Grape Guide
Calitor
RedCalitor Noir is an old black-berried variety of Provence and the lower Rhône, recorded since 1600 and now close to disappearing, after growers abandoned its large crops of pale, low-acid wine, first for Aramon and later for Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. It survives mainly as a permitted accessory grape in Tavel and, for vines planted before 1994, in Côtes de Provence.
Key characteristics
- Late ripening, fertile and productive, with big bunches and berries
- Bunch stalk bends sharply, which gave the variety its name
- Prone to botrytis bunch rot and downy mildew, but resistant to powdery mildew
- French plantings fell from 319 ha in 1968 to 31 ha in 2008
- Colour mutations exist: Calitor Blanc and Calitor Gris
Typical flavors
Major regions
Tavel (southern Rhône) · Côtes de Provence · Pyrénées-Orientales (Roussillon) · Bandol (permitted until 1992) · Nîmes area (Calitor Blanc, historically)
Also known as
Col Tor · Colitor · Coytor · Garriga (Roussillon) · Pécoui-Touar (Bandol) · Picpoul de Fronton
Calitor Noir is a minor red grape of southern France that has lost almost all of its former commercial standing. The vine is vigorous and generous, carrying big bunches of big berries, but the wine it gives is typically pale, light in body and low in acidity, with little to distinguish it from its neighbours. Once more reliable and more characterful varieties reached growers in the south, that profile counted against it.
Its survival today owes more to appellation rules than to demand. It remains on the list of accessory varieties for Tavel, the dry rosé appellation of the southern Rhône, and it can still be used in Côtes de Provence, but only from parcels planted before 31 July 1994. Elsewhere it has been struck off: Bandol removed it in 1992. French plantings stood at 31 ha in 2008, and the variety is better known for its long list of local names than for any single bottling.
The earliest known record is a list of grape names printed in 1600, where the variety is spelled Colitor. A further citation dates from 1656 and places it at Lapalud, a village in the Vaucluse to the north of Orange. The name probably derives from two Provençal words, col (stalk) and tor (twisted), since the bunch stalk bends sharply close to where it joins the shoot. Local synonyms such as Col Tor and Pécoui-Touar (Bandol) rest on the same notion.
The variety has produced two mutations of berry colour. Around Nîmes in 1782, the white form, Calitor Blanc, was already being praised for good wine, and a grey-berried form, Calitor Gris, exists as well. Calitor Noir belongs to an ampelographic group with Braquet Noir and Ribier Noir, grapes whose leaves and bunches look alike. That resemblance has led to confusion with Braquet Noir in the Nice area, and with Bouteillan Noir, Jurançon Noir and Piquepoul Noir. No DNA parentage has been established for Calitor Noir in the literature consulted, so where it comes from remains an open question. Its decline was gradual: early in the twentieth century it lost ground to the more productive Aramon Noir, and afterwards to Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and other varieties thought to make better wine.
Calitor Noir ripens late and is fertile and productive, bearing big bunches with big berries. Yields can become very high unless the vine is pruned short or crops are thinned, and the variety tolerates short pruning well. It is susceptible to downy mildew and to botrytis bunch rot, which is a serious drawback in the humid conditions that can occur in the Rhône and Provence in autumn, but it resists powdery mildew. It has traditionally been grown on hot, dry soils. Together, heavy crops, late maturity and rot susceptibility explain why it lost favour. French plantings fell from 319 ha in 1968 to 31 ha in 2008 and have continued to shrink.
Calitor Noir gives light, pale red wine with low acidity and a neutral, sometimes dull character, which is why it has long been regarded as a variety of low quality. Its practical use is as a minor component in blends, where it adds little colour and structure. In Tavel it contributes to the dry rosé that is the only style the appellation makes, within the limit of 10% of the vineyard planting for each accessory variety. In Côtes de Provence it may appear in red and rosé blends from old vines. Varietal bottlings are essentially unknown. The white mutation, Calitor Blanc, was once valued around Nîmes, but neither it nor the grey form is of commercial importance today.
Where it grows
Tavel
Calitor is listed among the accessory varieties of the appellation, alongside Carignan Noir and Carignan Blanc, and each accessory variety is capped at 10% of an estate's plantings. Some Tavel estates have only a few vines left.
Côtes de Provence
Calitor Noir and Barbaroux Rosé are authorised as accessory varieties only on parcels planted before 31 July 1994, so no new plantings are possible and the supply is shrinking with the old vines.
Bandol
The variety was formerly permitted in the appellation, and is known there as Pécoui-Touar, but a revision of the rules in 1992 excluded it.
Roussillon and Pyrénées-Orientales
The variety has been authorised as far west as the Pyrénées-Orientales, where it was known locally as Garriga, though it now has little commercial presence.
Nîmes area
The white mutation, Calitor Blanc, was recorded here in 1782 as a source of excellent wine, a reputation it no longer holds.