoie which reminds me of a lighter Syrah or a Syrah/Beaujolais blend. 90
2019 Vinovalie Haut Capitole Fronton
Vinovalie is a cooperative of small producers through South West France. 12 months in oak. Negrette and Cabernet Franc. The nose is medium-low intensity with spicy oak notes, dark fruit and violet. The palate also shows dark berry fruit, but more expressive with medium-body and acidity, vanilla, soft tannins but a slight bitter note and heat from the alcohol. This would probably be better slightly chilled. Overall, it’s basically like an under 10 euros right-bank Bordeaux from a lesser-known appellation, Bordeaux Superieur or another Southwest appellation like Bergerac. 86
Conclusion
These are two different styles of Negrette. The Vinovalie mimics the style of Bordeaux and other South West Bordeaux variety blends. In some ways, it’s truer to the variety since it’s soft and low in acid. However, the Arbeau shows more of the spicy and floral characteristics of the grape but with a fresher, higher acid frame. It’s closer to a Beaujolais or Mondeuse from Savoie. I think the latter is more interesting since there are already plenty of Bordeaux style wines in France and around the world.