Wednesday 4 February 2009

Egiodola

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? An unpleasant disease?
No it's a grape variety! And one I have to confess I'd never heard of until I tasted an example from Domaine de Brau at the Millesime-Bio wine fair in Montpellier last week.
Egiodola is a cross between Fer Servadou and Arbouriu. Fer Servadou is a characterful black grape found in south west France, particularly the Aveyron where is the main ingredient in Marcillac. It hitched up with Arbouriou (a variety which hails from the Lot originally) in the 1950s and the resulting Egiodola crops up occasionally in south west France and, curiously, in Brasil.
Egiodola means 'pure blood' in Basque.
The lady at Domaine de Brau explained that the wine combines up-front fruitiness with extreme tannins. Which it did.
So now you know!

3 comments:

  1. Juliet -
    Thanks for that. It's unusual for me to find a NEW variety that I haven't heard of. Now I've just got to find a way to get a taste.
    Cheers,
    Paula Sindberg
    The Ultimate Wine Company Ltd
    paula@ultimatewines.co.uk

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    Replies
    1. I had never heard of it either, until presented with the Vin de Pays de Vaucluse made at the excellent Domaine Roger Perrin in Chateauneuf: black-fruited, and a little tarry and rustic. So there you go.

      Simon Taylor
      Stone, Vine Sun

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  2. According to Wikipedia it's NOT Fer Servadou, but the DNA analysis made by the INRA in Montpellier says it is from Tinta de Madeira plus Abouriou.

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