image from Vins-Rhone


Alright, all you Dionysian degenerates (a group I am a very happy member of) here is an ancient variety that is thought to have originated from Greece. Bourboulenc is a little known grape outside of Southern France and one that is rarely made into a varietal wine.

It is a white, late-ripening, high-acid variety that is primarily used as a blending grape to lend acidity to both red and white wines, especially in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. It has a tendency to produce neutral wines but if picked after full maturity displays very pleasant floral and citrus notes. 

It is now grown mainly in the south of France, primarily in the regions of Corbieres and Minervois, in Languedoc and in the Tavel, Lirac, Cotes-du-Rhone and Chateauneuf-du-Pape regions of the southern Rhone Valley.

Alternate names for it are Malvoisie, Picardin Blanc, Grosse Clairette and Blanquette (in Australia). Perhaps the best examples of what can be achieved with this grape are the white wines of La Clape, in the Languedoc, which are usually a mixture of almost half Bourboulenc, with the remaining percentage divided between Grenache Blanc and Clairette. I would recommend it as a very interesting alternative to Sauvignon Blanc,or Riesling.