Tourbat

Did You Know?

• In Sardinia, Tourbat is known as Torbato and is grown around Alghero in the province of Sassari on the northwestern reaches of the island.
• In France, it is most widely planted in the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée AOC region of the Côtes du Roussillon.

History

No one knows exactly where Tourbat came from, but some wine experts think it shares a background with Grenache and probably originated in Spain. The grape likely arrived in Roussillon during the time that area belonged to the Kingdom of Majorca, when James I of Aragon ruled a large territory spanning what is now southern France and northeastern Spain. Tourbat may have reached Sardinia in a similar way to Grenache, during the island’s period under the Kingdom of Aragon. Plantings dropped sharply in the 1900s, and for most of that century Sardinia was the only significant place growing it. Even there, the grape nearly disappeared until the producer Sella & Mosca started working with it and cultivating healthier vines. Their efforts sparked a modest revival in Roussillon during the 1980s, after new, stronger cuttings were brought in from Sardinia. Still, Tourbat remains a rarely planted variety overall.

Synonyms

Tourbat and its wines are known under a variety of synonyms including Canina, Caninu, Cuscosedda Bianca, Malvoisie des Pyrenees Orientales, Malvoisie du Roussillon, Malvoisie Tourbat, Razola, Torbat, Torbato, Torbato Bianco, Trubat Iberica, Trubau, Turbato, and Turbau. Despite the similarity with the synonym Malvoisie du Roussillon, Tourbat has no known relation with other grapes that share Malvoisie as a name or synonym—most notably Pinot gris, but also Bourboulenc, Clairette, Macabeo and Vermentino.