Grape Guide
Mondeuse Noire
RedMondeuse Noire is the Alpine red of eastern France, an old and vigorous vine that gives deeply coloured, peppery, tannic wines with a sour-cherry edge. It is concentrated in Savoie and Bugey, where it carries the Arbin and Saint-Jean-de-la-Porte reds, and it is genetically close to Syrah through a parent-offspring link with Mondeuse Blanche.
Key characteristics
- Mid-season ripening, vigorous and productive vine
- Spur-pruned short; yield control needed for quality
- Best on stony clay-limestone slopes
- Susceptible to drought, chlorosis, mites and both mildews
- Parent-offspring relative of Mondeuse Blanche, making it a half-sibling or grandparent of Syrah
Typical flavors
Major regions
Savoie (Vin de Savoie, Arbin) · Bugey · Vaud and Geneva (Switzerland) · California · Victoria (Australia)
Also known as
Gros Rouge (Vaud · Genève) · Grosse Syrah · Maldoux (Jura) · Plant Maldoux (Jura) · Persagne (Ain) · Petite Persaigne (Rhône) · Savoyan (Isère)
Mondeuse Noire is the red grape most closely tied to the Alpine vineyards of Savoie and its neighbours in Isère and Ain. The vine is vigorous and productive, and when yields are held down it gives wines that are dark, aromatic and firmly tannic, with a peppery lift and a sour-cherry edge that sets them apart from the lighter Gamay and Pinot Noir reds grown nearby. Acidity is usually high and ageing potential is good.
French plantings fell sharply in the 1970s and stood at roughly 300 hectares in 2009, with only a slow recovery since. Elsewhere the variety is marginal: a few hectares survive around Lake Geneva, where it was once the leading red, and small plots exist in California and Victoria. Its real importance lies in Arbin and Saint-Jean-de-la-Porte, the two Vin de Savoie red crus built on it, and in the red and rosé blends of Bugey.
Mondeuse Noire is a native of the western Alps. Under its present name, the oldest reliable record is from 1845 in the upper Isère valley, though an earlier mention probably describes the same grape in the Jura: a decree issued by the Parliament of Besançon on 3 February 1731 referred to it as Maldoux. This early synonym derives from the French words mal and doux, meaning 'badly sweet', a comment on how bitter the berries tasted. Two rival explanations exist for the name Mondeuse itself: either a Franco-Provençal term for a variety giving abundant must, or the verb émonder, to prune, since the vine often loses its leaves before the grapes are picked.
DNA parentage work published in 2008 revealed a parent-offspring link with Mondeuse Blanche, although which of the two is the parent remains unresolved. Syrah descends from Mondeuse Blanche and Dureza, so Mondeuse Noire is related to Syrah either as a half-sibling or as a grandparent. That accounts for the old name Grosse Syrah and for its membership in the Sérine family of related varieties. Judged by ampelography, its appearance is close to that of Douce Noire. Mondeuse Grise, a pink-skinned mutation, was believed lost until Pierre Galet restored it to the national vine collection in 1950.
California growers long assumed the variety to be Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso; DNA profiling shows the two are separate varieties. Some vines that had carried the Mondeuse label proved to be Calzin, a 1937 cross of Zinfandel and Mondeuse Noire created by Harold Olmo. In the later nineteenth century, phylloxera ravaged the vineyards of eastern France where the grape was planted.
Mondeuse Noire ripens mid-season and is both vigorous and productive, so it is usually short spur-pruned and requires careful yield control to achieve full colour and flavour. Stony clay and limestone slopes suit it best. In cool Alpine sites poor vintages can leave it underripe, producing lean, tart wine, and its leaves frequently fall before harvest. Drought, chlorosis, mites, downy mildew and powdery mildew all pose risks to it. In California, growers who have planted it alongside Syrah report less vigour but bigger yields, and a wine darker and spicier than the Syrah.
Savoie Mondeuse is typically deep purple, with violet, black pepper, raspberry and red or black cherry aromas, high acidity and grippy tannins. The best examples carry a bitter-cherry savour that some tasters liken to northern Italian reds, and can develop violet and truffle notes with bottle age. Arbin, made from Mondeuse alone, is usually the most structured, while basic Vin de Savoie and Bugey reds and rosés often blend it with Gamay or Pinot Noir to soften the tannins. Sparkling versions exist but are rare. In California and Victoria, Mondeuse is most often a minor blending partner with Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon, adding colour and spice, with a few varietal bottlings.
Where it grows
Savoie
The heartland, with roughly 300 hectares across Savoie and Bugey in 2009. Arbin, in the Combe de Savoie on clay-limestone slopes under dark scree, and Saint-Jean-de-la-Porte are the two Mondeuse red crus of Vin de Savoie. Producers include Domaine du Prieuré Saint-Christophe, Domaine Louis Magnin and Domaine Fabien Trosset.
Bugey
Mondeuse is authorised in the red and rosé wines of the Bugey AOC in Ain, usually blended with Gamay or Pinot Noir.
Vaud and Geneva, Switzerland
Known here as Gros Rouge, it was the leading red on the shores of Lake Geneva in the nineteenth century but covered fewer than 4 hectares in 2009. Domaine Mermetus and Domaine des Rueyres in Vaud still make it.
California
Planted since the nineteenth century but long mislabelled as Refosco. Carole Meredith and Steve Lagier's Lagier Meredith vineyard on Mount Veeder in Napa Valley grows it alongside Syrah, planted in 2007; 2021 was the last Lagier Meredith vintage, and the vineyard's fruit now goes to Aaron and Claire Pott's Pott Wine label.
Victoria, Australia
Brown Brothers at Milawa has grown it since the 1920s and co-ferments about 1.2 hectares with Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, while Buller in Rutherglen also uses it in blends.