Grape Guide
Cornalin
RedCornalin is an old red variety of the Valle d'Aosta that is now far more important in Switzerland, where it is called Humagne Rouge and is a specialty of the Valais. DNA work showed it to be a grandchild of Petit Rouge and Mayolet, and it is unrelated to the white Humagne despite the shared name.
Key Characteristics
- Black-berried; the same vine as Humagne Rouge of the Valais
- Natural offspring of Rouge du Pays, itself Petit Rouge x Mayolet
- Medium to high vigour and late ripening
- Disease pressure from fungi is usually modest, as the vine tolerates them fairly well
- About 13 ha in the Valle d'Aosta and about 140 ha in the Valais
Typical Flavors
Major Regions
Valais AOC (Switzerland) · Leytron · Chamoson · Vétroz · Valle d'Aosta DOC (Italy) · Verrayes
Also Known As
Humagne Rouge (Valais · Switzerland) · Cornalin d'Aoste · Broblanc (Valle d'Aosta) · Cargnola (Valle d'Aosta) · Cornalino · Cornallin · Corniola (Valle d'Aosta)
Overview
Cornalin is a black-berried variety with two names and two homes. In the Valle d'Aosta it is bottled as varietal Cornalin; across the border in the Valais it goes by Humagne Rouge, and plantings there are roughly ten times larger. The wines are dry, savoury reds with firm tannins, a slightly bitter edge and a register of smoke, bark, black pepper and fresh dark fruit. Careful extraction or a lighter hand with oak gives a more floral, fresher style. Three name traps matter on labels. The Valais also grows a separate variety called Cornalin (older name Rouge du Pays), which is a parent of this one. Humagne Rouge has no connection with the white Humagne Blanche. And the Valle d'Aosta grape Petit Rouge, long assumed to be the same vine, is in fact a different grape.
Origins & History
Cornalin is a long-established grape of the Valle d'Aosta, on the Italian side of the Alps, and was planted extensively there during the 1800s. The name may derive from corniolo, the Italian word for the cornelian cherry. An ampelographic account from 1838 separated two types, Cornalin and Corniola, and nobody has settled whether they were clonal variants or separate varieties. The unrelated Sicilian white Corniola di Milazzo has no connection to it. In the Valais the vine is called Humagne Rouge. It is generally said to have crossed the Great St Bernard pass from the Aosta side in the late nineteenth century, and for decades it was believed to be Petit Rouge. Morphological comparison and DNA profiling at Changins and in Aosta around the turn of the century showed instead that Humagne Rouge and Cornalin are one variety. DNA parentage analysis shows that Cornalin arose from open pollination, with Rouge du Pays as one parent, the Valais grape also called Cornalin, which is itself a cross of Petit Rouge and Mayolet. That makes Cornalin their grandchild; its other parent has not been identified. A story that Aosta varieties came from Burgundy with the Baron de Champorcher around 1750 has no genetic support, since no Burgundian link has been found for any variety of the valley.
Viticultural Characteristics
Cornalin has medium to high vigour and ripens late, so it needs a warm, well-exposed site to finish in an alpine climate. In the Valle d'Aosta it is grown on south-facing slopes at roughly 650 to 750 m; in the Valais it is planted on gravelly soils and on alluvial fans, as around Leytron and Saillon. Resistance to fungal diseases is generally good, which is a real advantage on steep slopes and in cooler seasons. Yields need to be held in check for the late ripening to be reliable and for the tannins to finish ripe rather than green. Acreage is small and fragmented: about 13 ha in the Valle d'Aosta and about 140 ha in the Valais.
Wine Styles & Characteristics
Cornalin is made as a dry varietal red. In the Valle d'Aosta, the Valle d'Aosta DOC Cornalin designation requires a minimum of 85 percent of the variety. In the Valais it is bottled as Humagne Rouge under the Valais AOC, mostly as a single variety. Typical wines are medium to deep in colour, with violet, red and black cherry, elderberry, black pepper, smoke, dried vine leaf and oak-bark aromas. Tannins are the signature: some cellars give a rustic, grippy wine, others a supple one with chalky or silky grain. Styles run from fresh, stainless-steel examples to wines aged for 8 to 12 months in large foudres or barrels, sometimes with cold maceration before fermentation. Bottlings are often drunk young for their fruit, though the more structured wines reward three to five years in bottle. Game, cured meats and alpine cheeses suit it well.